Light Meals (Tiffin)

The other weekend we went for the first time to the newest member of the Balbir empire, the Tiffin Rooms on Sauchiehall Street just west of Charing Cross. We had stopped to look at the menu a number of times since it opened but when one of our friends who lives in Wales (but is from Glasgow and therefore misses local curry terribly) came up to visit we thought this was the right moment to give it a try. The food had been reported to be, as is Balbir’s trademark, on the fresh and light side of the Indian cuisine spectrum. This appealed to me as I am dairy-challenged and it was good to know that I was not getting ghee in my meal or any sneaky butter, cream or yoghurt that I wasn’t prepared for – and that I could speak up about my allergies and get a good reception from staff with proper training. (Thank you, Balbir!)

The interior is modern and spacious and even though it was fairly busy, it did not seem noisy. The menu held a list of smaller size dishes (tiffin), thali choices, platters as well as full sized curries. The items were well chosen however and you weren’t overwhelmed by endless lists of dishes. There is also a specials board above the window to the open kitchen with extra additions to the menu. We chose three starters from the list – mushroom pakora (light and crispy) and two dosas (rice and lentil pancakes) - one chicken and one lamb. They were all lovely although the star was the lamb mince dosa which was rich and spicy. Having ordered a set of appetisers, we thought we shouldn’t overdo it on the mains and we ordered platters rather than ‘full’ curries. These were reasonably priced (around £8) and provided a curry of choice, rice and Bombay potatoes (which were great). This was the perfect sized main course and we went away feeling satisfied and not overstuffed. I chose chicken achari as my curry and while it was delicious it was not very ‘pickle-y’. Personally, the more pickled bits, the better – but everyone may not agree – I may order pickles as a side dish the next time. My dining companions however were delighted with their choices of lamb saag (this was reported to be particularly nice) and chicken karahi. We enjoyed a nice, reasonably-priced Chilean Sauvignon Blanc with our meal, left for the evening only about £60 lighter (for three) and not feeling like we needed a nap before we went onto enjoy the rest of our evening.