Jaipur Palace, Manchester
On discovering a hit-and-miss haven for vegetarians and vegans in the Fallowfield-Withington hinterland
Going vegan for a month isn’t that hard in the grand scheme of things, but I’ll wager that going vegan with someone else makes it a whole lot easier. I’ve been your Food ed’s accomplice – one might even say instigator! – for good old Veganuary; so 2015 thus far has involved lots of researching, meal planning and batch cooking. It has involved eating less junk food, a few errors (brioche buns and milk stout, I’m guessing, do contain dairy products) and a helluva lot less eating out (except the weekend where we ate chips TWICE).
That’s not to say there aren’t establishments offering up vegan grub, it’s just that, well, some of them are very vegan. Other than that cauliflower lasagne (note: silken tofu is never going to replace a creamy béchamel sauce), I haven’t particularly felt like I’m missing out when abstaining from eating animal products, and, given that I rather enjoy eating out, I haven’t wanted to feel that sense of FOMO when dining in restaurants, either.
Fortunately, there are a few places that have helped along the way, proving that vegan grub can be just as trouser-busting as yer steak, chips and béarnaise. Jaipur Palace is nestled between Fallowfield and Withington, in Manchester, suffering a little from being situated in something of a no-man’s land. It’s technically a hotel restaurant, but given that such a place usually equates to overpriced plates, expensive booze and stuffy service, you’d certainly never guess. Jaipur Palace is cheap as (non-animal fat fried) chips, with very little booze to speak of (there’s a bar but nothing’s listed on the menu) and quietly hilarious waiting staff.
We start the meal with pani puri, an Indian street food snack consisting of deep-fried unleavened bread (like a poppadom pocket) filled with potatoes, sev (crunchy gram flour) and chickpeas. The tamarind sauce on the side helps to bring the dish to life, but it’s not really a patch on the ones served by Chaat Cart or Mughli. We’re completely satisfied however: it’s only £2.50 for eight of the crispy bowls. Bhindi pakora aren’t really how I imagined either: these are whole deep-fried okra in a thick batter, rather than the crispy vegetable pakora I’ve tried previously. Still tasty, but with such a huge menu to choose from, I wouldn’t order these again.
While we wait for the mains – and it is a brief wait – I get itchy feet and add a daal to our order. I feel like I can’t justifiably visit a south Indian restaurant and not try a daal. The waiter tries to dissuade me. I persist. I win. Somehow it is also cooked in a matter of seconds, as about 1.23 minutes later, our mains – daal included – arrive. The Gujarati daal – a sweet and sour number, with plenty of peanuts – is thin but makes a good accompaniment for our ridiculously huge masala dosa. I wrote a little while ago about a dosa from Sindhoor – this one is twice the size. The large table comes in handy!
Karela nu shaak, a tomato-based curry with jaggery (cane sugar) and bitter gourd – a sort of Indian marrow – is easily allotment prize winner of the meal. The sauce has obviously been cooked slowly and this vegetable, new to us, is the perfect vehicle for the Indian spicing. Cumin rice is plentiful, and we’ve enough of nearly everything for leftovers the next day.
The best bit about eating out and being vegan proves itself when the bill arrives – all this food (two starters, three mains and rice) comes in at £20. [Anna Tully]
If you liked Jaipur Palace, try:
• The Old Hardware Shop, Woolton Village, Liverpool
• V Revolution, Manchester
• Lotus Vegetarian Kitchen, Manchester