Mooli’s

Last night, I went for the ‘friends & family night’ of Mooli’s, their soft launch before the actual opening on 9th Nov, 2009.

The venue was perfect – centrally located in Soho, clean lines, warm lighting and projecting an apparent obsession with detail. Loved the hooks under the ledge where one can hang their coats/handbags and the colourful bins which added to the decor, rather than detract from the general coolness of the place. Speaking of decor, Mooli’s is looking for an artist to leave his/her mark on their wall – get in touch with Sam or Mathew for more details. The ‘Mooli, Madly, Deeply’ tees worn by the Mooli’s team certainly had a lot of fans. The chic, diverse and urbane crowd in attendance had people of very interesting backgrounds and all carrying an element of the joie de vivre and freshness that is reminiscent of the very concept of Mooli’s.

And so we move onto the most important segment of the evening – food and drink. I had reached a tad late so I missed out on the mango lassi with a hint of ginger (darn), so I started the evening off with orange juice, and not one of the wines, with the naive misconception that I would be leaving the party after just one Mooli, to wrap up some work at home. Naive, indeed, for I stayed and enjoyed myself for a good four hours, I think. Later in the evening, I had a bottle of Negro Modello beer which I hadn’t had previously – a nice discovery there.

The freshly made Moolis were scrumptious and exceeded all the previous versions of Moolis I have tasted so far, in that these were wrapped in their light, no-Gum, no-ickiness, home-made flatbread, rolled off the now-famous Moolita – thank you, Mooli Master. I relished, most greedily, the Pork, Beef & Paneer mini-moolis and chided myself for not skipping lunch, for that would have left room for the Asparagus & Chicken mini-moolis too.  I am still stumped by the genius behind pairing spice-soaked pork and pomegranate – delightful! For a mouth-watering, detailed write-up on each mooli, check out this page. And, OMG, I can’t believe I nearly missed the wicked mint & coriander chutney – can’t wait to try out the rest of the repertoire in weeks to come.

The Cheeky Puds, I thought, were a novel follow-up to Indian flavours – unlike most Indian desserts, these neatly-packaged pots of dairy delights did not overwhelm the taste buds with extreme sweetness; I tried the cardamom flavour and recommend it highly. I also tried the Malai kulfi and enjoyed it immensely; my curiosity is piqued by the mention of upcoming kulfis in non-Indian flavours like blackberry and passion fruit * slurp * – I am keeping a keen eye on the kulfi shelf, for sure.

As all the shamelessly foodie talk above might demonstrate, yes, I over-ate. And the morning after, I feel no regrets for having done so. That, I think, is the best testimonial for the wholesome and delicious goodness that Mooli’s is all about!

And I urge all Londoners to stop by 50, Frith Street to try out the wonderful ‘Old Delhi-meets-Tokyo’ food. Their menu shows that good food doesn’t have to burn a hole in the pocket. I am excited by the story behind Mooli’s, which I have been following closely on their blog, Twitter, Facebook and also during a couple of visits to their Sunday Upmarket stall at Bricklane. I like how Sam & Mathew had so much fun along the way to making this dream come alive and how they have been so inclusive in letting everyone share the joy.

I am also a proponent of making accessible healthy, fresh, subtler Indian flavours in the heart of the city – I rue the fact that most people think Indian food is only about grease, extremely pungent flavours and a feeling of distinct discomfort and heavyness afterwards. Mooli’s, I think, will help change this image of desi food.

Looking forward to Mooli’s doing well in Soho & opening many more branches in the months and years to come – I am already in the lunch-time queue for their branch in the City 😉