PROMOTION
IT’S BEEN ranked third in National Curry Week’s best Indian restaurants, included in the prestigious Good Food Guide and lauded by both Confidential editor-at-large Jonathan Schofield and Tom Parker Bowles on their visits. There’s clearly something special about Indian Tiffin Room.
On visiting, you can see just why. Everything is freshly prepared and the chefs’ talent ensures each dish reflects the spectacular vibrancy and diversity of Indian cuisine. Whilst the Manchester venue is now proving just as popular, it’s Cheadle that first catapulted ITR into culinary stardom.
One thing we can always make room for is more visits to Indian Tiffin Room
Fortunately for us, the original branch is now open from lunch on weekends - from 1 to 10.30pm on a Saturday and 1 to 9pm on a Sunday - so there’s no excuse not to pay a visit and see what all the fuss is about.
Food-wise, the menu is the same winning combination all day long. Confidential paid a visit recently (well, we had to celebrate the extended opening hours somehow) and sampled a smattering of dishes, starting with gobi Manchurian. This comes from the street food section, which can be used for grazing or as starters before bigger plates. Cauliflower wok-fried the Indo-Chinese way - in a lovely sticky sauce with shredded lettuce, carrot, onion and bell peppers chunks - this remarkably lives up to its teasing aroma.
Onto the grazing platter - which includes bhel puri, dahi puri and sev puri - and a triumph of texture and taste. Bhel puri, a popular Mumbai street snack, combines crushed crispy pastry with seasoned potatoes and puffed rice in a date chutney; sprinkled with pomegranate seeds for a refreshing crunch. Dahi puri, meanwhile, sees puffed hollow pastry rounds filled with potato masala and yoghurt and sev puri with tamarind chutney. Pop in the mouth for a burst of flavour.
Moving onto meatier matters and the keema pav: goat meat cooked for around three hours until tender, seasoned with a range of masalas and served with a toasted bap dusted in chilli powder. As with the rest of the menu’s chilli appearances, this is little enough to please those with a low heat threshold but gives sufficient oomph nevertheless.
Appetites piqued for the next round, we chose grilled reshmi kebab; a skewer of succulent chicken pieces marinated in almond and yoghurt, then seasoned with garlic, ginger and black pepper. With refreshing mint yoghurt for dipping, this is a great option for those who aren’t as confident with Indian food and want to test the waters - it’s a popular dish for children, too.
As their name suggests, tiffins form the cornerstone of Indian Tiffin Room’s offering. These clever combination platters are commonly eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner in India: try one and you’ll see why it’s such a beloved staple. We sampled ITR Mysore masala dosa, a thin rice and lentil crepe filled with spice chutney and potato masala filling. Simply dunk into one of the provided dips - from tomato to coconut - and let your taste buds be transported to the bustling streets of southern India.
Finally, a trip to ITR isn’t complete without a curry. Confidential ordered shimla mirch shakarakanda, which may be a mouthful to say but it’s an assuredly delicious one to eat: a vegetarian option packed with sweet potato and spinach. Surprisingly, although containing the shimla chilli, again it’s not overly spicy. Meat varieties are no less flavoursome: ITR Chicken is the signature Indian Tiffin Room curry, containing over fourteen different spices. Curries come with rice, roti or fresh fluffy naan: perfect for mopping up the rich sauce.
By this point, despite eyeing some particularly tempting traditional desserts, we were full. One thing we can always make room for, however, is more visits to Indian Tiffin Room. As the awards, the press and our lunchtime visit attest, this is one special place indeed.
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