We visited Mowgli Indian Street Food, in Bury St Edmunds, to sample its Christmas feasting menu and found dishes packed with flavour

With the festive season hurtling towards us at an alarming rate, I took a trip to Mowgli Street Food, in Bury St Edmunds, with my family to sample its Christmas feasting menu.

Mowgli, in Abbeygate Street, has now been open a year, but it was our first visit and I was curious to try its concept of serving a variety of tiffin boxes full of differing flavours.

The Christmas menu was the perfect starting point.

But before talking about the food, no visit to Mowgli is complete without mention of the venue’s eclectic interior.

With wooden seating, hanging ropes, soft white festoon lighting and the odd table complete with unusual swing seats (which our eight-year-old daughter Clara chose as our location for lunch), Mowgli’s Bury restaurant is a feast for the eyes, as well as the belly.

And so, once at our table and gently swaying on our rope swing seats, we were welcomed with a glass of Prosecco (for me) and my husband chose a bottle of Cobra.

We then placed our orders from the feasting menu – and Clara chose from the children’s menu – starting with Mowgli ‘Chat Bombs’ to share.

These are crisp bread puffs filled with chickpeas, spiced yoghurt, tamarind and coriander.

“You’re best to pop the whole thing in your mouth in one go,” said our server – and she was right.

The little parcels explode to reveal cool a delicate flavoured yoghurt. My husband David and I found them an utter delight and could have consumed several more.

But within a few minutes our table was filled with plenty more food as dish after dish arrived: my Himalayan cheese toast and Indian school tiffin; David’s gunpowder chicken and Office worker’s tiffin; and Clara’s choice of the kids’ gunpowder chicken and fries, which came served with a generous dollop of ketchup (‘better than Heinz’, according to Clara).

My cheese toast, with delightfully strong flavours, came served with a coriander, red onion and green chilli dressing (and an Indian pickle) which were the perfect accompaniment.

The three-tier tiffin boxes are packed with meat and vegetable curries with rice to share. The recipes are freshly cooked each morning, chosen and curated by the chef, meaning tiffin roulette is total pot luck.

My tiffin boxes were packed with tasty picnic potato and paneer curries (the saucy paneer was my personal favourite) with white rice.

Meanwhile, David’s office worker’s tiffin included Agra ginger chicken (his favourite), a chickpea curry (lacking pizazz) and white rice.

He also loved his punchy gunpowder chicken (finishing off Clara’s portion, as she was more interested in the crispy little fries alongside her meal).

Overall, we had so much food that none of us really fancied dessert, but with some tantalising choices on offer (and the feasting menu including dessert in the £35 price), it would have been rude not to…

My gooey Mogli chocolate brownie came served warm with a delicate vanilla ice cream (delectable) and festive topping.

The mango sorbet waffle cone was a hit with David, who declared it ‘delicious’ while practically unhaling it in moments. Ice cream fan Clara was also impressed with her salted caramel cone.

We finished our meal with two creamy lattes – and practically needed rolling out of the restaurant.

While it was our first visit to Mowgli, I’m sure it will not be our last. And with tables of families, couples and larger groups packing the bustling restaurant by the time we left, it seems we are not the only Mowgli fans in town.

• The Christmas feasting menu costs £35 per person and is available until January 5.

Mowgli Street Food was founded by Nisha Katona, who gave up a 20-year career as a child protection barrister to open Mowgli in Liverpool's Bold Street, followed by Manchester. There are now 24 Mowgli restaurants across the UK – the Bury St Edmunds branch opened last November.

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