Gunpowder: Home-style Indian cooking at this small-but-mighty Spitalfields spot

By Nina @WrittenByFitton · On February 5, 2016

A home-style Indian kitchen just down the road from Spitalfields, Gunpowder is minuscule in size, but makes up for the lack of square footage in memorable flavours and spicy kicks – my Prosecco cocktail, with a fresh green chilli slice floating on the surface, certainly packed a punch!

Named “Gunpowder” after the Indian spice, it’s a happy coincidence that the site of the restaurant actually used to be a gunpowder store back in the day – and keeping with the ammo theme, the restaurant can be accessed from Liverpool Street Station via Artillery Lane.

We ate venison doughnuts, Kashmiri lamb chops (“just the way Maa used to make them”), okra fries and an entire grilled broccoli. There’s a whiff of Dishoom about the menu (both crispy calamari and chilli cheese toast are present and correct), but I am excited to report that Gunpowder nails it all – exceptional food, memorable drinks and fantastic staff mean this buzzing little spot is a real find.

Despite being totally satiated after a plethora of sharing plates, Harneet the owner insisted we had pudding: “Everyone knows dessert has a separate tummy!” he encouraged. Turns out he was right – our Old Monk Rum Pudding didn’t last long (“The rum? Some of it we smuggle. Some of it we buy legally.”)