Nilgiri's — Restaurant in Sydney

Hello Meera and Joshi

We would like to say a very big thank you to you both for having us at your beautiful restaurant.

We were booked in for 7 girls ( unfortunately one couldn' t come ) for a 7.45pm booking on Friday 27th Oct ( yesterday )

And we just had the best time ever enjoying eating your food

I myself , love Indian food but unfortunately my body doesn t.

So I always have butter chicken and ask them not to put too much spice in it for me

But when I said this to the waiter - sorry I csn t spell his name - (Johi ? Not sure how to spell it - sorry) He said , sorry that would take away the authenticity of the food ! I must say I was a bit surprised when he said this to me . But he assured me that I would like it what he recommanded to me

I ended up choosing the fish Jaipur Machi starter - ( which was also delicious) as it was a bit cheaper and was a bit concerned that I would spend $38 on the butter chicken - ( Nilgirs way )that I wasn t able to eat

But yiur wonderful Johi , gave me the dish ( butter chicken Nilgirjs ways - sorry I csn t remember the proper name ) he recommended to me for free ! We all sat there , so surprised and in shock - as we all thought ....who does that? No one does this And there was enough for everyone to have a taste too

I just loved it. ! I could have licked the plate , it was that delicious, and tasty

I can t put into words ,what a beautiful evening we had with Johi poring the sauce onto our food and dessert - we just felt like queens , beginning looked after and that we didn t have to do anything , except really enjoy out beautiful food , enjoy Johi telling us stories about the food , the country of Indian and just spoiling us

It was just a wonderful night and truely an incredible experience

So thank you so very much , to you both for making us feel like queens and having such a beautiful experience at yiur beautiful restaurant

Thank you and we will see you again Hugs Melissa, ( I made the booking , I wore a black top )...

I have been here 3 times now - dinner with mates, lunch with work colleagues and a cooking class with the owner Ajoy. Each time both the atmosphere and food were amazing - this is definitely a standout restaurant to enjoy food from the subcontinent! The waiters are also different and share western humour with you - be prepared for a witty comeback if you give it.

Indian food has the bad reputation of being too hot for us westerners - but that is where Nilgiri's shines. You can have it as hot or as mild as you like. An equally erroneous myth is that the taste of Indian food comes from the heat, which is rubbish. You can still have a completely tasty and aromatic meal filled with mild dishes - trust me, some taste better this way in my opinion.

Whilst dinner was exceptional and full of full-flavoured meat and vegetarian dishes alike, I had more fun with lunch. There is a simple menu - you choose a Tiffen or a Thali in different flavours. I had the Meat Thali, and had brought out in quick order a large platter with 3 smaller dishes, raita, naan and rice. There is a container on the table with cutlery, but these are only necessary towards the end. Rip a bit of naan off and dip in, and eat. Repeat till all the delicious goodness has disappeared. This has got to be one of the most fun work lunches I have had ever (yes, I am a white guy!).

Being a massive foodie, the cooking class was probably the highlight of my visits here. We came here as part of our Staff Christmas Party last year (note - not the best idea, as everyone wanted to just get pissed and this doesn’t mix with being in a professional kitchen with a trained chef!). We cooked three dishes, and for each one Chef Ajoy gives a demonstration before allowing you to move back to your station to try it yourself. As we were in a large group it was made to be a competition, which I won. This is an awesome team building activity, but bosses and event organisers please note - DON’T MAKE IT PART OF YOUR...

Overall we were unfortunately left disappointed after visiting. Everything was OK, but we expected a lot more, especially given the cost of the meal.

The restaurant was busy for a Wednesday evening, which was great to see, but it was super loud in there and the tables were really crammed in. There was only two of us at our table so it wasn't too bad, but we saw a group of 4 people sat around a table the same size of ours which must have been really awkward. We heard cutlery and other items fall off tables multiple times, presumably due to the lack of space. Waitresses were also having to move quite awkwardly between tables. It all needs a rethink from a layout focus. Soft furnishings are also needed to reduce the noise - multiple times there were difficulties in hearing by ourselves and the waitress due to the volume.

The food was the main disappointment though. To start we had keerai vadai which was incredibly bland with a tart dipping sauce. For mains we had a chicken kuruma which was really bitter and a paneer which was very oily. The Pilau Rice was weirdly glutenous (like sticky rice) and didn't have any flavour. The weirdest item though was the peshwari naan which wasn't really a naan but seemed to be two bits of dense oily bread (paratha?) stuck together with a filling, rather than the light and airy bread I'd expect.

The cost was high as well - $94 for a below average meal. We were full after our meal but weren't satisfied at all. We would not recommend the tasting menu either as the amount of food would just be overwhelming. Also, trying to charge $14.50 for poppadoms and dips is...