N is for… Nepalese
BEING big fans of curry, our choice of cuisine for the N was an easy decision.
We chose to try Nepalese at a pub on the Gloucestershire / Herefordshire border at Gorsley.
However, it was not just any pub, we went to the Roadmaker Inn, a pub that is run by Ghurkhas and has an authentic Nepalese restaurant.
All in all the combination makes for a bit of an odd mix – on the one side of the building you have a very traditional English looking inn but venture into the lounge bar and it has all the red carpet and golden guiding of a town centre curry house.
One thing that instantly strikes you is the friendliness of the service, it's clear that the staff genuinely want to make sure you have a good time.
Looking through the menu was an absolute treat – every dish sounded super tasty and the variety on offer was reassuringly different to the selection you would find on the menu at your local Indian.
To start we picked the Ghurkha special to share. This was a platter consisting of an assortment of king prawn, lamb sekuwa, tandoori chicken, chicken wings and chicken tikka. All were served on a sizzle dish, with a side of salad.
We were impressed with all the different items but the lamb sekuwa and king prawn dishes were especially good. The lamb was beautifully tender and a lightly salted seasoning complimented the full bodied meaty flavour well.
The prawn dish achieved that seldom accomplished balance of adding spicy flavours while not overpowering the more delicate notes of the prawns. The prawns were large and juicy, making this a delightful dish, although probably more Indian in origin than Nepalese.
For my main course I ordered the Nepalese lamb off the specials menu. For this dish, Hereford lamb was slow-cooked with ginger, garlic, onion, tomato and fresh Nepali masala. This was not only tasty but because of the ginger, it was also far more different to Indian food than I was expecting.
Wills ordered Lamb Ganga Jamuna which was described on the menu as 'very tasty dish' – this wasn't wrong.
The marinated tikka lamb pieces were succulent and the sauce was something else, bursting with an initial coriander and fenugreek hit before mellowing out with a touch of garlic.
It was one of those dishes where you genuinely can taste every flavour they say is included in it.
I think it is fair to say that we had a thoroughly enjoyable evening and would definitely go back.