I hadn’t visited the Gurkha Oven since the new owners Paul Sharma and Ravi Acharya took the helm in March 2017 and not everything I had heard was in their favour, but I had an open mind when I was invited to review the restaurant on a Monday evening with my friend Vicki.
The venue is exactly as it was when I last visited; it has a welcoming feel with images of the Himalayas on the walls.
The night was bitterly cold so it was a great relief to walk into the warm restaurant.
Unlike most other independent restaurants in the town, Gurkha Oven is open seven days a week so if you have a celebration on a Sunday or Monday evening, this is a great place to book a table.
Serving Indian and Nepalese food, Paul Sharma is keen to attract people who love Chinese food because Nepalese food has an influence on it including recipes such as Mo:Mo (£4.95) which we tried as starter.
These are the famous traditional Nepalese dumplings made with minced chicken and various spices served with a special homemade sauce.
It’s a dish well worth trying! Although they looked a little pale, the taste was outstanding.
The other starter we sampled was the marinated lamb chops (£5.95). This is cooked in a clay oven and served with salad.
This was tender, succulent and beautifully seasoned.
We shared two main courses, butter chicken (£8.95) which is my go to dish in any Indian restaurant.
This is cooked in a rich tomato and butter based sauce with cashew nuts and almonds.
From the special menu we chose House Special Karahi (£10.95).
It is a dish of barbecued chicken, lamb and king prawns cooked with capsicum, onions and red wine.
This was a surprising dish with flavours I thought were a heavenly combination.
We chose mushroom rice (£3.95) and another one of my favourites, chana masala (£4.50) which is a delicately spiced chickpea dish to accompany our main course and I’m sad to say the portions are so generous that we had to leave some.
Prior to the Sheep Market restaurant opening, Paul has been running successful restaurants since November 2012 in Bourne and Market Deeping and says that their menu delivers a fusion of indo-Nepalese cuisine offering a truly unique dining experience in the area. 
He said: “As a family run business we are continually looking to offer the very best dining experience to our customers. We have priced our menu fairly and in line with our competitors so we are not expensive.”
“We offer takeaways and started to open seven days a week.
“We have few things in the menu that no other Indian restaurant in the area offer such as Mo:Mo, grilled lobster, spicy kidneys and our own Gurkha special section.”
The service was attentive and friendly without being overbearing which is just how I like it.
I can’t fault anything at all. The welcome, service, food and ambience delivered a 10/10 score from me.
12b Sheep Market, Spalding PE11 1BE
01775 712010
www.gurkhaoven.com
