Mowgli Liverpool Bold Street

Bagging a table is the first challenge at Mowgli, the lively Indian street-food kitchen that burst on to Bold Street in 2014 and has established itself as one of the city’s best Indian restaurants ever since. Simply furnished with wood, bare brick, rope and birdcage lights, and with a jolly monkey logo, this venue is packed with young professionals, students and fans who rave about its “delicious, innovative food” and “fresh, exciting flavours”.

Light, zingy dishes arrive in gleaming tiffin bowls and ‘boxes’, served as and when they’re ready by personable staff. To start, the ‘angry bird’ sees tingling spiced chicken thighs with tangy slaw, or you might fancy a veggie plate – perhaps ‘tea-steeped’ chickpeas with tomato and spinach sauce or tangy ‘picnic potato curry’ spiked with Bengali five-spice. We also recommend the piquant Agra ginger chicken, the fiery Goan fish curry and the delicately steamed rice with black cardamom and cumin.

To drink, classic cocktails such as Old Fashioneds, Espresso Martinis and Margaritas get spiced up with the likes of chilli, garam masala, cardamom and curry leaves, bottled beers and half a dozen wines (helpfully labelled as ‘good’, ‘better’ and ‘best’), as well as booze-free mixes and lassis for non-drinkers.   

Weekend brunch, meanwhile, sees the likes of Indian takes on bacon sandwiches, cheese on toast, porridge and a full English (including a veggie version) alongside dahl with gram crisps and puffed rice, washed down with turmeric Bloody Marys and mango mimosas.   

Mowgli is the brainchild of former barrister Nisha Katona, a self-styled ‘curry evangelist’ whose aim was to open a restaurant serving the sort of food that Indians eat at home and on the streets. With over 10 more Mowglis now open around the country – and more in the pipeline – as well as an MBE to her name, she hasn’t monkeyed around.

Mowgli Street Food on Liverpool's Bold Street is the first venue from the chain, which has enriched cities across the country with Nisha Katona's incredible cooking. Nisha always wanted to serve diners the kind of food that Indians eat at home and on their streets, and so used her ancestral history, skills and passion that had been passed down to create Mowgli. You'll find dishes packed with rich flavours, beautiful textures and fiery spices, and have the chance to sit on a swinging chair lit with fairy lights.

The street chat options include the yoghurt chat bombs which are crisp bread puffs filled with chickpeas, spiced yoghurt, tamarind and coriander, along with Bombay's best loved street food dish of bhel puri made with gram threads, peanuts and a delicious sweet and sour dressing. Other options include the treacle tamarind fries, and open roti rabi with soft tandoori chargrilled paneer cheese, pomegranate jewels, mint, spinach and a rainbow selection of homespun Mowgli chutneys. The Mowgli sticky chicken is a popular dish from the street meats selection and is made with crunchy poppers that are tossed in a special spiced molasses, the maa's lamb chops and fenugreek kissed fries are marinated in aromatic spiced yoghurt with ginger, garlic and tomato coriander, and served with a mint chutney.

The house kitchen is famous for its Mowgli house lamb that falls apart on your fork, and has been long simmered with anise, plums and chickpeas. Another favourite is the mother butter chicken which is the true, authentic Indian version of what us Brits usually order as a chicken tikka masala. The dish is made with a rich, sweet and spiced tomato and yoghurt sauce before being finished with a gloss of butter.