Glasgow loves a curry but does it have the capacity to swallow another new Indian restaurant?
The owners of the just opened Urban Pind on Candleriggs must hope so. I stumbled across the place last night while contemplating a slice of almond cake from the French Market which is running during the Merchant City Festival.
It is fairly unassuming from the outside but step through the doors and it is like entering an alternative universe. It can’t be far off 200 covers but is decorated cleverly so that it doesn’t feel like a barn.
The middle of the room is dominated by a large round table which is covered by a sort of tent awning. The walls are hung with pictures of rural Indian life and, if my eyes weren’t deceiving me, I could swear that they even have a water-driven mill in the place.
The menu is new school which means that old standards such as rogan josh, pathias and bhunas are absent. In their place is a selection of slow-cooked handis, fish kebabs and, this is a new one to me, dishes inspired by the Mughals court of the 17th century. Think lamb cooked in elachi, clove and rose water and then finished in a creamy herb and yoghurt sauce.
The Merchant City is becoming a bit of a curry quarter. 5pm members Cafe India, Dakhin, Dhabba and Koolba are among Urban Pind’s neighbours.