Melbourne Food Review: Curry King (The Rasoi), Bridge Rd., Richmond
It was Sunday night and I feel like going out for dinner. We figured since we had a very expensive night out at, um, well I can’t remember where anymore, we wanted something cheap and tasty.
So I had a quick look at Very Cheap Eats and decided on an interesting sounding place called The Rasoi so we hopped into a car and drove ourselves down to up to Bridge Rd cornered Church St. We got there and guess what? There was no Rasoi! In its place, there was an Indian restaurant called ‘Curry King’. Frankly speaking, I hesitated. I mean, wouldn’t you? I generally tend to stay away from restaurants whose names bear zero creativity and I happened to think Curry King falls into that category.
We went in anyway and I’m glad we did. I’m really not too sure why the place is called Curry King now but it seemed like it was still the same restaurant as the menu printed all of the restaurants under its chain. There seemed to be quite a few of them and one of them (not this one) was called Gujarati Rasoi. My guess is that they renamed themselves somehow. The restaurant was rather nice with old brick walls and minimal decorations. It was almost empty saved for a couple of other tables. It had a big flat screen with Indian music videos playing of course (as you do) but overall it was quite charming.
Our waiters were very nice and charming. We were brought grilled papadum (not deep-fried) while Josh took forever to decide on a dish (as usual). I decided that I would try something I never had before and ordered goat karahi. Josh had decided on chicken korma. We also ordered pea pulao, plain naan and garden salad. We were asked if we wanted our curries mild, medium or hot. Never the one to back down from the challenge, we went for hot.
(goat karahi – $11?)
Before I write about this dish, I often wonder why the word goat is now being used synonymous as goat meat in restaurants. I would have thought the correct term would be chevon. But no matter. The dish was beautiful. The meat was meltingly tender with just the right amount of spices. It had green capsicum and onion. I can’t say I have ever tried a karahi dish before but I am totally sold on this dish.
(chicken korma – $9?)
The chicken korma was also very good. I make chicken korma at home quite often so I try not to order korma at restaurants but who am I to stop Josh from being boring? It was lovely and creamy. The chicken was also very tender and excellent.
(Pea pulao – $3)
The rice was perfectly made. The peas were not overcooked like they often are and the rice was just right and not too oily. It went perfectly well with the curries.
(garden salad – $4)
I also ordered a garden salad to cut through the richness of the curries. I can’t say I have ever been too impressed with salads served in Indian restaurants and this one was no different. It was very tangy and it had some spices in it. Having said that, it was much better than your typical Indian restaurant salad. I didn’t order it because I expected it to be good but I just needed some greens to go with our meal.
(garlic naan – $3)
We went through our rice and our plain naan rather quickly and there were still some curries left. So we ordered an additional garlic naan. Thankfully it came very quickly. Steamingly hot and fluffly out of the oven with garlicky butter topping. It was absolutely divine and the highlight of our meal. All the yummy garlicky goodness was absolutely perfect for the meal.
(gulab jamun – $4?)
By now we were absolutely full but me being me, I couldn’t help wanting some gulab jamun to end the meal. So we ordered a single serve of gulab jamun to share. To our surprise, they brought us two bowls, each containing a gulab jamun. This was one serve but as I told the waiter we would share it, he had kindly given us in separate servings. Now that is what I call good service. The gulab jamun was nice and sweet as it should be. It didn’t have the cardamon/spice taste that I like but it was still good.
Our total bill came to $40 and a few cents. The food was yummy and filling and not to mention cheap. What really impressed me the most though, was the service and the surrounding. Generally a place this cheap would not be so nice and well serviced. Our waiters were attentive throughout the night and kept bringing us water every time it ran out.
We would definitely return. I was so impressed with the food, service and how amazingly cheap it was.
Curry King, 281 Bridge Road Richmond 3121 Vic
