Mowgli Liverpool Was the First Indian Street Food Restaurant in the Chain
Liverpool is a city filled with brilliant restaurants, which all offer something slightly different from one another. There is something really special, though, when someone who comes from the area itself is responsible for the restaurant at hand.
That is exactly the case with Mowgli, which was the brainchild of restaurateur Nisha Katona, who was born in Ormskirk and attended Liverpool John Moores University.
In the years since the first one opened, the brand has grown to have 27 different venues, taking the world by storm thanks to the unique take on Indian cooking that Katona instilled in the chefs.
About Nisha Katona
In order to get a better sense of Mowgli as a whole, it is good to know more about the woman behind the brand. Nisha Katona was born on the 23rd of October 1971 in Ormskirk, growing up in Skelmersdale. She went to Scarisbrick Hall School before studying Law at Liverpool John Moores University, meeting her future husband, Zoltán Katona there.
She became a full-time barrister, working at Chavasse Court Chambers in the city in the field of child protection, then in 2008 she was appointed as a trustee of National Museums Liverpool by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.
One of the most well known Indian dishes is the Aloo Ghobi.
Mowgli Street Food’s Nisha Katona in her cookbook puts the challenge out that getting the spicing just right for this dish is the real test for any Indian cook.
I make this a lot and yesterday’s dish was the best I have managed yet.😊— Francesc (@rhinomni.bsky.social) Jan 24, 2024 at 7:36
In 2009, Katona became the Ambassador for Diversity in Public Appointments, working for the Home Office. All the while, she had an obsession with building an eatery that served the sort of food that Indians ate at home and on the streets of India, deciding in 2014 to give up the 20-year career that she had enjoyed as a barrister in order to create Mowgli.
The first restaurant opened on Bold Street in the city centre, being so successful that she was able to open a second venue in Manchester in less than a year. What followed was a third restaurant, this time on Liverpool’s Water Street.
What Mowgli Offers
If you like Indian food but find that your local takeaway tends to be a little bit too processed in its offerings, Mowgli is the place for you. The chicken tikka masala doesn’t exist in India, for example, so Mowgli offers the Mother Butter Chicken instead. This is a rich and sweet dish, made with tomato and yoghurt rather than thick cream.
Cooking in India is all about using fresh ingredients and promising bright and intense flavours, so that is exactly what you’re going to get from Mowgli’s various offerings. The dishes are simple, but cooked fresh each and every time they’re ordered.
@mowglistreetfood NEW SHARING MENU ALERT🚨!! Ask your server for the saring menu nect time you go in with a friend 🤭 – #mowgli #mowglistreetfood #indianfood #indianrestaurant #food #foody ♬ Nasty x Naughty Girl – Jacobdior
That means that what you’re getting is as close to a meal cooked in a neighbourhood kitchen as you’re likely to find. It is why so many people have found Mowgli to be an excellent choice of restaurant when they fancy something a little bit different.
If that sounds like you, you might be interested to know that you can enjoy the food in cities up and down the country, rather than just in Liverpool. Here is the list of venues at the time of writing:
- Beverly (Hull)
- Birmingham
- Bridgend
- Brighton
- Bristol
- Bury St Edmunds
- Cardiff
- Chelmsford
- Cheltenham
- Cheshire Oaks
- Edinburgh
- Glasgow
- Knutsford
- Leeds
- Leicester
- Lincoln
- Liverpool – Bold Street
- Liverpool – Water Street
- London – Charlotte Street
- London – Stratford
- Manchester
- Newcastle
- Norwich
- Nottingham
- Oxford
- Preston
- Sheffield
Whilst the experience that you will get in each of these venues is slightly different, the quality of the food and the ambience of each of the restaurants will be broadly the same. There is a reason why Mowgli has been able to expand so rapidly around the country, which is down to the fresh ingredients and classic take on Indian dishes.
A Unique Ambience
If you want to get a sense of what you’re likely to experience inside one of the Mowgli restaurants up and down the country, the answer comes in the form of a unique ambience. What Nisha Katona has created is a vibe that nods to its Indian origins whilst also being fresh and interesting.
There are birdcage lights, for example, as well as ship’s ropes on the walls. The seating is often wooden benches, whilst there are also some wooden planks attached to the aforementioned ship’s ropes to provide a swing-like seat. The bar in some venues is made of railway sleepers.
Such a lovely lunch at @Mowgli Water Street, Liverpool yesterday. ❤️Nice way to finish a morning of retail therapy. Their mango lassi is the best drink too 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 pic.twitter.com/buX7cvvcY5
— Alison Mannion (@alison_mannion) October 12, 2025
When the food comes out to you, it is often served in tiffin boxes, whilst some of the drinks will arrive in small milk bottles. It is a design that fits in well with the overall ethos of the restaurant, promising you a taste of India with a modern, Western touch. This won’t be for everyone, of course.
There will be more than a few people that ask, politely, whether they would be able to sit in normal seats rather than swings. The desire for a bright pink tikka masala might be too overwhelming for some. But if you’re willing to give Indian street food a chance, there’s a good chance you’ll leave impressed.
