Rang Mohol

Tonight, we hit the The Rang Mohol.
This has been a well over due target for us for some time now and I am so glad we have finally managed to visit. Sadly, thanks to geographical inconveniences, a lack of time and a serious lack of money,  it has not been a possibility, until now!

The Rang Mohol is the sister restaurant of The Lalbagh in Bourne and is located in the fine town of Sawston, just south of Cambridge. It is an award winning restaurant (English Curry Awards 2014) so should serve us well. 

Lets see what the fuss is about. 

The first thing I like about this restaurant is that is has free parking in the back. It sounds trivial I know, but it makes a big difference when coming from out of town (which is probably for most people in this case).  

I do not know if this is just the man inside me or some sort of weird Simon thing, but I would much rather drive all the way out to Sawston and not have to worry about where to put my car, or worse yet, pay for parking my car, then actually drive in to Cambridge, which is actually a much shorter journey. 

The wheel chair access to this restaurant is fantastic and actually the best I have ever seen in an Indian restaurant. Not surprising really after my Disability access blog post the other week where someone from the restaurant actually challenged us to visit and test their restaurant and test their disabled access. So clearly they are confident and I can see why. Well done guys! 

I would recommend this to anyone who is wheelchair bound.

Once you enter, the first thing you notice is how modern the place looks. Like its sister restaurant, Lalbagh, it has a water themed look to it, with blue neon lighting. This makes the place look very modern and atmospheric but also quite hard to take pictures with a poor camera phone, so I apologize again (new camera coming soon, I promise!).
 The water walls (with bubbles) were a real winner for me, it just made everything feel so mellow. This would be an ideal place to impress a work college, boss or a date if you wanted to show them some sophistication...but still just wanted a good curry!

The staff were very polite, well presented and tended to our every need. We were seated in a fantastic spot in the corner which overlooked the restaurant. The whole place is very clean and the toilets especially are incredibly classy. We really liked the blue lights on each of the tables, they gave us that bit extra light which was really needed considering how dim it was in there.

We ordered some poppadoms while we decided what we wanted. The menus are fantastic and incredibly varied, catering for traditional Indian cuisine and more standard British Indian dishes too, so there is something for everyone, including a good fish selection.
They brought out the poppadoms quite quickly and gave us four side sauces in white china pots. Yogurt, lime pickle, mango chutney and onion salad. The yogurt was quite runny and unfulfilling but everything else was spot on. The onion salad especially was fantastic. Over all very impressive. 

There was Mongoose and Kingfisher beer on tap at the bar, though as I was driving we decided to just have a can of coke. The prices were over £4 for a pint, so be careful!

Shorisha seabass.

The Rang Mohol are known for their sea bass, so naturally I found it hard to resist the temptation. 

I went for the "Shorisha seabass", which is a pan fried seabass with coriander, cumin and served on ground mustard seeds. This came excellently prepared in a fish shaped dish, which impressed me more than it probably should have, but was a nice touch either way. 

I couldn't help but think if it had come with a few extra potatoes then it would have been a perfect dish in its own right. I think they were trying to encourage people to buy rice with it as it had a lot of spicy sauce. After looking at the menu and seeing that the rice portions were nearly £4, I thought that id give it a miss. Nice try fellas. 

All things considered, the 3 small potatoes nearly sufficed, and the over all experience of the dish was very good. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys something a bit different or quite simply loves sea bass. 

The korma was no different. It was well presented (if you ignore the picture), it had a fantastic texture to it and it also just burst with sweet flavour. The prawns were quite small but tasted fine. There were no complaints all around with this dish.

Once we were done we were asked for coffee or dessert, which we both declined. We were keeping it short and sweet tonight. We were offered a chocolate, some orange, and a blue packaged hot towel (warm wet wipe) to freshen up with. Which was a nice touch as a lot of places are not so generous now days. Once we paid, we left the building. The staff were polite enough to walk us out and open the door for us. No complaints all round. 

The bill came to much less than it did at Frankie And Benny's, so that might be something to consider. You can have fine delicacies while dining in modern restaurants without paying for the earth. Not to mention fantastic access and disabled facilities.

Conclusion:

I loved the Rang Mohol, as I did the Lalbagh. Though I don't think both restaurants are for everyone. 

The place is modern, sophisticated and quite atmospheric. I think some people might not like how dim and dark it is in here, and perhaps prefer a place with more light or somewhere with more of a traditional feel. Otherwise there is not really much to fault here.

Prices are a little over average, though the food is fantastic and easily worth it. The selection of food is even better, with menus catering for traditional Indian cuisine and more British Indian styles of cooking too, so there is something for everyone. The fish selection is fantastic too.

Its clear to see why Rang Mohol has won awards and gets a lot of respect within the industry. It has clearly put a lot of effort in to its cuisine, image, and its service. Not to mention catering for its customers.

4.5/5