For all the diversity of Leicester's population, and its current status as the UK's curry capital, one thing the city has never had is a Nepalese restaurant.
So it was intriguing to discover that a long-standing but difficult restaurant site next to the railway station has now become Gurkha Palace. It's under the management of ex-British Army Gurkhas, who were based at Bramcote Barracks near Nuneaton and have close links to other restaurants run by former regimental comrades: The Gurkha in Hinckley and Nuneaton's Crossed Kurkhis.
Metro can't claim an in-depth understanding of the nuances of cooking in this Himalayan republic; Tibetan and Chinese influences from the north and Indian from the south pretty much sums up our knowledge. A little bit of research confirms that it is based on simple preparation and quick consumption, using a similar range of herbs, spices and flavourings to more familiar south Asian traditions.
As we browsed the menu in this spruced-up restaurant with a vaguely colonial style, we were suprised to see korma, madras or vindaloo on the menu. These options are tacked on almost shamefacedly at the end, but the main listings offer rather more unusal fare described in tempting detail.
After some complimentary poppadums and pickles - which were fairly routine stuff - we tried a starter of momo; little Tibetan steamed dumplings with a spicy meat filling. They were completely delicious. With a rough, hand-crimped appearance, there was a good balance between the slightly sticky wrapping and the distinctively spiced, tender minced lamb inside. Apparently they use yak in Tibet, but that's probably a bit hard to come by in LE1. These were moist and zingy and arrived with a pot of marvellous fiery tomato chutney with a slightly bitter edge.
My friend picked another Nepalese speciality, sandeko kukura (£3.50): strips of chicken breast stir-fried with red onions, peppers, garlic, chilli and lemon juice and dressed with spring onions and coriander. It was another tasty dish, not too heavy on the oil or chilli and with lively, clean flavours, including a pleasant citrus edge. It did suffer, though, from being only slightly more than lukewarm; we suspected it may have been sitting around while the dumplings were finished off.
The restaurant has a reasonably priced and surprisingly varied wine list of around 25 options, but we found ourselves unable to resist trying the Gurkha beer. This relatively dark lager (£3.50 for a large 660ml bottle), which is actually brewed in the UK under licence, proved pleasingly non-gassy and had enough body to be a good accompaniment to the spicy food.
My main course of lekhali khasi (£7.50) was lamb in a black lentil sauce. The lamb was actually more like mutton, quite deeply flavoured but a bit on the tough and dry side. The sauce, however, was dark and interesting, with the lentils (you'll come across them as urad in Asian grocers) giving an earthy flavour and a good texture to the sauce, which was finished with a little cream. It was a thick, warming dish, reminiscent of the Punjabi classic makhani dal, and with better meat it would have been really impressive.
My friend had the Gurkha Palace special (£9.95), which means a little bit of everything. There were some surprisingly succulent and tasty king prawns, some tender chicken and more of that not-so-tender lamb. The prawns dominated the sauce but the dish did supply plenty of fresh spice flavours.
Coconut rice (£2) was reasonable and a kulcha naan (£1.80) was rather good, with a sweetish filling and a savoury, cheesy dusting on top. Another side dish of kerau paneer (£3.90) was a very mixed bag. The home-made paneer was first rate; delicate and crumbly in texture, it had a mild but distinctive cottage cheese flavour, a long way from the rubbery blandness of commercial varieties, but the accompanying peas were bullet-like.
We would advise you not to bother with the pre-prepared desserts. Mango sorbet (£3.20) tasted of very little except sugar and we weren't sure what the pistachio kulfi (£3.50) tasted of but it wasn't nuts.
The Gurkha Palace is an unpretentious restaurant run by warm, friendly people with a genuine interest in feedback from diners. It's worth checking out for those seeking a slight twist to their usual curry-house experience and, with the 20 per cent opening offer until December, the price is definitely right for people to go down and find out if it suits their palate.
