Having seen all the Instagram and Facebook posts, I was super excited to try out Rikshaw Indian Kitchen, at 615 Mansfield Road. The food looked amazing and the menu sounded fun, so I messaged on Facebook asking to book a table for myself and 2 friends. Silly me! Turns out it is a takeaway! Their social media presence is so good that they fooled me into thinking it was a restaurant! However, they do have a couple of tables to perch on if you are so inclined to eat in. Having said that, we decided to go on the hottest day of the year so far, and so were relieved that we could indeed take it away and sweat in front of the electric fans in our lounge where no one could witness it!

The takeaway is glossy and incredibly clean (hopefully not just because they have only been open a couple of weeks) and is bright with a little bit of seating. A fully stocked fridge of drinks and sauces is the main focal point.

We ordered a selection of small items to try as much as we possibly could, along with a curry! So what did we order and what did we think? (please excuse the photos, we were hungry and it is so difficult to get a good photo in a takeout container!)

Small Plates

Crispy Pakora – Described as ‘Favourite Indian snack of crisp onions, baby spinach and fine sliced potatoes coated in special gram flour marinade and delicately fried’ these were amazing. Hot crispy, slightly spicy balls of joy! Similar to an onion bhaji but so much better in my opinion.

Serious Samosa – home made triangle pastries filed with deliciously spicy (although it nearly blew my head off) potato filling

Rikshaw Chicken Tikka Starter – Really juicy tender chicken breast pieces with coriander

4pcs Chilli Lolly Pops- Really spicy, messy, super tasty and sticky special garlic chilli spiced chicken on the bone

Rikshaw Lamb Burger – Unbelievably juicy Indian style lamb strips topped a with home made cilantro chutney chilli dip and Indian slow salad. These were gorgeous and I would readily have had one to myself. We cut it into three 🙁 I will definitely have this (and try the chicken and potato burgers too) again.

Samosa Chaat – A hot samosa, topped with chickpeas and drizzled with an assortment of chutneys, and sweet yoghurt, Garnished with sev and pomegranate. again this was delicious and I want one now just because I am writing about it!

Papdi Chaat – This is where we made a HUGE mistake. Described on the menu as ‘Papdi chaat is a popular street food dish in India where the little crisp Indian crackers are layered with potatoes, chutneys, chaat masala, Yogurt, and sev. Papdi chaat is an all time favourite among all chaats because of its crisp and tangy taste’. What we didn’t realise (and what wasn’t explained to us) is that to stop the crispy little buggers going soggy, you had to make it yourself at home! So we ate a box of little crisps and couldn’t understand why these hard things were on the menu, and then realised that we had leftover dips and were supposed to mix everything together ourselves. Lesson learned for next time!

Chicken Tikka Masala – Again another beautiful dish of succulent, vibrant, tandoori chicken in a creamy coconut masala spiced sauce. The chunks of chicken were juicy and tender and the sauce was nice and mild.

Pilau Rice and Garlic Coriander Naan – No way can you mess either of these up. Both delicious staples and the naan was covered in a generous amount of garlic. Big thumbs up

Poppadums & Pickle tray – Crispy poppadums with sweet mango chutney, home made green mint sauce, lime pickle and tamarind chutney. The tamarind sauce was amazing, a mix of sweet and sour and BBQ sauce. This was really surprising and I haven’t tasted anything like it before.

Verdict

I really liked Rikshaws. I think the concept of street food is brilliant and it enables people to try a variety of dishes at a small cost. Gone are the days where people just sit down for a curry, opting to try new and exciting dishes. The quality of the food was some of the best I have had in terms of Indian, and probably the best Indian takeaway I have tried. For under £40, three people were absolutely stuffed. The only advice I would give is to advise customers that the Papdi Chaat is a ‘build your own’ dish so they aren’t as confused as me. Stand out dishes have to be the lamb burger and the samosa chaat. I will definitely be frequenting this place A LOT. Open 11am – 11pm every day, get down and try it for yourself!