Mughal

Mughal has been running since 1987, tucked away by a little canal that runs parallel to the nearby Kamo river, up a flight of steps from the building entrance. It was set up by Kyoto native Yukihide Hirata, who does some of the cooking but employs two Indian chefs too. The dining room features a series of fine muslin canopy curtains. The menu offers a wide variety of Indian dishes, as well as a couple of set menus.

Samosas were pleasant, filled with lightly spiced peas and potato (12/20). Murgh tikka had chicken that was cooked a tad longer than ideal but had reasonable flavour (12/20). I liked the aloo gobi, with both the potato and cauliflower retaining their texture well (13/20). Channa could have been a bit spicier and the chickpeas cooked a tad longer (11/20) but sag paneer had nicely cooked spinach (12/20). The naan bread was even better than I recall from a previous visit, light and fluffy and served very hot, the texture supple (14/20).

For dessert the carrot halwa was very nice, buttery and enlivened with flaked almonds, cashew nuts and sultanas (13/20). Kulfi here is harder to recommend as it is prepared to suit the Japanese palate, so compared to a version made in India it is insufficiently sweet.

Service was friendly and the bill came to ¥11,102 for two (£34 a head) including beer. It is nice to find capable Indian cooking in the unlikely setting of Kyoto - a man cannot live by kaiseki alone. 

Further reviews: 16th Sep 2018 | 31st Mar 2012