Indian Tiffin Room

I was overdue a meeting with some friends and one suggested we check out Indian Tiffin Room on First Street. I’ve heard much about the place, but have not had an opportunity to visit. We decided to go for an early dinner, so I booked a table via their website for 6pm.

We were greeted warmly at the door. I gave the staff my name and booking time and we were swiftly seated inside.

Indian Tiffin Room menu

Indian Tiffin Room Menu

The menu is quite varied and there are enough vegetarian options too! I like that they have a small section on Indo-Chinese food, as few places do them. Having said that, I was craving lamb that day so made my mind up on the ITR Lamb curry beforehand.

The Drinks

I ordered the Nimbu Lychee mocktail as I absolutely love lychee as a fruit, but it’s often expensive and hard to get. The mocktail had an abundance of ice, too much in fact, but the flavours were good before the ice diluted it. It was also quite small, so I don’t think I’d order this again. My friend ordered the lassi, which I’ve been told is nice.

The food

The spread

My friend wanted to order a puri as she heard they were good, but we also wanted to try out one of the tiffin dishes. We asked a waitress how big the tiffin dishes and puris were and she said that as a group, we can probably share one or two puris and one tiffin dish. With this knowledge, we ordered one puri dish and a tiffin dish to share, and then proceeded to order one curry each.

Dahi Puri

Dahi Puri: Puffed hollow pastry rounds filled with potato and yoghurt

The dahi puri was what drew my friend to try one, so we naturally ordered it. They taste like little parcels of yoghurt. You eat one whole and the taste is both cooling with the yoghurt and spicy with the chilli. The sweetness of the pomegranate seeds also added to the depthness of the dish, it was very nice and I’d gladly eat this again.

Masala Dosa

The masala dosa was interesting to taste as the rice and lentil gave a unique texture to a crepe. You ate it with the sauces on the tray, similar to how you would eat a popadom, but less crunchy. It was an experience and not a negative one, but I would probably try something else from the tiffin menu.

ITR Lamb

ITR Lamb: Lamb cooked in chef’s hand picked ITR spices, served with rice

The lamb was very tender in this curry and the rice was cooked perfectly. I cannot fault this dish, it was gorgeous.

Kerala fish curry

I’ve been informed by my friends that the Kerala fish curry was also tasty. I tried some of my friend’s naan bread and was surprised at how light it was compared to a lot of other places!

Gulab Jamun and Rasmalai

Gulab Jamun: deep fried milk dumpling dipped in sugar syrup flavoured with rose extract
Rasmalai: Homemade milk curd served in creamy saffron flavoured sauce

We decided to finish with some dessert as it’s been ages since I’ve actually eaten an Indian/Pakistani one. I went with rasmalai as that was my go to dessert from ages ago, and was somewhat disappointed by this dish. Perhaps it was my memory but this tasted more watery than I remembered. The gulab jamun was more flavoursome.

Overall rating and comments

7/10, -1 for my lychee mocktail, because I felt the size could have been larger.  -0.5 for the desserts. -1.5 for the service, it took us a while to get someone to take our order, but that could be due in part to the fact that the first time they asked we were still busy catching up and hadn’t fully decided what we wanted to eat. It also took a while to grab someone to ask and pay for our bill. We initially had a waitress whose English wasn’t quite up to par, and as a result had difficulty asking questions about the lassi. Once we had another waitress take our order, everything went smoothly. The food is a lot lighter compared to most Indian/Pakistani places, so it’s a good one if you don’t want to stuff yourself. The flavours are good and the menu is unique.

Would visit again?

Yes, I think I would come here again. I almost took my mum here, but alas this place can be awkward to get to as it’s nowhere near shops. If you’re watching something at HOME, then I’d recommend coming here for food.

Information

Website: http://www.indiantiffinroom.com/restaurants/manchester/
Address: 2 Isabella Banks Street, First Street, Manchester, M15 4RL

Do you like eating curries? Have you tried puris or masala dosa before?

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