Lamb samosa @ Noor Kitchen & Takeaway
46c Lodge Ln, Toxteth, Liverpool, L8 0QL
As a general rule, I don’t like the idea of shipping container food markets. Whenever there’s a patch of disused land — an old car park, a demolished factory — the kneejerk reaction from local councils and fly-by-night developers seems to be to drop a load of containers there and declare the place a street food hub.
It’s boring and lazy and all too often the complexes end up failing and are left abandoned. So I’m opposed on principle. Or maybe I’m still suffering the mental after-effects of having drunk too many overpriced pints from plastic cups at Boxpark in Shoreditch in the early 2010s.
The Lodge Lane shipping container development opened a couple of years ago and has been beset with issues. Traders have complained of high rents and low footfall. Today only a handful of the units are let. On the other hand, the ones that are filled seem to be busy. There are tables and chairs set outside and in the evening plenty of people gather there to eat and drink.
One of the units is taken up with Noor Kitchen & Takeaway who serve a selection of homemade curries, biryanis and Indian snacks.
For just £2 you can get one of their excellent lamb samosas — fried fresh to order and served scalding hot. Inside the bubbled pastry, bright bursting green peas, sweet carrot and minced meat, delicately spiced with coriander and a breath of cardamom. You’ll be offered ketchup, which you should get, but also ask for their homemade mint yoghurt.
Really good samosas are difficult to come by in Liverpool but Noor’s are the exception.
