The Colonial British Indian Cuisine
235 Darling St
Balmain, Sydney
The Colonial British Indian Cuisine is a casual place serving - as the name might suggest - dishes inspired by India’s north west and the British colonial rule. The combination of eastern spices and western cuisine creates incredibly flavoursome dishes that aren’t your typical Indian fare. The venue itself is relaxed and it’s somewhere to chill with great food and drinks in a very chilled surrounding. Eating here provides an understanding of the real skills that have perfected the flavours of British Indian cooking.
Isn’t lasi so good! We had a really cool creamy mango lassi which we both shared. This wonderful drink is almost like a mango milkshake and just slips down so easily. It’s a very drinkable drink!
From the cocktail list Mlady had a refreshing Gin and Raspberry Kiss. The description of this was - a seductive cocktail mix with Hendricks gin, raspberry syrup, fresh lemon juice hand egg whites, shaken over ice and garnished with frozen berries. It was a bit like a version of a cosmopolitan, which Mlady loved!
Sir loves his rum and chose the Spice Sutra. This also refreshing cocktail was made up of Spiced rum, Glenfiddich lemon, masala spice, simple syrup and mint shaken over ice and topped with soda water. Again, this was a local version of a classic - this time being a mojito.
A novel concept is that you can mix and match ingredients here to basically build your own British Indian curry creation. It’s simple. All you do is:
1) you choose your meat.
2) choose your curry and
3) choose your spice level.
You can also choose the spice level!
We of course started the food journey with a serving of pappadums with a nice mint sauce. The pappadums were nicely crisped, and the mint sauce went so well with them. It’s such a great way to get the juices flowing and set the scene for the meal ahead.
We did indulge quite a bit and had four entrees with no surprises of Onion Bhaji being one of them. Sir is an huge fan of Onion Bhaji and will order them at every and any opportunity. In case you don’t know what they are, these are crispy golden fritters of onion and shallots that were served here with a very tasty tamarind sauce. The onion bhaji had a nice outer soft crunch with a lovely tasting soft centre. We really enjoyed the accompanying tamarind sauce too that went so well with the great tasting Onion Bhaji.
Next was the Tandoori Chicken Tikka which was boneless chicken thigh fillet marinated in yogurt and special spices, cooked in a tandoor oven and served with mint chutney. It was tender with so many flavours and was cooked perfectly with the mint chutney complementing it perfectly.
Our next entree was Garlic Tandoori prawns. These were king prawns marinated with whole spices, herbs, yogurt then char grilled in the tandoor and again served with mint chutney.
The king prawns were succulent, plump and flavoursome. The mint chutney was a really nice accompaniment.
Olive Paneer Tikka was our last entree and it was one of the vegetarian options. It was overnight marinated cottage cheese pieces with Afghani spices and olives, grilled and served with mint chutney. It was a lovely entree that was so soft in texture and tasted oh so good.
Sir loves naan and of course chose the garlic one and another one with herbs. The herb naan was infused with mixed herbs and the garlic naan was enriched with chopped garlic, milk and yogurt. They were both so light and fluffy and it was so good using them to scoop up the sauces in our mains. They do great naan here!
On to mains and the tadka daal was delicious yellow lentils accented with onion and authentic spices and garnished with coriander. This looked and tasted so good. The flavours really were lovely and it all combined so well together. This vegetarian staple was a real winner.
We had a few Chefs Specialties and the British fish curry was one of them. The boneless fish pieces cooked in their famous and exclusive Goa coconut flavoured sauce was an incredibly mouthwatering dish. The fish was beautifully tender and the curry was amazing. Nothing was overpowering. Everything complimented each other so well. It was easy to see why this is a best seller here.
Butter chicken is a ‘go to’ for Mlady and this dish was another Chefs Special and we could easily see why. This was one of the best Butter Chickens Mlady has had! The mild marinated chicken fillets were cooked in a clay oven then prepared with a creamy tomato and cashew nut sauce. It was absolutely divine. The chicken was perfectly cooked, so tender and with the sauce, was just so scrumptious. Don’t waste the sauce with this either. We mopped it up with the naan!
Our last Chefs Special was a goat dish. The railway goat curry was slow cooked goat on the bone with browned onions, ginger, garlic, black cardamom and cassia bark. It was a really nice dish with unique flavours and the goat was so tender that it literally fell off the bone. The browned onions gave it its darkish colour and all the other wonderful ingredients made it a great taste sensation.
We did of course have a steamed rice and this too was just so good for soaking up as much of the wonderful sauces that came with the mains.
The Colonial British Indian Cuisine is such a great place. The atmosphere is relaxed, the drinks hit the spot and the food is absolutely delicious. We will definitely be back!
Sir and Mlady dined as guests of The Colonial British Indian Cuisine. Special thank you to Dolly and Shyam for chatting with us and looking after us so well while we were there. Thank you also to Rajani and Melissa for caring for us. Sir and Mlady dined as guests.