The Gurkha's Inn

The Gurkha’s Inn review

 It was a perishing night, probably the coldest of the winter when we visited The Gurkha’s Inn. This newly opened restaurant in York Street adjoins yet another Indian restaurant. What is it about to Twickenham curry houses whereby they have to  cluster together - right next door to each other in many cases – are they sharing kitchens?

The decor was fairly traditional (flock wallpaper) but the welcome was warm and the service was attentive. This much is to be expected of a newly opened restaurant where there is strong competition in this niche, The menu is extensive and different from most Indian restaurants; apparently the chef used to work for Montys in Ealing, a renowned chain of west London Nepalese restaurants .  When we ordered, we were offered Gurkha or Nepalese alternatives to traditional Indian dishes and a range of Nepalese dishes not to be found on the conventional Indian menu, for example there was a pork dish which is very unusual. Some of us went for the Nepalese, trying dishes never seen or tasted before – such as Keema Rajma, which was spiced minced lamb with red kidney beans – a sort of Indian version of chilli con carne!

I plumped for my habitual chicken Dansak and cauliflower bhaji and was not disappointed. Interestingly, as a starter the manager served us Nepalese dumplings (very similar to dim sum) which were delicious although we couldn't work out whether they were a promotional offer or standard fare. The papadoms and pickle tray were generally better than the run-of-the-mill and the Gurkha bottled beer at £4.50 a pint made an interesting change from the more common Indian lagers.

Overall, we were very impressed by this new entrant into the Twickenham curry scene. The extensive and different menu should mean that this will become a favourite amongst locals - we will certainly be coming back.

We scored The Gurkha’s Inn out of 10 as follows:

Service: 8.8

Quality: 8.3

Price: 7.8

Ambience: 7

8 February 2012

http://www.thegurkhasinn.com/thegurkhas/