Shaahi Tandoori, Enmore
Wednesday, August 24, 2016
Continuing those Indian-food-adventures-because-my-dad-loves-Groupons posts which I haven't written in a while! 😁 Shaahi Tandoori is located in Enmore and a restaurant that my family and I visited recently. It is quite close to my university and also across the road from Cow & Moon! It isn't too difficult to find due to being one of the most brightly lit places with its sign and various fairy lights hanging out by the entrance.
We parked nearby in a communal car parking space and easily walked up the road to the restaurant. The signs outside had various deals displayed but because we were here with a Groupon voucher, we didn't pay them too much attention. However they sound really good for a lunch or dinner!
The interiors gave off a bit of a mismatched vibe because of all the random lights, wooden furniture and red & blue walls… however it wasn't unpleasant or anything. Just very confusing! The entire place was also really clean but as the pictures show, also very empty. It might've just been the night we were visiting.
We sat down ourselves before the waitress came over to serve us. She was really lovely to deal with. Throughout the night she would also ask us for feedback on the food and when she finished her shift and we were still eating, she took care to even say Bye to us ~
So anyway what we got for our voucher deal was…
2 x shared entrees
4 x mains
4 x plain naan
4 x servings of rice
4 x desserts
4 x cans of soft drink
$55 for Four People
We were told, same as what was on the voucher, that mains were only valid for up to $13.90 on chicken, beef, lamb or vegetarian and this deal was only valid for plain naan. Also mango lassi would be $2 extra if we opted for it over a soft drink which only costs $2.50. Even though this is a downer, this is pretty standard with most Groupon voucher places in my opinion.
We switched out one of the soft drinks for a mango lassi since it is my sisters must-order, and for some reason they still ended up giving us all 4 soft drinks. Win!
Mango Lassi $4.50
- Tastes just like mango nectar with the creaminess of the yogurt
- Extremely thick! Also very sweet!
The entrees took a little bit long to come out but when they did, omg the smell was amazing… WE WERE READY 🍴
Chicken Tikka $12.90
- This came out on a sizzling hot plate which is always awesome!
- Very tasty, tender and not dry at all. It is so well marinated that every piece of chicken tastes like the spices, rather than just being coated with it
Seekh Kebab $10.90
- These are marinated minced beef kebabs with lots of herbs and spices
- This was soooo spicy, I found myself reaching for the water so often! But it was like a nice spicy that leaves you with a very more-ish aftertaste. Accompanied with the mint sauce and salad on the plate, it provided another really nice flavour and relief to all the spice
Moving on to the mains, which arrived towards the ends of our entree round, we kind of had a hard time choosing. There was an interesting section on the menu called "Indian Chinese" but we were told that is also not included on the Groupon deal. I'm also surprised by that section because Shaahi Tandoori signage says it is an Indian Pakistani Restaurant, not Indian Chinese. My parents asked me to choose our vegetarian dish for the dinner, and since they always get the vegetable korma I went with something completely different...
Butter Chicken $11.90
- This actually tasted kind of strange because it wasn't like the familiar taste of butter chicken we are used to. Instead it is very faint and tomato-like. I guess this is a sign that they make their own curry sauces? Anyway it was still delicious!!
- There was another menu option called "Honey butter chicken" .. anything with the words "honey" will attract me. I would've loved to try it!
Malai Kofta (Potato cheese balls filled with nuts, fried and cooked in creamy mild sauce) $12.90
- This is the random vegetarian menu item I went with
- I loved this!!! The potato cheese balls reminded me of a pierogi filling with a few nuts here and there. And the sauce was so good. It was creamy a bit like butter chicken sauce, but very sweet and fragrant almost like honey
- Of course towards the end, like all creamy foods it paled in comparison to the spicier curries and was difficult to finish
Beef Vindaloo (Hot) $12.90
- Pick this if you want a really spicy curry!!
- I'm weak with chilli so my parents got this made more mild but I still mostly stayed away from it 😂
Lamb Karahi $13.90
- There was so much big pieces of lamb meat in this and it was all very juicy and flavoursome!
- I loved this lamb karahi because it was well spiced, but also on the mild side for someone like me hehe unlike the above
Plain Naan $2.50 each
- True to its name, it's very plain. We found it nothing special, nothing great. If anything, it's quite flat, tough and dry. Some of them were also burnt on the underside
Plain rice $3
- How do I review rice… GOOD RICE HAHAHA
- We received two large bowls of rice which was a very generous portion
The mains had us all feeling really full and we were contemplating getting some curries take away, but in the end my dad and I did our best to finish it. My sister wrapped up the naan bread to take home. Goes to show how Indian food portions are always deceivingly small!
On to the desserts… we found out there was no mango kulfi or ras malai today and it was really sad because those two are family favourite desserts when we eat at Indian restaurants. So what was left?
Gulab Jamun $3.50
- To be honest this is our family's least favourite dessert and we always try to avoid ordering this
- HOWEVER something about this one actually made me really enjoy gulab jamun!!
- While only two pieces seems a little stingy, believe me it is so sweet you won't want too much more
- Probably what made me like this dessert is how fragrant and non-overbearingly sweet the syrup is. Don't get me wrong, it is VERY sweet! But in comparison to other places I have tried, it is so much less sweet. I also note it's served hot!
- The sliced almonds are such a nice touch!
Pistachio Kulfi $4
- Not too sweet and full of pistachio bits and flavour! Loved it!
- It is served very rock solid! We actually sat around for 5-10 minutes waiting for it to melt a bit because it was impossible to cut it with the spoon. Thats the downside of this dessert
Overall my experience at Shaahi Tandoori on a Groupon voucher was actually lovely! The service and food were really nice and pleasant. I wanted to grab some Cow & Moon gelato from across the street afterwards but I was so full and already content so that will have to wait another day. I've heard mixed reviews about Shaahi Tandoori yet from my experience, I will give it a thumbs up! 👍
TL;DR:
Price: Mostly everything is under $15!
Quality: Seems very freshly made and delicious
Service: Friendly and polite, will always check up on you!
Ambience: Questionable decor, quite empty on this day
Shaahi Tandoori
200 Enmore Road,
Enmore NSW 2042
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