Gunpowder -Indian Smash and Go !

You can even sit outside if you can cope with the wild tunnel effect !

Gunpowder – Indian Smash and Go!

People who know me – and luckily for the Worlds Gene Pool there are not many that suffer this terror – appreciate that I am a bit of a thespian. Not that I have dared to tread the boards myself but that I am a keen, enthusiastic supporter of the Theatrical arts in terms of attending shows on a regular basis. Indeed I maintain a record of every show I go to ( or have for the past 5 years anyway) and I average between 45-50 shows a year, which even I can understand puts me in some kind of Victorian Hall of entertainment almost once a week, every week all year round. That must qualify me for being a Theatre critic – No ? Note to self – Must look up the opportunities there !

Anyway, when walking towards London Bridge Station Saturday afternoon I noticed a Gentleman walking towards me looking a lot like the British treasure and Academy awarded Actor Mr.James Broadbent. In the knowledge I was attending a Theatrical extravaganza that very evening at The London Bridge Theatre starring same Mr.Broadbent then his appearance so close by should not come as a huge surprise, but anyway, to walk by him some hours before seeing him on stage was a pleasant coincidence. Coincidence or fate ?

Walking into Gunpowder Restaurant at 6.15 a few hours later for a pre – Theatre Dinner,  who should be sitting alone at a table to the side of us – none other than the same MrBroadbent, with obviously the same idea as us – filling up with spices before the show ! I would not dare to disturb this acting Icon during his intake of Gunpowder’s finest Indian cuisine, but as he finished up and was undoubtedly about to take the long walk to his dressing room  – I would guess about 25 metres – to appear within the hour as Hans Christian Anderson, I felt I had to say something. Words were exchanged, very pleasant ones in fact, and he ended up by saying that this evening was only the second show, they had changed things from the first evening, and that he hoped we would be forgiving ! What a charming and modest man, and his demeanour warmed me to him even more ! Now I have got this little star struck episode out of the way I can concentrate on the job at hand – that of reviewing Gunpowder – the restaurant that shall always be known, henceforward, as the one where I had dinner with the famous Mr.James Broadbent !

Gunpowder started its life as a no booking tiny restaurant just off Spitalfields market, and whilst the non booking policy had delayed my attendance there,  I had visited, and had been mightily impressed. Further establishments owned by the same people behind it – Madame D’s and Gil and Sepoy also opened within a 100 metre radius of the original restaurant, specialising in specific regional foods. I had not managed to visit these when I read that they had already closed, but more or less at the same time it was announced that Gunpowder would be opening a second site at the One Tower Bridge complex – a stone throws away from my residence – marvellous !

It is along the same windy corridor that houses The Ivy, By Chloe and Tom Simmons, and enters a complex that surrounds the aforementioned Bridge Theatre that is now becoming a bit of a gastronomic destination, with Rosas Thai, the wonderful Coalshed, and Prosecco House already in operation, and others to open in the near future. Being part of the new complex it shares the same glass fronted non descript box as others, is over two floors and has tables millimetres apart  – Almost resembling a modern style greasy Joes cafe. When I say this there is of course lots of polished wood and comfy looking booths at the back, but I know a few Greasy Joes designed in the same way – hence it resembles a sleeker updated model of the same. It certainly gives the impression it is ready for a quick turnaround of diners, and serves like one too. Nothing against that if all you are looking for is a rapid intake of spices, but I am going for – not a place to linger over a long leisurely Dinner.

A quick dinner was certainly all that was required for this first visit as we had pencilled in an hour 15 minutes before taking our seats around the corner for our evenings entertainment. We need not have worried timewise. We were seated, given menus, provided with the requested tap water and the requested bottle Dunk IPA (£5) for me, and we were ordering within minutes.

What’s needed to combat the Spices !

After being asked if it was our first visit, and establishing that we had been to the original Spitalfields site, we were advised it was more or less the same concept and food – sharing plates – Ta -Dah ! How very original. Excuse the irony – but the sharing plates did look good ! So first off we ordered the Vermicelli Venison Spiced doughnut (£5) and Chicken Lollipops Madras Style (£6).

A Hedgehog or a Testicle you decide !

The doughnut arrived looking like a huge golden hairy testicle with a little side dish of fiery sauce. Cutting it open it did look and taste rather spectacular and whilst I was enjoying the spicy sauce Mrs.W thought it was a little over powering. However she has less of a constitution for spicy food, so whilst I was busy enjoying this she went for the chicken lollipops, which were three little chunks of the bird sitting on the end of a bone smothered in a more modestly spiced madras sauce.

