Delhi 'O' Delhi, Newtown (20th August 2011)
After a day of chilling out at home, Jono and I decided to skip the cooking and headed out for dinner on King Street in Newtown around 6pm. We had planned to have Vietnamese but ended up in Delhi 'O' Delhi on Erskineville Road instead. Worked for me since I've not had Indian food for awhile and we haven't found a good Indian restaurant in Sydney yet. This might just be the one!
Delhi 'O' Delhi is a fine dining Indian restaurant and you can tell immediately from its sleek decor and smartly dressed waiters that this place is not "cheap eat". We didn't have a booking so was just trying our luck to see if they have a table - it was only 6.30pm and the place was pretty packed. "Is it ok if you sit outside?" asked the Indian waiter. Sure, why not? The weather in Sydney seems a lot milder these days (only need a light sweater when outdoors) and with the gas heaters outside, we should be warm enough.
We were ushered to our outdoor table for two and given the menu with complimentary poppadoms to nibble on as we decided on our meals. "Oh, they serve camel here!" I exclaimed as I looked through the list of mains to make my choice. Hmm, camel...I'm not sure about that...I think I had better stick to something more familiar...I wasn't game enough to try camel, afraid that it would taste gamey (and much like kangaroo which I do not like much). "What should I get? Duck, goat or camel?" Jono asked me. "Well, camel is something we haven't tried...but only if you really want to...," I replied. Jono was obviously game enough and ordered the Rajasthani Maas, the restaurant's unique camel dish slow-cooked in traditional haandi (deep, narrowed-mouth vessel used for cooking) with whole spices, Bengal gram flour and Kashmiri chillies. Eek, we are having camel!
Despite a full house and still catering for takeaway customers, our meals arrived promptly. Mmm, my Teyal Prawn (green prawns sauteed with fresh garlic, mustard seeds and tamarind coconut cream) was delicious! And Jono's camel dish was nice too and not at all what I expected the meat to taste like. Camel tasted very similar to goat, rather tough and it wasn't at all gamey. Frankly, we couldn't tell if it really was camel by looking at the diced meat and its taste (it could have been beef, for all we know) - we just had to trust the restaurant. Now we can add another wild food on our "have eaten" list and say we've had camel! We shared our curries as well as a bowl of basmati rice and yummy peshawari naan (naan filled with mixture of nuts and raisins), washing it down with the bottle of white wine we picked up on our way to the restaurant - yum!
You know, this was the first time we've eaten out since we came back from USA and the serving size seemed to have shrunk dramatically. I thought "Huh, is that it?" when the meals were served but it was actually the normal serving size in Australia - I've just gotten used to having way too much on my plate in USA! And I'm quite happy to have the 'reduced' serving size - enough to keep my tummy happy and no need for a doggy bag! Cost us $47 including a corkage charge of $3 per person and 15% off the total bill with the use of the Entertainment Card. I would highly recommend that you secure a booking should you wish to come to this restaurant especially on Fridays and Saturdays. Though we managed to get a table on walk-in, it was obvious that the restaurant would like us to leave as soon as we finished (the waiters were highly efficient at clearing our table) so they could take on more business. Definitely worth a visit for good food and service!
We left for home around 9.30pm, stopping by at Gelato Blue on King St for a double scoop cone of pistachio and Toblerone ice cream for dessert as we walked home. Did you know that this place serves over 40 assorted gelato, sorbets and desserts and has upstairs seating as well for customers to chill out as they enjoy their sweet treats? I had thought it was just a shop that sells ice cream and nothing more since most times we've walked past, the place only had customers buying their ice creams to go. Hmm, reminds me of Kaffee Eis that Jono and I use to frequent in Wellington, just more funky and colourful in interior. Speaking of Kaffee Eis, I miss their pistachio ice cream!
Delhi 'O' Delhi is a fine dining Indian restaurant and you can tell immediately from its sleek decor and smartly dressed waiters that this place is not "cheap eat". We didn't have a booking so was just trying our luck to see if they have a table - it was only 6.30pm and the place was pretty packed. "Is it ok if you sit outside?" asked the Indian waiter. Sure, why not? The weather in Sydney seems a lot milder these days (only need a light sweater when outdoors) and with the gas heaters outside, we should be warm enough.
We were ushered to our outdoor table for two and given the menu with complimentary poppadoms to nibble on as we decided on our meals. "Oh, they serve camel here!" I exclaimed as I looked through the list of mains to make my choice. Hmm, camel...I'm not sure about that...I think I had better stick to something more familiar...I wasn't game enough to try camel, afraid that it would taste gamey (and much like kangaroo which I do not like much). "What should I get? Duck, goat or camel?" Jono asked me. "Well, camel is something we haven't tried...but only if you really want to...," I replied. Jono was obviously game enough and ordered the Rajasthani Maas, the restaurant's unique camel dish slow-cooked in traditional haandi (deep, narrowed-mouth vessel used for cooking) with whole spices, Bengal gram flour and Kashmiri chillies. Eek, we are having camel!
Despite a full house and still catering for takeaway customers, our meals arrived promptly. Mmm, my Teyal Prawn (green prawns sauteed with fresh garlic, mustard seeds and tamarind coconut cream) was delicious! And Jono's camel dish was nice too and not at all what I expected the meat to taste like. Camel tasted very similar to goat, rather tough and it wasn't at all gamey. Frankly, we couldn't tell if it really was camel by looking at the diced meat and its taste (it could have been beef, for all we know) - we just had to trust the restaurant. Now we can add another wild food on our "have eaten" list and say we've had camel! We shared our curries as well as a bowl of basmati rice and yummy peshawari naan (naan filled with mixture of nuts and raisins), washing it down with the bottle of white wine we picked up on our way to the restaurant - yum!
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| Rajasthani Maas (the camel dish) |
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| Teyal Prawn |
You know, this was the first time we've eaten out since we came back from USA and the serving size seemed to have shrunk dramatically. I thought "Huh, is that it?" when the meals were served but it was actually the normal serving size in Australia - I've just gotten used to having way too much on my plate in USA! And I'm quite happy to have the 'reduced' serving size - enough to keep my tummy happy and no need for a doggy bag! Cost us $47 including a corkage charge of $3 per person and 15% off the total bill with the use of the Entertainment Card. I would highly recommend that you secure a booking should you wish to come to this restaurant especially on Fridays and Saturdays. Though we managed to get a table on walk-in, it was obvious that the restaurant would like us to leave as soon as we finished (the waiters were highly efficient at clearing our table) so they could take on more business. Definitely worth a visit for good food and service!
We left for home around 9.30pm, stopping by at Gelato Blue on King St for a double scoop cone of pistachio and Toblerone ice cream for dessert as we walked home. Did you know that this place serves over 40 assorted gelato, sorbets and desserts and has upstairs seating as well for customers to chill out as they enjoy their sweet treats? I had thought it was just a shop that sells ice cream and nothing more since most times we've walked past, the place only had customers buying their ice creams to go. Hmm, reminds me of Kaffee Eis that Jono and I use to frequent in Wellington, just more funky and colourful in interior. Speaking of Kaffee Eis, I miss their pistachio ice cream!
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