Simon Food Favourites: Indian

Showing posts with label Indian. Show all posts

30 October 2018

Don't Tell Aunty: Indian, Surry Hills (24 Oct 2018)

414 Bourke St, Surry Hills NSW 2010
http://www.donttellaunty.com.au/
https://www.instagram.com/donttellaunty/

Hello $10 Lunch Buffet

Bye Bye 4fourteen, Hello Don't Tell Aunty looking very colourful with the ultramarine seating. The $10 Lunch Buffet advertised on the outside chalkboard was the first attraction for me. Keep in mind it's not exactly a 'buffet' as in all-you-can-eat for $10 but you can put as much on your large plate as you're willing to eat without wastage. If you need more then it's an extra $10 I believe. I managed to get a bit of all 7 curries on offer with a good amount of rice in the middle of my plate and some of the sides, relishes and raita. My tip would be to make sure you put enough rice to start. There's nothing worse than running out of rice for your curries on the plate. Pappadums were included but could benefit from being more crisp. I suspect they might have been prepared too far in advance and have lost some of their lovely texture as well as those colourful fun cheezel looking tubes. But for $10 it's great value for the variety and flavour and a great concept for the lunchtime locals as a cheap eat. Make sure you get some of that red lime pickles you see in the middle of my plate for some extra flavour kick and chilli heat. Service was friendly and welcoming. Decor pretty cool with lots of natural light and colourful surrounds. There's also a self service wine bottle fridge. So if in need of another bottle of wine. Just go up and get one for your table. It's like a liquor shop with dining tables hehe. I spy wine prices range from $48 to $190 per bottle.

27 March 2018

Jewel on the Bay, Rose Bay (26 March 2018)

639 New South Head Rd, Rose Bay NSW 2029
http://www.jewelonthebay.com.au

Indian dining local gem

I've always been curious to know what this Indian restaurant was like as I've driven past so many times on the weekend and seen people dining outside for brunch — although it confused me to think diners were having Indian for breakfast. But I've since learnt this isn't the case as they have an Aussie style cafe menu for breakfast and lunch while for night time it's Indian cuisine. How unusual to see such a diverse mix on the menu although I guess it's smart business thinking to accommodate all the meals of the day. I feel like these guys are been around for ages. One of the service guys said around 15 years.

Tasty complimentary pappadums with a flavoursome mint raita are served while browsing the menu. They serve well while waiting for the friendly yet lapsed service to return to take our order. Amazing to see how full they are on a Monday night keeping the service very busy. Garlic Naan ($3.50) and Plain Naan ($3.50) are good. Tandoori Mixed Grill ($24.90) with two pieces each of Chicken Tikka, Tandoori Lamb Cutlets, Tandoori King Prawns is served with more tasty mint raita and make for a good starter to share. Chicken and lamb is pretty tender and bursting with decent flavour. Butter Chicken ($22.90) is our main course with some Basmati Rice ($4.50 large). Nice flavours again and good chunks of chicken.

I ordered the Anar Pom-Pomtini cockail ($15) based solely on the name hehe. Vodka, squeezed pomegranate juice shaken with ice and served in a martini glass garnished with pomegranate seeds. I'd actually given up on this arriving 10 minutes after all the food had arrived but it finally came 15 minutes after the food. For a relatively simple cocktail I was hoping this would have been served much earlier. It's quite sweet, no sign of pomegranate seeds and reminds me of a cosmopolitan in flavour and appearance. The decor is cosy and the best tables for a water view are out the front. There's curry to go available from the bain-marie but I think dining in is the way to go to enjoy the curries cooked to order in this fine looking family friendly restaurant.

20 November 2010

Coffee Garam: Indian Chai Making Class Tweetup, Surry Hills (20 Nov 2010)

29-37 Bellevue Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010

http://coffeegaram.com

Brewing up a Chai

The preparation of Chai takes about 5-10 minutes. The water is boiled and the black tea leaves are added. Once the tea infuses into the water giving it a brown-black colour, the spices are added. Sugar and milk to taste. The mixture is allowed to boil until it rises. In India, the chai is filtered and served in special cups.

Thanks to Denea from Gourmet Rabbit for organising this free Chai Making Class aka #chaitweetup with owner Harvey Parekh and Chef Raj Mehta from Coffee Garam. The small cafe has only been opened for about 5 months and Raj joined in the last month to help try and achieve their clear passion to introduce authentic Indian snack food to Sydney including homemade Chai tea. Today's tweetup was mainly to demonstrate the process of making Chai tea and introducing a few tasty snacks. The homemade Chai spice mix including cinnamon, cardamon, cloves and ginger was very aromatic and reminded me of a wonderful aromatherapy oil blend — my mind starting thinking of a meditation room for some reason. Once prepared with black tea and milk the taste was flavoursome although it wasn't until the sugar was added that the taste of the chai was much better appreciated.

We also tried a sample of their homemade lemonade with spices which was refreshingly different. Tasty slices of Green mango, banana and sultana bread were also on offer which were moist and very nice — I wondered how it would go toasted with butter for breakfast. Apparently green mango is used commonly in India — you learn something new everyday. We tried a small sample of freshly made Bhel puri which was full of different flavours which worked well together. I was thinking the mixture would work really well served in a crispy pastry cup as a cocktail canape too. I'm not an espresso drinker so the Monsoon Malabar Blend was too strong for my innocent coffee palate but having it with a piece of caramel slice added the much needed sugar on my taste buds to make it more enjoyable. To finish off on a sweet note we tried their homemade Galub Jamun which to date is the best I've enjoyed in Sydney. Being freshly made the day before it had the right amount of sweetness and was very soft and moist — not like other places which might freeze them and become a bit firm and way too sweet, and sometimes sickly.

I'm looking forward to seeing their plans to expand the Indian snack menu next year and to try dishes that aren't your typical heavy Indian curries around town and are more sophisticated and different like you might find at Zaaffran to challenge the taste buds and share the diversity of true Indian cuisine.

Other blog reviews of Coffee Garam:

• Gosstronomy

• Cafe Dave

• Serendipity

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Friendly staff, Reasonable prices, Passionate Chai tea makers

CONS: Their menu is currently trying to please Aussie tastes

MUST TRY: Galub Jamun, Chai Latte and Indian Masala Chai, Other Bombay snacks

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