Rahi - Artisanal Indian + Craft Cocktails — Restaurant in Waitematā

The curries at Rahi were good, though few things could have been amended to elevate our experience. We asked for curries to be made spicy, but were told the spice levels couldn’t be changed as they want to ensure the dishes remain consistent each time a customer returns. While I understand the concept of this, we actually do prefer our Indian curries to carry a lot of heat. So when we had the butter chicken, lamb madras and goat curry, we of course instantly wished for more heat. I guess this may restrict us in wanting to return. The butter chicken also had a drumstick in it, which is hard to share with a group. The menu is designed for sharing but a bone piece defeats the purpose of this.

The malai kofta was too sweet for my preference. It may be how the dish is traditionally made, the dish is quite aromatic and you can detect the warm spices such as cardamon, cloves and cinnamon being used, but I have tasted this curry in other restaurants and upon first taste did not instantly think sweet.

The music being played at the restaurant was just out of place and didn’t add to our dining experience. It would have been nice to have some soft Indian tunes in the background rather than the hip hop playlist that was being used.

I also don’t know what is artisanal about the restaurant or its menu. Artisanal means: -Produced in small batches. -Made using traditional methods and tools -Created from older traditional recipes without preservatives, colorants, sweeteners, or chemicals. -Made locally with easily traceable ingredients.

Some of the above may be true for Rahi, but I think more of an intentional effort can be made to showcase how their menu reflects the above descriptors.

Considering there weren’t too many diners when we were there, the service was rather slow. We had to wait some time to hail down the waitress, and the rice came out quite a while after the curries and naan were brought out. We were awkwardly sat at the table wondering if we should go ahead and eat or wait it out.

I’ve given Rahi 4 stars but that’s at a push, nice enough curries but I was expecting something more...

This restaurant is one of the newer version of Indian eateries recreated by new age Chef’s/owners wanting to give a modern twist and upmarket vibes to Indian food. Located in busy and bustling Ponsonby road, Rahi has been successful in creating a modern, upmarket, feel good vibe right from the moment you step in. Warmly welcomed by the hostess and seated, the restaurant has adequate seating and was packed when we went on a Friday evening. Booking is recommended. Parking can be a challenge, although I was told later by staff that the restaurant has parking at the back, check the contact us tab on their website to located. They advertise as artisanal Indian and craft cocktails. Items like Palak Burrata, Prawn utthapam, eggplant pakora to some extent justifies this. However, I would have liked to see items like millet, Avial, Kosha Mangcho, chital maccher muitha kind of items to call it real artisanal. The cocktails were refreshing, well made and presented and something different, we ordered Blush, blackberry cheesecake and pickle paloma. All delicious. The food items we ordered were Chilly chicken, paneer tikka, eggplant pakora for starters. The chilly chicken was the best, the pakora was oily and too thinly sliced, the chutney lacked flavour. The tikka lacked tomato and capsicum to complement, onions raw and were big roundels. Tikka essentially is big dice, which it wasn’t. The tikka portion was really big but the marinate needs to be re-looked. The mains consisted of Chicken Patiala, Malai Kofta and Spinach Burrata, steamed rice and laccha paratha. The paratha was one of the best I had eaten, flaky, crumbly and moist. Disappointed with both Patiala chicken and Spinach Burrata, lacked flavour and too oily(Chicken). The malai kofta was good, three koftas with nicely smooth and thick sauce. I am not sure if Burrata is a good addition to spinach. The portions were good and prices reasonable. I would like to give it one more chance to see if...

Amazing experience!

We went for the food and saw that they served cocktails, which were amazing as well!!

We ordered way too much food, and had a great time!

The Papdi Chaat was so delicious. Very savory and sweet, balanced flavors, so fun to eat. I loved the little pieces of pomegranate, it matched well with the mint and sweet potato.

The Prawn Uttapam was delicious! The sauce complements the grilled prawn so well! I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to eat the head, but it was grilled and crunchy! You have to be a little careful eating it, because the rice pancake tends to break a little in the crease.

The Chilli Chicken was okay. I think it was based on a K-style fried chicken. Still delicious and great texture, but not the strong point. A little bit salty.

The curries were amazing! We got the Patiala Chicken and Lamb Madras. The chicken was savory and familiar, and came with an egg. The Lamb Madras had a coconut flavor, but it was so good and not overwhelmingly coconut, just a light hint with some shaved coconut flakes. Both were absolutely amazing.

The cocktails were so surprisingly good! The Crimon Sour was a fun and sweet drink, very fruity and floral with dried hibiscus petals. The Spiced Negroni was strong and fragrant. It is a gin drink, but the feeling reminded me of a spiced/orange version of an Old Fashioned.

We are on holiday, but we will...