Bringing you new culinary delights and tastes from the South Indian Coast, Ma-Hé Coastal Indian is a refreshing new fine-dining Indian restaurant, recently opened near the Arena in Leeds. The venue décor involves dark green, deep blue & golden hues with draping plants; a really aesthetically pleasing place to enjoy some top notch food. AD | PR INVITE

Ma-Hé’s Founder Manoj, alongside renowned fine-dining Chef Shyam have partnered up with friend and business partner Mason Asgha, to bring you the authentic flavours of Indian cuisine with masterful cookery that comes straight from the heart. Bringing their Indian roots and heritage to the forefront of this project, the distinct flavours from each dish give a unique dining experience.

As well as delicious cuisine, Ma-Hé offers an extensive selection of single malts, craft beers and curated wines as well as perfectly paired cocktails.

We were kindly invited to try the food at this new Leeds restaurant, which we really enjoyed. The staff were attentive and friendly and the look of the restaurant is gorgeous. I did feel however that the atmosphere was a little subdued/lacking somehow, maybe more lively music and a little conversation would have made the experience (of which they have taken on board). It’s been great to see this restaurant evolve and I even returned a few months later to check out their lunch launch – keep reading for that!

We enjoyed;

• Poppadoms & Dips – these were obviously freshly made, and explained really well.
• Chicken 65 Varuval; Chunks of nugget sized chicken. Coated with red chillies, crispy fried and tossed with yoghurt and curry leaves – the big chunks of chicken were tasty but a little dry, I think I expected it to come mixed in fried onions & chillies. But this wasn’t greasy at all so clearly a healthier choice.
• Beef Uppu Kari; Stir fried steak chunks flavoured with aniseed, cinnamon, garlic and caramelised shallots – this was a gorgeous, delicious meal and was our favourite plate overall.
• Lamb Kanni Curry; A specialty curry from Coorg, flavoured with fennel and peppercorns; Kachampuli vinegar – amazingly fresh and tasty curry with melt in the mouth lamb, we could have done with more spice to this personally.
• Ghee Rice (V); Slow cooked aromatic jeera samba rice with ghee butter, cinnamon, crunchy onions and mint. – fluffy and really tasty, a perfect accompaniment and plenty to share between 2 people.
• Paratha (V); Traditional South Indian flatbread made with refined wheat flour and ghee – a flaky, almost pastry like type of bread – great to dip in your curry!
• Degree Kapi Brûlée (V); Traditional South-Indian Filter Coffee, Cream and Vanilla Beans – I am not usually a fan of Brûlée but this was lovely and creamy and sweet and we both really enjoyed it.

We rated the food highly, everything was fresh and not at all greasy or over the top. All ingredients were very tasty and the portions were spot on, in our opinion 2 small plates, 1 main curry with 2 sides, and a dessert to share was a perfect amount for two. We washed this down with a cocktail and beer each. All of this would cost you £50-£60.

For more information on this fantastic restaurant, please visit their website here.

As I mentioned above, I returned in November to check out their lunch menu launch and again thoroughly enjoyed the food and the atmosphere even more so this time. I was invited as part of a bit of a food bloggers event and took along one of my good friends who brought her baby. We were accommodated to a more accessible table that the restaurant initially had us sat at due to having a pushchair so we really appreciated this. Proseccos and Poppadoms were flowing we we also got to try;

• Chicken Kurma; Coconut based chicken curry with aromatic spices in a mild cashew nut gravy. Although this was mild it was really tasty and a decent portion for lunch.
• Kothu Parrota Chicken; Minced flakey flatbread with shredded chicken, egg and spices. This is not a saucy curry, more of a solid consistency but the flavours are great and I do enjoy a dish with lots of elements that go well together like this did. I enjoyed this with a bit of rice and the poppadoms and dips.
• We also samples some deserts one of which was a Kesari (V); saffron flavoured semolina pudding with flaked almonds, which was really moreish.

Another well-enjoyed visit to Ma-He, a great addition to Leeds City Centre.

I hope that my review has inspired you to give this Indian restaurant a try. If you have anywhere you recommend I should eat at, please leave a comment below. If you are a restaurant/food vendor and would like to collaborate with me in any way, please just email me at jensfoodblog@gmail.com!

Happy munching!

Jen

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