Friday, September 01, 2006

August 25, 2006: Gurkha’s Kitchen

27/12/2012: Gurkha's Kitchen has been replaced by Horn Please.

After weeknights of fine cooking from Michael, I gave my temporary domestic slave a night off… and ate out. We walked to North Fitzroy in the hope of getting a table at the Moroccan Soup Bar, a casual vegetarian restaurant with a huge reputation. Unsurprisingly it was packed, and we were offered an hour-long wait for a table. Instead we backtracked a few steps and visited Gurkha’s Kitchen, one of a chain of Nepalese restaurants around Melbourne.

Gurkha’s had a wonderful atmosphere. High ceilings, warm with wood fires and subtle lighting, half full of diners chatting at a comfortable volume. As we looked at the menus, we were presented with water, pappadums and a spiced sauce. There were about a dozen vegetarian mains to choose from, and a few tempting starters that I eventually convinced myself I didn’t need. In the end we chose Chana Ra Aloo (chickpeas and potato), Pharsiko (pumpkin), Ghurka Roti-Baber (flaky wholemeal bread) and small serve of steamed rice. We drank mahi (a fruit yoghurt drink). Michael’s mango mahi was very much like the thick mango lassi drinks I often order at Indian restaurants. My strawberry mahi tasted more of strawberry syrup than fresh fruit, unfortunately.

The chickpea curry was a bit dry, but the couple of potato pieces under the pile of legumes were soft and steeped in flavour. The roti bread was great, neither greasy nor leathery. The firm pumpkin chips were the highlight, smothered in a sweet tomato sauce.

An inspection of the printed paper napkin revealed that there’s actually another Gurkha’s on Lygon St, close to our home. There’s a very high probability that it’ll become a favourite lazy takeaway in the coming months.

Address: 167 St George Road, North Fitzroy
Ph: 9497 8101
Licensed, BYO wine only
Price: $9.50-$11.90 for veg mains, add more for rice or bread
Website: http://www.gurkhas.com.au/restaurants.html

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