New India

My mother is a huge fan of Indian food, so much in fact that when I go out, I try to remember to bring home for her some Indian takeaway! She adores the curries so much that she constantly tries to replicate the dishes in her own kitchen, but unfortunately as much as I hate to say this, the dishes don't have that same hit that authentic Indian dishes have.

I came across a $29 voucher for New India, which entitles two people to dine with a shared entree, one main dish each, and a shared dessert. I've never truly dined with Indian cuisine before - my first experience was in North Adelaide where I was hit with a nasty dose of food poisoning which left me bed-ridden for the next day! After that I was not so keen to go through the same experience again and have been avoiding Indian restaurants ever since. But it was time to give Indian food another try.

  

 

Walking into New India, I was politely greeted by the waiter and brought to my table, which was set for four despite the fact that I booked for two people. It would have been nice if the waiter had the extra chairs and cutlery removed so that we had more space, but that's a very minor issue.

New India is a small casual restaurant on the western end of Hindley St. The interior setup was nice and simple, and the restaurant had a relaxing atmosphere. The waiters were very polite and always spoke with a smile upon their faces. We ordered the Chicken Tikka (Tandoori roasted boneless pieces of chicken marinated in yoghurt and a subtle blend of Indian spices) entree to start with. The chicken had just the perfect level of tenderness to it, the sauce was amazing (I have no idea what the sauce was) - basically the whole dish was mouthwatering!

Chicken Tikka - $12.90

My foodie date, Quyen, and I opted to share the mains. I wanted a lamb dish so I ordered the Lamb Korma (Succulent lamb cubes cooked in a mild cashew nut and cream gravy) upon the waiter's recommendation. Quyen chose the Fish Malabar (Local Fresh Fish cooked daily, in a special Malabar Gravy). The mains came with plain naan and basmati rice.

Lamb Korma - $14.90,  Fish Malabar - $17.90,  Plain Naan - $2.50,  Basmati Rice - $3.50

At this point I don't even know where to start in describing the mains. I'm just worried that once I get started I'll never stop going on about just how wonderful the mains were! Both dishes had this fantastic hit of flavours, and you know what - I'm going to stop here, because no amount of my praises would do the food the justice it deserves. You must try it for yourself, because you will not regret it!

The entree was a hit, the mains were more than I could have asked for... I didn't think the dessert could live up to this. Not being familiar with Indian food at all, I stuck by the waiter's recommendation for the Gulab Jamun (Cottage cheese dumpling in a sugery rose flavoured syrup). I thought cheese and syrup didn't sound quite right together, so I had almost no hope for the Gulab Jamun. Boy, was I in for a marvellous surprise - the Gulab Jamun was THE best meal of the night! The four balls had a gooey texture, and were fantastic with the syrup. Quyen and I couldn't stop talking about it afterwards. Now I'm left wondering if it would be weird if I randomly popped into New India again just for the dessert. It was literally nothing I've ever tried before. Make sure you try this dessert if you ever visit New India - it's worth it, and I cannot emphasise that enough!

Gulab Jamun - $6.50

The customer service at New India was splendid. The waiters seemed to really care about giving us the ultimate dining experience. They constantly kept an eye on our dishes to know when to clear the table and bring out the next dish, we were asked how we found the food (to which we enthusiastically replied "It was delicious!"), and they did not try to usher us out after we had finished dessert (I think we stayed and conversed for the next hour or so). They deserve a massive tick for such grand manners!

New India
167 Hindley street, Adelaide SA 5000
Rating: 8/10