As a belated birthday gift from my little sister, I was taken out for a meal at any restaurant of my choosing. One particular place I have been longing to visit for some time now is Gurkha Durbaar, a Nepalese restaurant located down Broadway, in Peterborough.

I used to work several doors down and was often enticed by the beautiful smells that used to waft past my office. I promised myself that I would visit one day but the opportunity never arose. Tonight, I was finally going to slay the niggling foodie demon that has been antagonising me for years and find out whether Gurkhar Durbaar lived up to the hype!

The restaurant

The restaurant is absolutely striking from the moment you walk in. Gurkhar Durbaar has a modern style with stunning chandeliers dotted around the restaurant adding a real touch of class but the crowning jewel of the experience is their ginormous waterfall backdrop. I have seen these at numerous Indian restaurants throughout Cambridge but never one so big. It adds a therapeutic atmosphere while the melodic lighting gives a calming ambience. It is something you really have to experience in person to really appreciate.

♿ The wheelchair access is great, with a ramp leading inside and a flat entrance to the toilet. This makes me think that the restaurant may be purpose-built.

The menu is a good size, with a diverse selection of things to choose from. This is predominantly a Nepalese restaurant but you will also see other dishes from across Asia, such as traditional Indian cuisine, Thai curry, sheek kebab, Indian street food, and Peri-Peri chicken.

Starters – 3 for £13.95

A tapas-style promotion caught my eye under the starters menu, offering a choice of 3 out of 11 options for a flat rate of £13.95. I was quite impressed with the selection available too, so I decided to give it a go to test whether it was the bargain it seemed.

Papadum basket (v)

I started off with a Papadum basket. This came with three small portions of chutney; one being a type of mango chutney, one being yoghurt, and the other being a spicy red sauce.

Frankly, I was quite disappointed with my papadum basket. The papadums themselves were absolutely fine but the sauces were measly portions that didn’t mix well together. The mango chutney didn’t go with either yoghurt or the red sauce and vice versa. The mango chutney was thin, smooth and anaemic. The yoghurt had a good colour but was thin and watery, and the red sauce was probably the most flavoursome of the three sauces but it didn’t really go well with the papadums.

Vegetable momo’s (v)

Next we had a portion of five momos. These are a dumpling like dish that are stuffed with mixed vegetables and served with chutney. I found these to be tasty, though the skin was quite thick, taking up most of the space in the centre. This didn’t leave much space for the vegetables inside and made them quite hard to eat with a fork, as they were just immediately deflated as you prick it. We ended up eating them in our hands, which was no trouble, but I would have still liked to have had a better skin to filling ratio.

Crispy fish pakora

The crispy fish pakora were the strongest out of the three starters. There were six in total, which were served with the same chutney as the momos. They were chunky, crispy, and succulent, with a delicate fish flavour that makes them the perfect starter dish 👌

Was the starter deal worth it? Yeah, sort of. With 11 options available and the quality of the three dishes I had ranging from poor to average to excellent, likely means it is down to the dishes you pick. If you are a frequent visitor I can imagine that you can figure out which ones are worth choosing, then 3 dishes for £13.95 is easily worth it. You just need to be careful and it may take a few visits to refine.

Mains

There are so many great choices on the menu that we really struggled to make a decision for our mains. This is a menu I could revisit many times and still not try everything I wanted, so I will have to come back again (oh, well! 🤷‍♂️🤣).

Lamb Khukuri & saag aloo

Being in a Nepalese restaurant, I wanted to try some authentic Nepalese cuisine. So I opted for the lamb khukuri, a curry-like dish that is cooked with hot Nepalese spices and felt very much like their signature dish.

Spring onion, garlic, ginger, and green chilies, with a touch of Suchuan pepper were also included, combining into a rich smoky dish with a spicy kick and beautifully tender lamb to boot. This was very much my type of meal and it really hit the spot.

Saag aloo

I ordered a portion of saag aloo as a side dish. This was one of the strongest saag aloo’s I have seen in a while, with a very generous portion of spinach that was incredibly thick and creamy. The potatoes were slightly harder than usual but I quite liked it, especially since they had a prominent flavour. It complimented my meal perfectly and padded it out, making it a more robust dish that was going to fill me up for longer. Top marks!

Dum Biryani

My sister ordered the dum biryani. This differs from your everyday biryani by slow cooking the rice, meat, and vegetables together, rather than separately. This gives it a more robust flavour with a softer and more tender texture (especially with the meat). My sister said it was one of the best she has ever had and after trying it myself, I would certainly agree that it was a fine take on the dish.

Dessert

After our mains, we were both full and satisfied but since we rarely get to Peterborough, we decided to make the most of it while we were here and push ahead with a Nepalese carrot based ice cream dessert.

I found carrot to be an unusual choice for a dessert, so I was absolutely fascinated to see how they were going to make this work. Fundamentally, they just added sugar. It obviously tasted very nice for that reason but I didn’t find myself particularly inspired by the carrot flavour with ice-cream. It was quite unusual. The ice cream itself was very thick and creamy that saved the dish but both my sister and I both agreed that it was something we wouldn’t order again.

Conclusion

Did Gurkhar Durbaar live up to the hype? Absolutely! The restaurant is exquisite, with unmatched style and class. My heart was stolen by the beautiful water feature that towered over us while we dined. The staff were very friendly and formal but it felt slightly disorganised at times, though it was by no means bad service, we had highly attentive service one minute and felt abandoned the next. We also had nobody to greet us upon entering, so we just kinda hung around until someone spotted us several minutes later loitering awkwardly.

The menu was fantastic, with lots of varied choices from all over Asia, meaning that anyone would find something they liked, from a timid eater, all the way up to hardcore foodie. I lost count at the number of interesting dishes I wanted to try. Many dishes I had never even heard of before, making this a perfect place for someone to explore their culinary horizons.

Peterborough has a real gem with Gurkhar Durbaar and it only makes me want to explore the city further.

I’ll be back…

Watch this space!

Thanks for reading