The food was superb, from the naan to the dishes we had were tasty and savory. If your looking for great Indian food while in Sydney Australia CBD area, do not miss out on the opportunity to make your tastebuds fall in love with their food! Super friendly and amazing service as well! read more

This is the easiest review I've ever written, simply because Lal Qila ("The Red Fort") is the knock-down drag-out hands-down best Pakistani food in all of Australia, possibly the world (and yes, that includes Pakistan). Even if I were covered in glowsticks at a giant apocalyptic rave somewhere I could not rave about this place enough. The best two cant-go-past dishes (I've tried not ordering them but always seem to fail) are the insanely spiced goat curry and the okra curry accompaniment. Lord of the Rings epic. read more

Lal Qila Restaurant - Indian Near Me - Surry Hills, NSW

We found our biryani! I haave no idea what took me so long to try this place out! From the minute you enter the decor is warm and inviting. The aroma of the food is in the air .. perfect to bring back all your food memories. We ordered malai chicken tikka (of course I can't remember the beautiful Pakistani name of the dish) the lamb biryani and vegetable biryani. The order arrived quickly... The chicken was perfectly cooked in the tandoori and yeah you could taste the charred earthy tandoori taste! Loved it! The biryani was yummm ...the lamb biryani was slightly spicy but my vegetable biryani was perfect. I can't wait to go and try the Nan! There's only so much a tiny girl can eat you know :D read more

Lal Qila Restaurant - Malai tikka served hot and sizzling - Indian Near Me - Surry Hills, NSW

See all

This place is great! We walked in and was greeted by friendly young man (not in a cheesy way) he made us feel welcome and escorted us to our table. This restaurant feels warm and cosy, it's quite small but you don't feel like your eating with the table beside you. There is heaps on the menu which all looked delicious. We had a party of 5 so we decided on the BBQ banquet for $44 and swapped a few dishes for some curries which the waitress suggested. The food was absolutely beautiful, everything was tender and flavoursome. This place is not for the faint-hearted because every dish had a big kick (chilli) which I loved. The banquet also came with 3 choices of dessert so we tried one of each. We loved this place and will be returning read more

See all

Pay no heed to the odd number of weapons adorning the restaurant, this place means you no harm. The staff are sweet and non-judgmental, and happy to suggest dishes if you can't decide. This is not your average Indian restaurant. For starters, they say it's Indian and Pakistani, and you can taste the difference. The curries have a delicate flavour, not heavy and oily, but packed with flavour and fresh with a variety of herbs and spices. I can never decide what to order because there is SO MUCH on the menu that looks amazing. The only solution is to keep coming back. I'm a big fan of their okra dishes, and the chicken claypot special is always amazing. The seafood is fresh and the meat is tender. A lot of the dishes have coriander, lamb, okra and ginger, things like that. Often together. Just writing this review is making my stomach all grumbly. The serving sizes look small at first, but the curries are rich and filling. The jasmine rice has lemon zest and other goodies hidden within. It's rare for me to get so excited about having dinner that I start thinking about it at breakfast time. But Lal Qila has that effect on me. Oh the anticipation... read more

So this is the second Surry Hills Indian restaurant that I've tried and it was really really good. Lal Qila is more Pakastani, as I'm learning all the differences, and enjoying the exploring. It took me a while to pick Lal Qila but thanks to fellow Yelpers and a keen eye of reviews, I successfully sorted it out. Nice location, really clean and warm, with hardwood floors, nice quality furniture and a semi visible kitchen. The staff was very nice and knowledgeable about their menu and preparations which is always great. They sent out poppadoms to snack on with mint sauce, I also had them bring tamarind sauce and that really got things going. I ordered the lamb chops to start and when that sizzling plate came out, I thought I was gonna jump out of my skin. Yes, I'm ready!! And you know why...it took a long time. I'm really surprised as we were the first party in the door right at 5:00pm and really the only guests. Oh well, lets eat. The lamb chops were excellent - seasoned impeccably, not over cooked, charred just enough, truly a great dish. We ordered a few curry's but I'm going to focus on the one that I got, Goat Karahi. I've tried another Karahi dish in London @ Tayyebs, another Pakastani restaurant. This dish was excellent, super tender goat, stewed so it was fall off the bone tender. The spices were excellent and the dish was generous in size. I'm a naan fan so I tried the garlic naan and a butter naan. Both were spot on, no complaints. It took while to get the check and settle up, so timing isn't their strong suit but once food starting coming it all arrived fresh, and hot. Lal Qila gets my vote and I'll definitely go back again. read more

Nom Nom Nom!!! Heard good things about this place and decided to give it a go...and glad I did. I'll be frank and say I don't know much about Pakistani food or its differences with Indian food but who cares, cause this place is awesome and great bang for your buck. I mean, don't come for the decor, come for the food. The portions here are much larger than what you'd expect from other Indian restaurants, as one curry dish is plenty for two people (comes in one big bowl) versus ordering 2 that come in two small bowls that I've experienced elsewhere. I ordered a curry that was a daily special and the name escapes me, but it was a Pakistani special. I also ordered some butter naan (so good.) My date ordered palaak paneer and it was bomb dot com. The menu is massive, the offerings delicious, and the servers knowledgeable. I'd recommend coming here with a group of people (not a bad date place by any means) but you'll get more chances to try other dishes since their portions are larger than average. read more

I always have a good meal here. Inexpensive and delicious. Try the handy clay pot curry, yum.

