P always makes fun of me for my inability to make decisions. Often before we go out to eat, I research multiple websites to find one great restaurant. My indecisive tendencies have probably cumulatively delayed our meals somewhere around 12.3 hours over the course of a year. Thus, he made me promise that one day I’d just go with the flow and walk into any old restaurant without any prior research whatsoever.
I guess that day was yesterday…and I kind of did it. Basically, P and I tried out a new restaurant with A and P (not the grocery) that they had discovered in TST. A and P said they were walking in TST one night when they were approached by one of the many South Asian salespeople in the area; he led them into the Mughal Club, a wonderful Halal Indian restaurant you might otherwise never find by yourself. Giving directions to the restaurant sounds like something from a scavenger hunt: It’s located in Haiphong Mansion, which has an address on Nathan Road. Forget that – enter through Haiphong Road (I believe the exact number is 53-55 Haiphong Road). Then take the elevators to the second floor. When you get off the elevator, turn right immediately. It’s the first door you encounter.
Anyways, when we walked in, it looked like any run-of-the-mill Indian place you might find in Chungking Mansions – kind of a hole in the wall. But man, the food was good! We ordered four dishes: Butter chicken, palak paneer, chicken tikka masala, and baingan bharta, an eggplant dish I’d never had before. My favorites were the chicken tikka masala (sorry for the fuzzy pic!) and the palak paneer. I loved that the chicken definitely had a kick to it! There was no holding back on the heat, as is so often done when Indian restaurants try to cater to HK palates. This was full-on, authentic spice! I also loved how I’d get a hit of cilantro every so often.
Chicken tikka masala, how I love thee!
The palak paneer was also awesome because, as you can see, the spinach really was the star. In a lot of restaurants where I’ve had this, the spinach is darker and seems to lose some of its spinach-y flavor. This palak paneer was green and lovely. I could taste the vegetable with every bite.
The colorful palak paneer
I was really surprised at how undiscovered Mughal Club is. We went on a Saturday night and besides us, there were only two tables, both occupied by South Asian families (we all took this as a good sign). I’d definitely urge all Indian food aficionados to try this place out – the food is worth the challenge of finding it! Also, if you get a Mughal Club card, it’s 10% off your total bill (which was already amazingly cheap for us – we ordered the four dishes, drinks, three types of naan and two rotis for under $100 each).
Spread the word, friends, spread the word.
Mughal Club
2/F, Haiphong Mansion, 53-55 Haiphong Road
Cost: ~ $70/person
Far from domestic 