Malabar South Indian Restaurant — Restaurant in Sydney

I recently had the chance to dine at a restaurant owned by a lovely gentleman from Chennai, India, who also happens to be the chef! It was a delightful experience, but there were a few surprises and mixed opinions on the food. This place is definitely one of the must-try Indian restaurants in Sydney.

For starters, we were ordered masala dosa and lamb kheema dosa—an unexpected but it was a starter. The dosas were accompanied by chutneys that were flavorful. Next up were the Melagu prawns, which had a mild spice level—pleasant, but we were hoping for a bit more kick.

The Somersby apple cider was a standout it was so fresh that it felt like drinking cider straight from the orchard. Our mains consisted of basmati rice (a generous portion) paired with railway chicken gravy. As an Indian, the gravy was on the blander side. We also had naan with chicken makhani (aka butter chicken), which was creamy and sweet. The star of our meal was the Chettinad chicken ~ packed with flavor and perfect when paired with basmati rice. That said, the gravy portions across dishes were small, so we found ourselves ordering extra bread and rice—a clever strategy by the restaurant! 😉

To wrap things up, we indulged in a few desserts and drinks. The Mango lassi was refreshing, and the Mango kulfi with mango boba was a unique treat. I enjoyed the burst of Mango pearls—it was a fun twist. However, the Madras coffee was a bit disappointing, it was watery and lacked a strong coffee flavor.

Service was great, but the place was quite busy, so the dishes took time to arrive. Patience is key! One nice touch was the peppermint chocolate served with the bill. In the end, our meal for six people came to around $200 to $250.

Overall, while some dishes could use a little more spice, it was a pleasant...

BrickLane is a trendy early in the food precinct in Darlinghurst. Brightly light and cool artwork on the walls, it's a fun place to enjoy a feast with friends. We met a group of foodie friends for a catch up and had a banquet arranged. We had a cocktail on arrival and there is a great range of cocktails, Bellini's, beers and wines to select from. The cocktails also had a lot of interesting choices.

A modern Indian influenced restaurant, the food is great for sharing. We began with a range of snacks like Poppadoms, a very interesting wonton cone filled with tandoori tuna tartare, Samosas and a roti wrap filled with pork belly. All dishes were great little starters and excellent flavour combinations.

Each dish came out promptly with a good amount of space in between each.

The next stage of meals was the lighter bites including a lovely citrus cured scallop and kingfish ceviche, a spiced cauliflow and coconut paneer and a grilled prawn with spiced basmati rice on a betel leaf.

When we thought we were full, the bigger eats came out - a huge fried chook platter complete with a range of accompiaments like pickled cucumbers, vindaloo hot sauce, yoghurt and roti wraps. The chicken was incredibly moist, well cooked and delicious. We also shared a goat curry - slow cooked in green chilli and masala spice with lemon slaw and yoghurt. These were huge servings and perfect for sharing.

The dessert was a perfect palate cleanser - a watermelon granita on top of a vanilla custard, candied lemon and rose jelly.

A great place to visit...

We visited tonight in a relatively large group (12 people). I've worked in hospitality and I know how hard dealing with large groups can be. I think the food was OK and the service was OK. I appreciated the restaurant letting us pay separately.

It was the value of the meal tonight that really bothered me. I'm sure that Kiran will respond here to mention how "low margin" everything we ordered was and how painful we were as customers, but I'll tell it like it is. Reading some other reviews here I think Kiran likes to argue with customers and that probably tells you a lot about the management here.

We ordered the "$55" set menu which includes "bottomless" drinks. The reality is for a larger group the set menu is really $70 per head. You are required to buy the extras at $10 per head and required to pay a $5 per head service charge. I'm fine with all of this (and sure that the menus fine print laid all this out) but felt misled as we didn't read the fine print of the menu. Let's be realistic here - people shouldnt be expected to read the fine print on a menu. Kiran - your menu should be clearer.

The bottomless drinks are what you would expect - the cheapest beer/wine you can possibly obtain, and even then pretty hard to to get more than three beers throughout the service. For the price I would expect either higher quality or higher quantity (probably not both, let's be reasonable).

You would be better off at your local Thai with a 6 pack of beer. The food will be similar and it will cost you...