Thava Indian Restaurant (Monte Casino) — Restaurant in Gauteng

Montecasino has welcomed another Award winning Restaurant to its list, adding some spice to the food scene. Thava Indian Restaurant is well known for its branch is Norwood with everyone singing its praises. Now the North also has something to boast. Thava Indian Restaurant Montecasino has launched, along with Gourmet Street, in a Traditional Food Cart.

The menu is made up of Recipes that have been handed down from Owner Matthew Abrahams' mother to him, from Kerala where he was born. They use fresh local ingredients and aromatic spices to make their award winning dishes. Along with Chef Philippe Frydman, who is their consultant at Thava, all the Chefs in the kitchen are from India to ensure its authenticity and taste.

The sit down menu is a combination of vegetarian, lamb, chicken or seafood dishes; fragrant curries, biriyanis and stews; spicy tandoori and masala dishes, all served with traditional breads, rice dishes and side dishes of freshly prepared chutneys, pickles or vegetables.

The Food Cart menu however, features dishes designed for takeaways, such as Tandoori Bunny, Paani Poori, Momos, Vegetable patties, Panjabi chaat, and more. Customers will place their orders with any manager, and thereafter collect their orders from the window or trolley, and they can either sit and eat on the terrace or move and eat their dishes while exploring the casino.

The one striking feature besides the lovely artworks, is the approximately 250 year old Wooden Carved door which serves as a stunning picture backdrop.

On opening night we got to taste an array of food. My favourites were actually the starters, the Chilli Prawns, Veg Patties and the unusual take on a Chicken Tandoor Bunny Chow.

The mains were so aromatic. The Naans were delicious. I enjoyed the Dhal and the Shahi Chicken. The lamb was a bit too tough to eat, and I didnt really eat the fish curry, not too much a fan of coconut milk curry, but the fish itself was tender.

I loved that we got Vegetable Pickle, always a winner😉

For dessert, we rounded off with Payasam, a creamy tasting Vermicelli.

If you love Indian food, spicy food or just trying something different then you should definitely check out the variety that they have to offer.

Thanks to the entire Team for a lovely Media Opening Night. We will be back.

Just a note they do state their ingredients are Halaal, but they do serve alcohol.

#TheFoodMusketeer #TheFoodMusketeerEats #TheFoodMusketeerDrinks #TFMThava #MonteThava #GottaluvMonte Strategic...

Absolutely ridiculous experience at Thava Indian Restaurant.

I went for lunch with my family, and I genuinely regret choosing this place. We ordered a full chicken and three rotis — and honestly, the food was a complete disaster. Two of the rotis were undercooked and doughy, but mine wasn’t even edible — it was completely raw. I was basically chewing on roti dough. How something that basic comes out of the kitchen like that is beyond me.

Then came the chicken. We ordered a full chicken, expecting something juicy, flavorful, and well-cooked. What we got was dry, tough, and had almost no seasoning. It felt like we were served something that was sitting under a heat lamp for hours.

But the real frustration? The guy working there. When we complained about the dry chicken, his solution was, “I can pour butter over it,” like that would magically fix it. And then he told us, “You should’ve asked for juicy chicken.” Excuse me? The menu gives options for mild, hot, or extra hot — not dry or juicy. How on earth is a customer supposed to know they need to request their chicken not be dry? That’s just common sense in cooking — no one walks into a restaurant thinking, “Let me ask for juicy chicken just in case they serve me dry cardboard.” Completely ridiculous logic.

And it gets worse. When I complained about my raw roti, instead of apologizing, this man had the audacity to question me — asking if I even know what a cooked roti is supposed to be like. That honestly infuriated me. I don’t need a degree in culinary arts to know raw dough when I’m chewing it. He said he’d bring a replacement, took mine away — and never brought anything back. Yet they still charged me for that extra roti I never got.

I left this restaurant angry, disappointed, and hungry. The food was terrible, the service was laughable, and the staff member we dealt with was rude, dismissive, and clearly had no clue how to treat customers.

Wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone. Complete waste of...

WHY WHY WHY WONT ANBODY ANSWER ME RE TOFU???*"*Having eaten there this past Sunday i wanted my boss to try one of your dishes so we ordered on Uber Eats. Under the name Shaggy. We phoned the store upfront AND also added a note on Uber that the Vegetable Korma should not contain cream, milk or dairy for religious reasons.

His Veg Korma arrived with chunks of white stuff so we thought it was cheese or paneer which he cannot eat so we gave his meal away and had to share mine. We only get 1 hours lunch to go eat.

So later in the day i phonesd to complain. THEN only was i told no its not cheese its TOFU. Cant be, i said. Cant be. Nowhere in the ingredients does it state TOFU and had it so been we would have told you no TOFU - i personally cannot stand the stuff, don't even put it on a plate next to my food, eeew.

Sure you don't state salt, pepper and other ingrefients but TOFU is not a staple like salt.

Where in the ingredients does it state TOFU in the Vegetable Karma please? Your staff disagree with me saying yes you do add TOFU - again, why is it not listed as an ingredient then? What if you are allergic to it? What if you like me and simply cant stand it - where's the choice?

I just feel hard pressed by this. Money we have, food is what we need. Debate it with me please, look on Uber and tell me if it is a listed ingredient.

Contacted you via your Contact Us page but nbody responded. Your manager on duty insists i am wrong and that TOFU is used in dishes if stated no dairy. I appreciate English is not his first language and that i am putting him on the spot but he has not been able to...