We enjoyed dinner at Lal Qila. The food was tasty. The staff are very friendly. I still prefer Maya de Dahba up the road. The fish from the tandor was very nice as was the beef vendaloo. I can see why this is a local favorite for nearby locals. read more

Lal Qila Restaurant - Beef vendaloo with rice and butter nan bread - Indian Near Me - Surry Hills, NSW

See all

About as authentic Pakistani food as it get with a bit of twist on a few dishes. Growing up eating Pakistani food daily and knowing what it should be, Id give this place a 10 star if I could. Absolutely love it. read more

Rude customer service especially guy with beard (middle age man seems like manager or boss)don't know how to talk with customers.Been to this restaurant without booking Fk that idiot don't even know how to speak with customers.terrible experience read more

Some of the best curries around and you get out for less than $25 a head. I'm an absolute curry expert. I don't go out for curries anymore because I make better ones than most places and I'm so bored of all the usual Indian suspects, buttered chicken etc. But this place is what eating Indian is all about. They have the staples but a whole lot of stuff I was unfamiliar with too. The curries a obviously made from scratch. The herbs are fresh, the prawns don't have that deep freeze vibe at all. This place is a massive find. read more

"Lal Qila"- Awesome dining Experience. It was my 20th visit and the food was exactly same in flavor and taste as the first day I had. Wonderfully presented and the other most important thing is the caring and friendly staff. The Lamb Boti and Chicken Karahi can be explained in only one word---------------"Unforgettable". Biriyani is "AWESOME" in size and flavor. I can say that it is quite hard to find a restaurant like 'LAL QILA' in Sydney with wonderful Staff and Food --------both. read more

The food was really good. I tried their Lamb and Reshmi kebab and Lahori Naan.. Everything was authentic in its flavor. It was as good as the food found in Pakistan. read more

Terrible food Zero $ worth Rude staff and owner So arrogant I ask them regarding price he charged there is no specification about the charges they are thief Pls make sure you check your bill Not worth it read more

I had a good meal here with a large group. They were very accommodating to the group and all the dishes were good. The only issue was the food took a long time (there was a long time in between each course) even though they knew exactly how much food and what to make in advance. I'd like to go back with a smaller group. We were able to BYO. read more

Have tried many Pakistani restaurants in Australia, Lal Qila is one of the better ones. Nihari is definitely good, not comparable to the best in karachi but still quite good. The atmosphere seems a bit cramped, desi restaurants don't realise that the exhaust of the kitchen should be away from the sitting area. Not all the people favor sitting in kitchen like environment. The food more than makes up for the shortcoming. My other suggestion is that they should separate Indian and Pakistani dishes, and name them better. Pakistanis in general will not be able to identify the food by (the fancy) name. read more

The level of food and service has ridiculously dropped, we went there yesterday as my Uncle Aunt and other friends were visiting for the US. We entered the restaurant at 7.20pm The staff was not at all paying attention. I had to request for the Menu and after each course I had to go and request them to clear the table, and even for Water. The Rasmalai we ordered for dessert had gone off and after letting them no there was no apology as well. It used to best a good food restaurant but Sorry to say the standard has dropped ridiculously. I was so embarrassed before my guests. I am never coming back or sending any one there. Hopeless read more

worst customer service experience ever. the so called manager should really consider investing in a management course and learn how to handle customer complaints. the chicken tikka masala was world class in taste but i would never go back there. read more

Booked in the morning online and got a definitive response "We will send you a booking confirmation shortly" and assumed it was locked in. Never received any other email. While on route an SMS was sent just before booked time withdrawing booking - did not see it as we were driving. In the meantime, an older guest was dropped off at the location 15 mins before time, and was told booking had been cancelled. With no way to get home (we were going to drop him back) his phone was discharged and asked to borrow a phone. Rude staff said their phone was busy. HOW CAN A FULL RESTAURANT NOT HAVE A SINGLE SPARE MOBILE PHONE IN 2017??? Older gentleman with health issues was not offered a seat to be allowed to wait and walked IN THE RAIN to train station. When we arrived, we had no idea where he was. Staff was extremely rude and never apologised for their poorly written "confirmation" and late withdrawal. They could have suggested alternatives instead of turning people back - like helping to book another location, but rude staff threw us out. We never got angry once, just listened in shock and left when told to. They claimed they called several times - a total lie. Worse, we had a missing older gentleman to deal with. There is no way on earth the restaurant was booked out at the time we booked. They stuffed up, and created a nightmare for what should have been a pleasant celebration. No matter how good the food I don't think this behavior should be tolerated and urge people to avoid the restaurant. I honestly can't remember a worse restaurant experience. Lal Qila: please read this and think about how you treat people. read more