Better go to Nanglo

This review was first published in June 2001

This bright and bustling newcomer on Balham High Road is a 'new-style' Indian restaurant with blond wood flooring and strident blue-green walls. It is run by Nepalese and proudly proclaims 'Authentic Nepalese Cuisine'.

Naturally there are some familiar dishes on offer - chicken Ceylon, dhansak, meat Madras - but there is also a good selection of Nepalese specialities and a whole range of non-spooky dishes that have Nepalese origins and arbitrary Nepalese names.

As a starter try the sekuwa, a goat dish that originates with the Newari people in the Kathmandu valley but which for very practical reasons is made from lamb in Balham. Strips of meat are first marinated and then barbecued, ensuring that the result is both tender and tasty. Or there is the soaltee alu - a herby, light and almost fluffy potato cake, deep-fried until the outside is really crisp.

From the tandoori section the Sunsari chicken is presented as a sizzle dish - delicately spiced and agreeably moist. There are some good main courses - Karnali lamb (which presumably has been named after the river and dam) is gloriously rich and the lamb has been cooked with chunks of pumpkin which provide an excellent contrasting texture.

Pokhareli lamb is cooked with potatoes, peppers and tomatoes and is named after the tourist town of Pokhara. Khorsani chicken is a grand, chilli-hot dish ('khursanni' is the word for chilli) and lives up to its billing on the menu and the concerned warnings of the waiters - 'exceptionally hot'. There's also a dish called Nepalese sam which at first reading sounds like a cartoon character, but turns out to be a dish of spicy stir-fried noodles with all sorts of bits and pieces added.

This dish has the stamp of good home cooking about it. From the vegetable listings try paloong sag: another simple dish, this time made with spinach. At Nanglo it is billed as 'a popular dish of the Kathmandu farmers'. The breads are good - the Peshwari nan is buttery and the rotis are excellent. Consider ordering either to accompany your starters.

There is a well-meaning, rather over-ambitious wine list, but towards the back of it you'll find Cobra beer which will do very nicely. Nanglo is an engaging, friendly restaurant that offers some interesting Nepalese dishes at very reasonable prices. It's certainly worth a trip to Balham.

Nanglo
88 Balham High Road, SW12 9AG