| Ambiance: |  (3 / 5) |
| Service: | (3.5 / 5) |
| Value for money: | (3.5 / 5) |
| Toilets: | (3.5 / 5) |
We settled on Lali Gurans for two reasons: the first being Sam loved its predecessor, the Gurkha Chef and I’d never tried Nepalese food. Located nearer the outskirts of the city centre, we were surprised to see it wasn’t overly busy, given it was a Thursday night.
The Menu
We arrived at a fairly late time of 9pm, but were warmly welcomed inside and were seated at a table for four. We were given big, slightly tacky, laminated menus with a humongous selection of yummy sounding Nepalese delights. To help us tackle the menu, we ordered a 660ml Nepalese beer to share and some customary popadoms.
Nepalese Beer & Popadoms
In short, it took a good fifteen minutes to decide what to have, and that was after enrolling the help of the waiter. In the end, as we’d already been somewhere beforehand for nibbles, we decided to order a couple of things to share. From the starters, we went for Mamo (pork) which were described as being Nepalese style dumplings and Khasi Ko Chops; lamb chops covered in ‘exotic spices’.
Khasi Ko – Lamb Chops
For our main, we opted to go for a different meat and chose a Nepalese curry with a spicy tomato base. As Sam refuses to eat bread (I know, boring right?), he wouldn’t share a naan with me. To me, this is like having a cup of tea and not having a biscuit. Curry and naan – it goes hand in hand! Anyway, so he ordered a rice and I begged the waiter to let me have a half portion of peshwari naan. It seemed to be my lucky day as my wish was granted and I ended up with both rice and naan!
We were warned that the dumplings were made from scratch so would take at least fifteen minutes, but we’d asked for the food to come whenever it was ready – Wagamama style. The lamb chops came first, and although on looks alone, you probably wouldn’t be impressed, they were pretty tasty. However, I think Sam drew the short straw as he complained about the lack of meat on his but mine made up for it so I ended up giving him half of mine too. The dumplings arrived next and reminded me a lot of Chinese dim sum. I didn’t particularly like the casing, but the minced pork inside was perfectly seasoned so I just enjoyed that.
The Main Event!
Our curry, again, on looks alone, wasn’t the most appetising but when soaked up with the rice and naan (for me), it was really enjoyable. I know I’m going to begin to sound like a broken record but the naan stole the show for me. It was perfectly cooked and the filling wasn’t sickly sweet like so many peshwari naans are, and most importantly it didn’t go rock hard when it cooled down.
All in all, I really liked my Nepalese experience. I’d liken it to a slightly healthier Indian and I probably would recommend it to someone fancying something different in Winchester.
Recommendation
If you fancy something different, I’d give Lali Gurans a go. It’s reasonably priced and will definitely leave you satisfied. However, don’t expect aesthetics!
Extra Information:
Address: 17 City Road | Winchester, Winchester SO23 8SD
Phone: 01962 842843
Website: No website. (Under development)
NTK: Order the naan! 😉
