A great little Indian place.

So, this is my first proper blog post and I thought I'd start it writing about an amazing little place I tried a while back called Gunpowder. 

Yeah, I hadn't heard of it either until I stumbled across a review online talking about an Indian restaurant in Shoreditch that had been kicking up a reputation for serving amazing food. Naturally I thought I just had to try it.

Nestled in a side street just off Commercial Street, it would be easy to miss this restaurant so you have to keep an eye out for their Elephant sign right outside. Now there's usually a queue of people outside, which is an indication that this small restaurant had a secret and I was extremely excited to find out.

Luckily, me and my girlfriend arrived just before the queue had started to grow, so they seated us on a high table near the window where we watched curious onlookers look at the menu and decide whether the wait was worth it. It certainly was.

Gunpowder serves Asian food with a modern twist. Packed full of flavour, the dishes offer an alternative to the usual fare. We wanted to try as much of the menu as possible and worked our way from the top to the bottom. We ordered a series of small plates that arrived all in their own time, as is customary with tapas-style dining. 

If you know me, I'm a sucker for tapas, I mean you get to try an array of dishes, the food comes out sooner and you can talk about things in-between waiting. It also makes dining out much more sociable and it's great for first or second dates - if you don't know what else to talk about, there's always the food!

Rasam ke Bomb (also known as Pani Puri) is a well-known street snack eaten all over India, though at £3 each you would eat considerably less than you normally would, because I could probably have 20 on my own when I'm at home. Nevertheless it was delicious and had all the taste tingling sensations of tamarind and spices. 

Next up was the Gunpowder Aloo Chaat. My girlfriend and I love Chaat so we were obviously going to give theirs a go - who knew that it's been voted one of the best Chaat's in London! It was a generous portion of spicy potatoes topped with sweet tamarind chutney and lashings of creamy yoghurt. It tasted absolutely amazing and it's a must try. 

Then we decided to order the Spicy Venison and Vermicelli Doughnut: a densely-packed orb of rich, warm venison encased within deep-fried vermicelli with each bite providing a satisfying crunch. Forget what I said a minute ago about sharing plates – etiquette is out the window here! This is the one dish you absolutely shouldn’t share. You need one to yourself! 

The Porzhi Okra Fries were so crispy and moreish, it went perfectly with a glass of wine. Even if you hate Okra, I bet you'll love these as they're subtlety spicy without being at all overpowering.

There’s seafood on the menu too, including the Karwari Soft Shell Crab which we were told is one of their specials - it was as crunchy and tasty as you'd expect Soft Shell Crab to be (just try not to be put off with how it looks!). Oh and don't forget to squeeze the lime on top, it makes all the difference.

The Rabbit Pulao was delicious, with sweet crispy onions and I think cranberries which gave a new dimension to the usual pulao. 

But I have to say the best dish for me was Maa's Kashmiri Lamb Chops. Melt in the mouth lamb that just fell off the bone - you could taste the marinade that went all the way through the meat. So delicious! 

We were so full by the end of it and we left feeling, as usual, that we’d had one small plate too many. But it's hard to cut any one dish out as they were so amazingly prepared and tasty! All in all, it was one of the most memorable Asian meals I've ever had. The service was efficient and polite and even though there was a queue outside, we never felt rushed. You just have to come here!

RATINGS

Food 8/10
Service 8/10
Venue 8/10
Overall 8/10

Website: http://www.gunpowderlondon.com
Number: 020 7426 0542
Address: 11 White's Row, London, E1 7NF