1b Conduit Street, Leicester, Sun to Thu 5.30pm to 11pm, Fri and Sat 5.30pm to 11.30pm. Tel:
So it was intriguing to discover that a long-standing but difficult restaurant site next to the railway station has now become Gurkha Palace. It's under the management of ex-British Army Gurkhas, who were based at Bramcote Barracks near Nuneaton and have close links to other restaurants run by former regimental comrades: The Gurkha in Hinckley and Nuneaton's Crossed Kurkhis.
Metro can't claim an in-depth understanding of the nuances of cooking in this Himalayan republic; Tibetan and Chinese influences from the north and Indian from the south pretty much sums up our knowledge. A little bit of research confirms that it is based on simple preparation and quick consumption, using a similar range of herbs, spices and flavourings to more familiar south Asian traditions.
As we browsed the menu in this spruced-up restaurant with a vaguely colonial style, we were suprised to see korma, madras or vindaloo on the menu. These options are tacked on almost shamefacedly at the end, but the main listings offer rather more unusal fare described in tempting detail.
After some complimentary poppadums and pickles - which were fairly routine stuff - we tried a starter of momo; little Tibetan steamed dumplings with a spicy meat filling. They were completely delicious. With a rough, hand-crimped appearance, there was a good balance between the slightly sticky wrapping and the distinctively spiced, tender minced lamb inside. Apparently they use yak in Tibet, but that's probably a bit hard to come by in LE1. These were moist and zingy and arrived with a pot of marvellous fiery tomato chutney with a slightly bitter edge.
My friend picked another Nepalese speciality, sandeko kukura (£3.50): strips of chicken breast stir-fried with red onions, peppers, garlic, chilli and lemon juice and dressed with spring onions and coriander. It was another tasty dish, not too heavy on the oil or chilli and with lively, clean flavours, including a pleasant citrus edge. It did suffer, though, from being only slightly more than lukewarm; we suspected it may have been sitting around while the dumplings were finished off.
The restaurant has a reasonably priced and surprisingly varied wine list of around 25 options, but we found ourselves unable to resist trying the Gurkha beer. This relatively dark lager (£3.50 for a large 660ml bottle), which is actually brewed in the UK under licence, proved pleasingly non-gassy and had enough body to be a good accompaniment to the spicy food.
My main course of lekhali khasi (£7.50) was lamb in a black lentil sauce. The lamb was actually more like mutton, quite deeply flavoured but a bit on the tough and dry side. The sauce, however, was dark and interesting, with the lentils (you'll come across them as urad in Asian grocers) giving an earthy flavour and a good texture to the sauce, which was finished with a little cream. It was a thick, warming dish, reminiscent of the Punjabi classic makhani dal, and with better meat it would have been really impressive.
My friend had the Gurkha Palace special (£9.95), which means a little bit of everything. There were some surprisingly succulent and tasty king prawns, some tender chicken and more of that not-so-tender lamb. The prawns dominated the sauce but the dish did supply plenty of fresh spice flavours.
Coconut rice (£2) was reasonable and a kulcha naan (£1.80) was rather good, with a sweetish filling and a savoury, cheesy dusting on top. Another side dish of kerau paneer (£3.90) was a very mixed bag. The home-made paneer was first rate; delicate and crumbly in texture, it had a mild but distinctive cottage cheese flavour, a long way from the rubbery blandness of commercial varieties, but the accompanying peas were bullet-like.
We would advise you not to bother with the pre-prepared desserts. Mango sorbet (£3.20) tasted of very little except sugar and we weren't sure what the pistachio kulfi (£3.50) tasted of but it wasn't nuts.
The Gurkha Palace is an unpretentious restaurant run by warm, friendly people with a genuine interest in feedback from diners. It's worth checking out for those seeking a slight twist to their usual curry-house experience and, with the 20 per cent opening offer until December, the price is definitely right for people to go down and find out if it suits their palate.
1b Conduit Street, Leicester, Sun to Thu 5.30pm to 11pm, Fri and Sat 5.30pm to 11.30pm. Tel:
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