Eat Drink Hong Kong

I’ve long been a fan of Indian cuisine but I don’t often come across restaurants that style themselves as ’boutique Indian dining’. They do exist of course, sometimes they call themselves ‘modern Indian cuisine’.

The better ones usually have some interesting dishes on the menu. Lesser known or interesting reinterpretations of familiar ones. I had high hopes for Guru.

It’s a pleasant place just down the hill a few paces from the junction of Staunton and Elgin Streets. There are a couple of tables outside but this time I thought it might be more comfortable inside.

Just above the entrance on the inside there is a large light fitting and facing this is a colourful, modern painting of a traditional Indian scene. I took the table just inside with a good view of the painting.

I ordered a pint of draught Asahi ($55) and buried my nose in the menu. Of course there are some old favourites there. It just wouldn’t be right without samosas, rogan josh or tandoori chicken. But there plenty there to keep me undecided for quite a while. I was also pleased to note that they only use olive oil in their dishes and preparations.

For starters I took the easy way out and ordered the Guru sample platter ($98). You could think about sharing one of these as there are two of each item. The platter includes: Guru Tikki which were delicious tawa grilled potato and spinach cakes and samosas. Both of these could be dipped in the little bowl of tamarind sauce. Then there were muscles stir fried in tomato and herbs and the blue mango chat.

The mango was my favourite of all of them and I saved it until last just to savour it all the more. It featured tangy cubes of mango with whole wheat crisps in sweetened yoghurt with mint and tamarind chutney.

To follow I had ordered Mangaloria Fish Pot ($118). This is a very smooth and creamy curry rather like a korma. But unlike a korma this had a little more punch. I would class this as medium spicy so long as you don’t bite the chilli that decorates the top. It is served in a deep pot with succulent cubes of tender but flavourful fish swimming just beneath the surface.

To go with it I had Kadai Paneer ($68) which is sautéed chunks of cottage cheese with bell peppers, chilli and tomatoes. These were both mopped up with two plain nan.

I finished off with a Guru’s banana pancake a simple enough dessert of sliced banana wrapped in a pancake and drizzled with chocolate sauce and dusted with icing sugar.

G/F 13 Elgin Street
SoHo
Tel. 2547 9998