It's Mirchi Healthy Indian — Restaurant in Brisbane City

Overview, Its Mirchi is a stylish Indian restaurant conveniently situated on the corner of Latrobe and Given Terraces in Paddington.

Food I started with a bottle of Kingfisher lager ($10), served icy cold, just the way I like it, in a long, tall glass. For our entree we choose our favourite veg samosas. There were three to a serve for the princely sum of $12, or $4 each (welcome to Australia 2024!). The coating was soft and doughy and the veg filling was fresh and tasty. It was served with a little tub of mint sauce. For our mains, we ordered the Saagwala lamb and Jalfrezi chicken ($25 ea), accompanied by naan bread ($5), rice ($4) and two condiments, the mango chutney ($6) and lime pickle ($5) (yes, they even charge for tiny bowls of condiments, these days). Overall we were very happy with our meals. The meat in both was succulent and tender, and drenched in creamy, tangy but mild sauces. The naan bread was cut into small pieces which was great for sharing. The fluffy white rice and lime pickle were the perfect accompaniments, but the mango chutney was too tart for my liking. As we were already up to $92, we decided to skip dessert, which was a pity as I love gulab jamun.

Service There was only one waitress on duty, but it didn’t matter because this friendly lady was super efficient, polite and patient. When we arrived, the place was fairly empty so we did have her full and undivided attention. She took our order and delivered the drinks and the entree to the table fairly quickly. But even when it filled up, there was no compromise on the quality of the service, and the rest of the meals and the accompaniments didn’t take long to arrive. And despite being under some pressure as the place got busier, our waitress remained calm and focused on her task. It was a pleasure to enjoy such excellent service and it made the whole evening run smoothly.

Ambience I.M. is a smart place with comfy seating, solid wooden tables, black and white checked tile floors and decent lighting. Soft, relaxing but rather repetitive music is played, which adds to the tranquil ambience. When we arrived, there was only one occupied table, but more diners arrived as the evening progressed, which gave it a fun vibe.

Cost We booked with the Eat Club, which advertises a 20% discount, but after all the hidden fees, the discount is only 17.4%. Our initial bill came to $92 for a single beer, an entree, two mains with rice, naan bread, mango chutney and lime pickle. But, as if that wasn’t enough, when time came to pay, (and with E.C., cards are the only option using Google Pay) the bill had suddenly gone up to 93, and then a further 2 was added as a “service fee”. After the EC discount we ended up paying 76, which made the discount 17.4% of the original bill, well below the 20% advertised.

Toilets There are clean and well provisioned toilets at the back although both male and female cubicles share the same location. There is no signage from within the restaurant pointing them out, so I had to ask the waitress where they were. You need to exit a door and step into a dimly lit corridor before you find them, so I think something could be done to improve the signage and the lighting.

Parking One can find street parking around here without too much problem, but we ended up parking in the little car park in front of the Paddington Hardware shop, just a few meters from the restaurant.

Summary We had an extremely pleasant evening at I.M., with excellent food, friendly and efficient service and a bright, but relaxed and casual atmosphere. There are clean toilets and parking is easy to find. Prices are a bit steep, especially something like $6 for a little bowl of chutney, but then that’s what we’ve come to expect as Australia races over the hyperinflation cliff. Our 17.4% Eat Club discount did go some way to...

I’ll start of by saying what went right. There was great service (apart from a slight bit which I’ll mention below) and the atmosphere was great, music wasn’t too loud it wasn’t too cramped and it wasn’t super noisy. Unfortunately that was pretty much it.

Unfortunately something that peeved me off was the door doesn’t close properly, or by it self. Which is fine but some people don’t close the door behind them, not the stores fault so no worries there maybe a sign would be useful but not much can be done some people are just stupid.

Service was great, I think someone was new so they brought our mains out too early, and we had to ask for bigger mains plates, it’s fine I understand how training works. The other person there that we complained to (see below) was very nice about it gave us it remade and gave us a free mango lassi. Can’t say it enough staff were really good.

Now when it comes to food, personally I would rather eat the best food of my life sitting on a rock under a bridge rather than the other way around. We ordered a range of dishes, where my only real qualm was it was too bland, and didn’t have any real flavour. My dish was the chicken vindaloo and I really would recommend never ordering it. I understand it is a salty dish, but when I say there was too much salt I could have marinated my chicken in a jar of salt and ate that and it would have tasted better. We did complain and they gave it to us remade, fine understandable, but it is very likely that they use the same curry and re cook it a bit with the chicken as it tasted the exact same. At this point my appetite was kind of ruined so I left. Side note there were flowers on the curry which I mean cool but is it really necessary? Anyways I understand that it may have been a once off but I tend not to leave a review on what is promised to happen rather than what did. Again great staff and atmosphere, and I’m sure the cooking is fine, but please get the recipe in check, I would just hate for other people to have a bad taste and ruin their appetite. Now 2 mins up the road there is Paddington curry house which has been a better experience for me. Anyways the foundations are there, just need to finish it off and deliver the food in a revamped...

If you have dietary restrictions, I can understand why this place would appeal — they clearly cater well to gluten-free and low-sugar needs. However, for us, the overall experience felt quite average, and we likely won’t return.

Although I made a booking, when we arrived the restaurant was empty and we were simply told we could sit anywhere. I had specifically selected the “Indian Royal Table” in my booking, but it seemed no effort was made to acknowledge that or create any sense of welcome. The atmosphere felt more like a casual takeaway spot than a dine-in restaurant.

The drinks were inconsistent — mine was fine, but my friend’s tasted flat despite being the same drink, which suggests little care in preparation or stock control. We ordered the tikka masala and butter chicken, but both tasted very similar, and like store-bought curry from a supermarket. The chicken was dry (because they use chicken breast), which didn’t help. The cheese and garlic naan had barely any cheese or garlic flavour. The texture and thickness was more like a roti than a naan

On a positive note, the fried spinach and onion entree and the mango chutney were enjoyable. But with underwhelming curries, flat/ unsweetened drinks, and a flatter atmosphere, there wasn’t much that made us want to return.

That said, for those with specific dietary needs, this might still...