Indian Affair is the best Indian restaurant in Canberra, and it does this with intermediate pricing, efficient and friendly service and a pleasant indoor restaurant environment. The owner is regularly at the restaurant and will discuss the meal and his culinary philosophy with the patrons, he is an interesting guy so it works out.
This restaurant excels across the spectrum of what is often termed "North Indian Affair", with excellent appetizers (Chaat, Samosas, Pakoras, etc) as well as excellent chicken, lamb, beef, and vegetarian dishes. I think they really perfectedl the Eggplant Baingan, which is an eggplant/potato dish, I don't normally order the vegetarian options in Indian restaurants but it's just so good. The portions for all of the food are neither thrifty nor worthy of the Olympic weightlifting team, but regular-sized.
Relative to other indian restaurants, there is comparatively less oil at Indian Affair, one does not find an oil soup at the bottom of the plate when the meal is done, though oil is still used but at a more mild level. "Hotness" level is intermediate, there's definitely an effective kick but it is not ridiculous. As an added plus, the Naan bread is not just fresh most of the time, it's been fresh each of the 10 or 15 times I've been there.
I first found out about Indian Affair because a friend from India had recommended it to a (Caucasian, American) friend of mine, who in turn recommended it to me. I've since recommended it to ~10 other people, and there's been consistent unanimous agreement that this a really solid Indian restaurant, at a level which is surprising to find in Canberra. I've been going there once or twice a month for a while, and I'll keep going. read more