Lollipops – Chicken Style

The chicken skin was glutinous and fatty and complimented the sauce beautifully and actually represented quite a generous portion for the price. Next up came the half portion of the Sigree grilled Mustard Broccoli (£6.50) which was definitely Mrs.W’s cup of tea. It came with a huge knife standing proudly piercing the centre of the Vegetable.

Stabbed Broccoli

Not a huge fan of this fibrous Veg, but must admit it was very well prepared, not over cooked, nice crunch and for me the mustard sauce did its job – masking the taste of the Broccoli! However it was also over spiced according to Mrs.W and she was already getting a little concerned.

Karwari Soft Shell Crab (£9) followed, and it’s appearance was almost as though it had been frozen in time – it was looking so intact and crab like I was sure it was still alive and would run off the plate, balancing the lime wedge on its back, as it scuttled under the table. However as I pulled a claw there was no movement and I realised it had been prepared just perfectly. Velvety White crab meat inside , a little spice in the sauce on top and a squeeze of lime to counter this.

It’s running away !

One of the famous dishes in the original restaurant is the Maa’s Kashmiri Lamb Chops and these are also on offer here. You must order a minimum of 2 (£7.50 each) but they are amazing. They arrive as two little babies huddled together, Glistening pink inside, charred in all the right places and accompanied by a vibrant Coriander sauce.

My beautiful 2 little babies !

These ended up both on my plate as Mrs.W does not eat lamb ( oh, I forgot !) and were enjoyed to the full, however even I was getting concerned about the amount of food already eaten when the last dish arrived. A huge plate of Aunty Sulu’s Wild Rabbit Pulao which was priced at £15 – more of a main course as described to us – and indeed it was a healthy looking portion of food despite me not knowing who Aunty Sulu is – but I am sure she cooks well ! Chunks of rabbit, some on the bone, some off, so you need to be careful, fried onions, spicy rice and little jewels of berries – unsure what they were ( Barberrys ?) but they gave a welcome juicy fruitiness to the intensely aromatic dish. My first mouthful just screamed and exploded cardamom to me, and then cinnamon, and then spicy hotness. Again too much for Mrs.W, and enough to prompt me to order Dank IPA Number 2.  I was thoroughly enjoying the mouthfeel the spice was providing and also grateful Rabbit was being used in Indian cooking, but with no assistance from Mrs.W the dish was to defeat me in terms of quantity. We had seen others taking out food if they were similarly defeated, and whilst the Manager advised us he could not take any responsibility for allowing us to take out the food (especially rice, which is understandable) the beauty of living a 2 minute walk away is that we could deliver our “Doggy bag” home before attending the show

Can anyone introduce me to Aunty Sulu ?

Unfortunately this review cannot be regarded as comprehensive as no dessert was sampled, or indeed no wine this time around. However from the relatively small menu a least half the dishes were tried and I enjoyed them all. Quickly served, quality ingredients and a great thump of spice in every dish – other then the lamb which was more delicately prepared. On the other hand the level of spice was too much fur Mrs.W, so it is down to personal taste. However Gunpowder sits in the middle of Indian Fine Dining establishments such as Indian Accent/ Gymkhana and the traditional  good local Indian. It has a place, a niche, and represents excellent preparation and cooking with twists on old Indian traditional food, and new dishes which do not disappoint. They serve you quickly and then you are ready to move on. In our case moving on to see Mr.Broadbent on stage. I hope he enjoyed his visit there to as he will be appearing at The Bridge for 12 weeks, and therefore could become more than familiar with the menu.

What did we think of the show ? Well, it’s in preview so I don’t want to give the game away. It is written by Martin McDonagh who wrote The Lieutenant of Inishmore that finished its West End run recently, and was the Writer,Producer and Director of Three Billboards outside Ebbing Missouri amongst others.  I will say however it represents intriguing new writing, is a macabre fantasy studded with black humour that manages to point a humorous finger at England, Belgium and even Trump, hysterical in places, mind boggling in others, and has such an unbelievable pretext which the writer anticipates or expects you indulge him in, and if you do not you may struggle with the whole concept of the play. There, I think I have said enough without giving you a clue what it is all about !

Gunpowder Rating  – Very Hot Pan 4/5

Service 5/5 

Gunpowder, 4 Duchess Walk, London, SE1 2SD

Gunpowderlondon.com

The Bridge Theatre – A very,very,very Dark Matter Rating – Also 4/5 !