Mother India, Glasgow

Mother India
28 Westminster Terrace, Glasgow
G3 7RU

Hey, Foodwala’s… Welcome to another tale of the travels and escapades of Alfie Foodwala.

I went for a walk in Kelvingrove Park on Sunday with Shai Foodwala and the memories of 1976 just flooded back, when I entered the park from Kelvin Way I remembered we as kids used to race down the hill with my compadres…when you are a 7-year-old boy, the short slope used to feel like the longest hill in the world.  I also remember vividly the scorching summer of 76 when we used to go to the park and the days felt like vast empty canvas.

I still remember the other visitors to the park dressed in flared denim and T-shirts with the  Multi-Coloured Swap Shop and Radio Clyde 261 emblazoned on them, and the platform boots the fashion victims still wore in the height of summer.

Even although the park was only a few hundred yards from our townhouse,  sometimes we used to get dropped off in a gleaming brand new white Jaguar XJ12 and once my dad managed to fit me and 13 of my cousins in the Jag!!!!

As I nostalgically walked further in to the park the sights and smells of my childhood flooded back, the ice cream van that used to be parked beside the pond and the skate park that had just been constructed.

When I walked up to the quintessential Glasgow red blaize football pitch I remembered watching my chacha ( uncle)  play football in the Glasgow Indian Restaurant Sunday Football league, my dad was the manager and always stood like Micheal Caine on the touchlines with the other “bosses” and talked shop while shouting instructions.

The rivalry between the Shish Mahal and Koh i Noor teams was legendary, it made the old firm game seem sedate in comparison, once the star Shish Mahal defender Nasim make an amazing sliding tackle against the Koh i Noor star striker, Gafoor which left him injured and caused a fight between the two teams, it was only resolved when the bosses intervened .

All this nostalgia left me famished and I came across Mother Indian on the other side of the park.

Mother India

Shai Foodwala and I were ushered downstairs to a cave-like dining room and I was greeted by the owner Monir, who was just leaving to go to the Celtic Cup final.

we kicked off the proceedings with a Chicken Tikka and Potato pakora

CHICKEN TIKKA AND POTATO PAKORA
£7.00

The portion was certainly generous and the actual pakora was a cross between a fritter and a Tikki, the pakora was well seasoned and hearty, the taste was homely and delicious.

GINGER CRAB AND PRAWN DOSA
£6.80

Next up was the dosa, the dosa is a south Indian fermented rice pancake and its stuffed with either sweet or savory stuffing. The ginger crab and prawn were delicate and slightly underwhelming the tasting notes lacked the crab flavour and the prawns equally failed to punch through. I would have gone for a more stronger flavour pairing.

RAAN LEG OF LAMB
£33.50

The leg of Lamb was certainly a sight to behold. The lamb was tender and moist,  the masala sauce was rich, intense  and pungent. The leg was topped with caramalised nuts which gave an earthy morish element for the decadent feast, my only suggestion would be to possibly cook the sealed lamb for longer.

In conclusion, Mother India is possibly in the top 3 as the best Indian restaurant in Glasgow, the exact placing is open to debate amongst the die-hard Glasgow curry aficionados and is a playoff between Mother India, Shish Mahal, and Balbirs. Top 3 in Glasgow means possibly the best in the UK outside London as Glasgow is the undisputed curry capital of the UK.

The service in Mother India was in the relaxed end of the spectrum, however, the food cerinly shined.