"...BEST PUNJABI FOOD I'VE HAD..FOR A LONG LONG TIME..!!..."
Want to give it a 4.5 out of 5...!!!
Tonight we visited SATGURU INDIAN RESTAURANT on Bulleen Road, Balwyn North...We did so on a Groupon Voucher - 3 Course Dinner for 4 - $49....!!!! Paid an extra $35.90 for drinks and an extra basket Naan Bread..Was an absolute bargain at just over $21 each....!!!!
Okay....the 4 best things about buying these discount dining vouchers are the following....
1. They save you your hard earned money...thereby allowing more frequent dining experiences...great for you...great for the industry...
2. They get you out and about. .take you out of your comfort zone ..get you out of your own suburb. .entice you to explore other cuisines..
3. Allow you to take risks with dining choices - "doesn't matter if you make a blunder. .doesn't matter if you couldn't eat it ..doesn't matter if you got conned...cos it was heavily discounted...you didn't pay the menu price...so, you're always that 'one step ahead'...
4. In taking those risks, you now and then, will inextricably find a place where you will be more than happy to pay full price...and indeed, where you will be more than content to decide that IT IS POSSIBLY ONE OF THE FINEST EXAMPLES OF IT'S CUISINE, AROUND...and thus...with great satisfaction, list it as one of your all-time FAVES....
Well..listing this little place as one of my 'all-time faves' is what happened tonight..
It's a lovely little quaint cafe style Indian restaurant - flowers on each table.,,bollywood on the TV...Northern Indian metal guest serving dishes...
I found the owner to be gentle, dignified, courteous and friendly - He certainly showed no malice towards us because we were eating in his restaurant at a discounted price..
The wait-staff..just the one..didn't really have time to 'pander to' and 'smile'..the woman was flat out ensuring that everyone seated in the place..got their meals..drinks and et al..without any muck-ups - She succeedeed swimmingly...and most of the tables were full...
The food was the BIG BIG STAR...just fabulous - authentic - tasty - perfectly seasoned - not oily - spicy but not biting hot - everything had it's own distinct flavour - everything was a winner in it's own right....
I couldn't fault any of the dishes we tried....
We started off with truly home-made SAMOSA'S - they were big, and beautiful..and VEGETABLE PAKORA'S - crisp, golden, perfectly seasoned..just delish..RAITA was chilled and fresh and allowed ample dipping for the four of us..
The curries: We chose the CHICKEN KORMA - lovely big tender chunks of white chicken meat in that delish cashew nut flavoured sauce and the MANGO CHICKEN - diced melt in the mouth chicken in a sweet and spicy curry base. The LAMB ROGAN JOSH - juicy cubed lamb in that gorgeous kishmiri sauce and the BEEF SHAHI KORMA [Yes..the Punjabi eat beef] was truly and seriously yum..!!
The SAFFRON BASMATI RICE was just superb - pot-hot, light, fluffy, all grains separated..beautiful buttery aroma and flavour...and the NAAN bread was OUT OF THIS WORLD - just cooked in the tandoor..edges charred, but so comforting..so warm, so soft and so succulent - we had to order another basket to mop up the juices..we weren't leaving anything behind..not tonight..
This remarkable meal ended with home-made ice-cream...we chose the MANGO KULFI and the PISTACHIO KULFI - both lovely..the mango was dense and icy..really cooled down our hot mouths..the pistachio was soft and creamy..restored everything back to balance..
Look..this meal was an absolute HIGHLIGHT - just delicious...real and unpretentious, and very much recommended..at MENU PRICE..and..with a GENEROUS TIP....
Visited on Tuesday 22/09/2015 for Dinner with my family of four. read more