KINGFISHER or Cobra? Yes, it’s the predictable beer choice at many an Indian restaurant. If you were going to feel bloated after an ill-advised late night Madras, then the fizzy, thin lager just added on extra bloat.
So it was a revelation seven years ago to discover Quilon, a Michelin-starred South Indian, near the Houses of Parliament, offering a beer-matching tasting menu. Grilled scallop with pawpaw and poppy seeds paired with a Corsican beer, the great Belgian golden ale Duvel tackling roast chicken that had been marinated in Keralan spices and amaranth leaves. Fascinating stuff.
Fast forward to 2018 and huge attention has been paid to Bundobust in Piccadilly Gardens, where new wave craft beer and Gujarati veggie food seem partners made in heaven. But Rusholme’s Asian restaurants remain barren for the beer lover – with one exception now.
Yes, it has to be Mughli. The Charcoal Pit duo Haz and Sax Arshad have always been the coolest kids on the Curry Mile Block, spawning various projects including a gin bar in Alderley Edge, Evelyn’s in the Northern Quarter and, just opened in its basement, the creatives lounge Daisy (see our First Look).
Their latest collaboration is with First Chop brewery, curating a light ale called ‘Horn OK Please’, available in both Mughli restaurants, Manchester and Knutsford. The aim? To provide a subtle beer that can handle the menu’s spice and chilli-driven ‘Indian Soul Food’. Does it succeed on the evidence of a ToM tasting? Definitely.
First, though, that name which inspired the Stanley Chow can designs. ‘Horn OK Please’ is commonly painted on trucks, buses or local taxis in India, advising you to let them know you are there. The cow on the label – wel, they’re a traffic on every road.
First impression of the straw-coloured ale (£4.20 a 33cl can) before food arrives is how mellow it is, citrus and lots of honey on the nose which follows onto the palate. The hop quotient is restrained, which makes a nice change. It’s not going to fight the Pit’s signature charred lamb chops (four for £10.50), but will it be conquered.
These chops with a blackened crust and singed spicing are classic finger food as your teeth wrench flesh from bone. Three napkins needed to wipe my fingers. ‘Horn OK Please’ made a wonderful match as they had for the pani puri appetisers. You know, the little fried semolina shells that you must eat in one, otherwise they explode their filling of potato chickpea chaat, tamarind, crispy sev, pomegranate onto your frontage £5 for five here, main picture).
The next two dishes came from a different angle, both undeniably sweet. The Hakka Chilli Paneer (£6.50) sweetness came from an abundance of stewed red peppers, lulling you until the chilli kicks in strongly. This was the only dish where the pale ale wasn’t a perfect bedfellow.
No problems with our main, Butter Chicken (£10.50). There’s honey and cream and fresh fenugreek leaf in this dish. Perhaps too creamy for my liking, accompanied by a naan slathered in ghee, but the ‘Horn OK Please’ fitted it like a honeyed, velvet glove. So congratulations to Rik Garner of Salford-based First Chop Brewing Arm, who has restrained his passion for hops and created a reason to get down to Mughli beyond our craving for those charred lamb chops.
Mughli Charcoal Pit, 30 Wilmslow Rd, Manchester M14 5TQ. 0161 248 0900.