Spicy Karahi, Summer Hill
Thursday, February 11, 2016
Hey everybody! Long time no updates! I've been in Queensland with my family for the past week and since coming back I've been swamped with work from FABSOC (a post on this soon, very exciting!), enrolling for uni, taking care of my cat Ichigo, and catching up on a lot of zzz's ~
Queensland was beautiful and I would also like to post about it soon, but for now here's a place my family and I had dinner at last night. Knowing my dad's obsession with Indian food coupons, my sister bought this Living Social deal, $49 for 4 people at Spicy Karahi in Summer Hill. Almost needless to say, I'll still include the actual prices below!
The place is located in a quiet street in Summer Hill and on a Tuesday night, it was just as quiet in the restaurant with only us and another couple eating there.
~WHAT YOU CAN LOOK FORWARD TO~
The $49 deal for 4 people included:
- 2 entrees to share
- 4 mains
- Rice, naan bread, pappadums to share
- 2 desserts
- 4 soft drinks
The walls are painted red (that's why the lighting is weird at night) and the rest of the decor is nice and simple. I have to mention the chairs are cushioned as well and I love that!!
On the TV screen plays a random shuffle of Indian music, and stuff like One Direction and Ed Sheeran. It's all very confusing HAHAHA
Anne!
Pappadums with mint sauce $2.50
We were given pappadums with home-made mint sauce to start the meal, these are so good together! Pappadums are described as lentil wafers, but in my terms - they're like thin and delicious chips. The mint sauce was sooo unique. I was expecting a yogurty, cucumber mint raita taste but it instead was satisfyingly spicy! Super good and memorable punch. Anyway, this is a must!
On to the entrees...
Samosas, 2pc for $7.90
- These were the vegetarian kind with potato and peas served with a tamarind sauce which I didn't really like because it was runny and a bit bland
- So much salad on the side!! +10 for salad!
- Another must-order, can't fault ^_^
Tandoori chicken $12.90
- This arrived on a sizzling hot plate much to our delight and there were exactly 4 cuts!
- The sauce was soooo good, and the chicken so tender
Mains...
Top L to R: Butter Chicken $17.90 | Navratan Korma $14.90
- I've had better butter chicken although this one isn't bad. The cuts of chicken are HUGE and generous
- The Navratan korma is a vegetarian curry and it's AMAZING! Listed as one of their specials on Menulog, it's clear why. The korma is very delicious, creamy, and nutty. Perfect!
Bottom L to R: Mango Chicken $17.90 | Karahi Beef $17.90
- Again, huge chunks of meat!
- I'm so surprised to see mango chicken on the menu because this is the first time I've seen it on a restaurant menu and not a food court menu. Absolutely love mango chicken and this one has topped every other one I've ever had. I love sweet meat and this was so well balanced out with a little bit of spice
- I assume the karahi beef would be some sort of restaurant specialty since the place is indeed named "Spicy Karahi" but I googled it and karahi seems to be the Indian word for a certain type of wok-like pot? Anyway the menu description is "cooked in a wok with aromatic spices, fennel, mustard seeds, cloves, fresh green chillies and coriander" and this all tasted very refreshing compared to the other curries. Unfortunately the one thing I cannot stand for the life of me is coriander!
Close up of the Karahi Beef
Rice $4
- Simple basmati rice, some of it is yellow and I used to think that it's saffron.. but now I realise it's probably turmeric hahaha it still excites me to see yellow rice though!
Plain naan bread $2.50
- The cuts of bread are soooo huge
- The bread is a bit too chewy for my liking
Finally, on to desserts! These took a while to come out and we laughed when they finally did.
Keep reading!
I'll tell you why below...
Kulfi Mango & Kulfi Pista $5.90 each
- Gorgeous presentation in the leaf shaped bowls, and kulfi topped with mint, almonds, and pistachios
- Kulfi is basically Indian ice cream
- Okay this is why we laughed - the kulfi took ages to come out and we were like what the hell, it's just ice cream. Then when it did come out and we tried to scoop a bite each... we couldn't. It was way to solid HAHAHA I think it took long to come out because they left it on the bench and tried waiting for it to melt
- Tbh the texture of the kulfi was not ideal because it was reaaaaally icy and from experience it's supposed to be very creamy, creamier than regular ice cream sometimes. The taste was perfect though! My kulfi pista was less icier than the mango and I still enjoyed it :)
Some more pictures of the interior:
^ Haha, my dad thanking the waitress and kitchen staff
BAD PICTURE, I KNOW!!! But I felt so awkward standing outside the restaurant trying different settings on Tv mode hahahhaa halp teach me how to photography!!!
I haven't commented on the service yet so here it is - the waitress was kind of really awkward or rude at first and maybe it's because they don't normally get Asian families eating at Indian restaurants? But she eased up a bit more throughout the night :)
And another last thing because not pictured, soft drinks are $3.50. A bit expensive for a soft drink especially since they're the skinny can types.
TL;DR
Price: Expensive for mains, others is average. Cheap on voucher deal!
Service: Awkward but will eventually warm up
Quality: Lovely food!
Ambience: Quiet and just very red hahaha
Spicy Karahi
97 Smith St,
Summer Hill NSW 2130
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