In the triangle of big chains at the Corn Exchange, Mowgli has always stood out for all the right reasons. It's consistent, vibrant, varied and welcoming, best known for its tiffin towers of chef's choice curries.
This particular Indian street food concept was first founded in Liverpool in 2014 by former barrister Nisha Katona - since then, the chain has expanded faster than an unleavened bread dough in a bath of hot oil.
Sheffield, Birmingham, Oxford and Nottingham have all got a slice of the action, with a second site for Manchester recently flinging open its shiny new doors at Manchester's University Green development.
The regeneration of the area has seen Brewdog, Takk, Friska and Five Guys make the trip to Oxford Road, tapping into the nearby population of university students and staff, as well as gig-goers on their way to the Academy.
Opening back in January, this new outpost of Mowgli comes with a giant white tree in the centre of the room, its branches dotted with thousands of soft white fairy lights.
More fairy lights wink from inside glass jars and wrought iron walls that surround diners. Many of the seats are swings. It looks like an Urban Outfitters interpretation of Narnia.
This upmarket addition to studentville is welcome - ten years ago, a student date night usually involved a ride on a Magic Bus to get to anything vaguely resembling romantic, unless you considered quad vods and a kebab an aphrodisiac.
Even with school out for summer and the majority of students scattered back to their hometowns, there's a decent crowd in the new restaurant on a Saturday evening.
Once we've finished awkwardly clunking swing seats (and bum cheeks) with our neighbours, we take a closer look at Mowgli's drinks menu.
The cocktail offering is considered and carefully influenced by Indian cuisine. A dash of turmeric here, a hint of chilli there, infiltrating an otherwise expected list of martinis, margaritas and gin and tonics.
The turmeric sour (whisky, lemon, sugar, aquafaba and turmeric, £7.95) is potent and warming enough to zap any sniffles or niggles you might be harbouring.
The same medicinal properties can be found in the smoked cardamom old fashioned (whisky, apricot liqueur, smoked black cardamom and curry leaves, £7.95), which seems a little thin on first sip but the whisky soon elbows its way through to warm the cockles.
Mowgli's portions are purposefully small, and the best way to tackle the food menu at Mowgli is to order as many dishes as possible and loosen your belt accordingly.
We begin with a ruby wrap (£7.25), a plate-sized roti bread covered in homemade chutneys, spinach, pomegranate and fingers of vibrant orange tandoori-grilled paneer. It's ridiculously messy, the bread splitting apart as soon as any attempt to roll it is made, and a step too far to the sweet side - but the paneer is cooked to perfection, taking on a similar bite to halloumi.
Treacle tamarind fries (£5.75) are neat little cubes of potato that glisten in their syrupy brown coats. Sharp and sweet, they're hugely lifted by the fresh coriander and chilli scattered on top, hitting the same moreish spot that Chinese spare ribs reach.
A main of Goan fish curry (£8.25) misses the mark. The fish needs to spend less time swimming in its curry sauce, which is listed on the menu as fiery and sweet but is more accurately described as umami and sharp, and has reduced the delicate white fish to chewy and bland shards.
Better is the Mother Butter Chicken (£7.95), a curry house classic that feels as though it's coating every inch of your insides in warm, spicy butter like sinking into a hot bath.
The puri (£3 for two) are crisp and light, perfect for folding and using as shovels, though even they struggle to gather up the green ginger and rhubarb dahl (£4.95), which is watery, gritty and has puddles of oil forming on its surface.
A portion of gulab jamun (£4.50) for dessert is an unexpected highlight. Nutty, bullet-shaped dough balls drenched in syrup, they're denser than your average doughnut and even more indulgent.
There's a chocolate brownie (£4.50) too, its surface riddled with cracks and crevices. Nothing extraordinary, but happily devoured nonetheless.
Some extra thought into the ice cream dolloped on top of both desserts would elevate them into the big leagues - so much effort has gone into spiking the cocktail menu with spice that plain old vanilla feels a little... vanilla . Some chai or chilli would be a game-changer.
Service is friendly but bizarrely scatty - the kitchen seems to be operating at full throttle, with dishes flying out mere minutes after ordering, but the bar and front of house team are jetlagged.
We're nearing the end of our starters before drinks arrive, and we wait even longer for a card reader to materialise so that we can pay the bill.
Mowgli has grown into a major player in the modern Indian restaurant game, rubbing shoulders with giants such as Dishoom and Bundobust.
But while the Corn Exchange restaurant delivers time after time, this new site is more sparkle than substance.
How we scored it
Food 3/5
Service 2/5
Surroundings 5/5
