Back into the Oven
Last night to I returned to Tandoori Oven to celebrate a mate's birthday. Of course I left it until the last minute to get him a gift but wine has always rescued me in such situations. I popped into Quaffers on Unley Rd just before heading off to the Tandoori Oven. They had a great range of wines with more obscure wines than Dan Murphy's. I managed to get him a bottle of St Hallett Blackwell Shiraz, from what I read a paragon of great Barossa shiraz and definitely one I'll consider putting in the cellar.
This time there was a big gathering but we ordered individual dishes. For entrees I went for a dish of barramundi fillets with a spicy coconut gravy wrapped in banana leaves. It was a wonderful dish, the flavours of the coconut gravy blending nicely with the lovely delicate flesh of the barramundi.
This was washed down with a bottle of Rockford Alicante Bouchet. The alicante bouchet grape is the only, or one of the few, grape variety to actually have red juice whereas most wines get their colour from the skins of the grapes. This results in a nice refreshing wine a notch above most other rose wines with a perfect balance of crispness and sweetness.
For mains I had to try the lamb rogan josh again. I'm not sure whether the mix of previous expectations, staff rosters and having a glass of shiraz conspired to be not quite as impressive as last time. It was still a nice dish but it lacked the intensity of flavour and tang it had the last time.
I should berate myself for not learning the lesson of not having beefy red wines with shiraz, the combination of the two dull the flavours of both. Having said that though the Woodstock Shiraz was a nice example of McLaren Vale shiraz and deserved a better partner. We all shared a variety of naan bread including a lovely potato naan bread. The naan bread at the Tandoori Oven is quite nice but not quite as fluffily delightful as Beyond India's. Having said that the potato naan bread was quite a pleasant suprise with a filling of spiced potatoe inside, very appetising and satisfying.
For dessert I had a pistachio kufli, which was basically a firm ice cream flavoured with pieces of pistachio and cardomom. The pistachio gave it an intriguing hint of bitterness and the cardomom provided a nice tang. This was accompanied by a thin sliver of pistachio biscuit and washed down with a glass of Hollick Nectar, a lovely botrytis wine which matched the richness of the kulfi quite nicely.
This was another nice meal at one of the better Indian dining establishments and the bigger crowd showed the Tandoori coming into its own for a big but cosy gathering. I'd still like to think Indian food is better done in a more down-to-earth style as at Beyond India. Still the Tandoori Oven is a great place to dine in style, whether just two people or a mob.
This time there was a big gathering but we ordered individual dishes. For entrees I went for a dish of barramundi fillets with a spicy coconut gravy wrapped in banana leaves. It was a wonderful dish, the flavours of the coconut gravy blending nicely with the lovely delicate flesh of the barramundi.
This was washed down with a bottle of Rockford Alicante Bouchet. The alicante bouchet grape is the only, or one of the few, grape variety to actually have red juice whereas most wines get their colour from the skins of the grapes. This results in a nice refreshing wine a notch above most other rose wines with a perfect balance of crispness and sweetness.
For mains I had to try the lamb rogan josh again. I'm not sure whether the mix of previous expectations, staff rosters and having a glass of shiraz conspired to be not quite as impressive as last time. It was still a nice dish but it lacked the intensity of flavour and tang it had the last time.
I should berate myself for not learning the lesson of not having beefy red wines with shiraz, the combination of the two dull the flavours of both. Having said that though the Woodstock Shiraz was a nice example of McLaren Vale shiraz and deserved a better partner. We all shared a variety of naan bread including a lovely potato naan bread. The naan bread at the Tandoori Oven is quite nice but not quite as fluffily delightful as Beyond India's. Having said that the potato naan bread was quite a pleasant suprise with a filling of spiced potatoe inside, very appetising and satisfying.
For dessert I had a pistachio kufli, which was basically a firm ice cream flavoured with pieces of pistachio and cardomom. The pistachio gave it an intriguing hint of bitterness and the cardomom provided a nice tang. This was accompanied by a thin sliver of pistachio biscuit and washed down with a glass of Hollick Nectar, a lovely botrytis wine which matched the richness of the kulfi quite nicely.
This was another nice meal at one of the better Indian dining establishments and the bigger crowd showed the Tandoori coming into its own for a big but cosy gathering. I'd still like to think Indian food is better done in a more down-to-earth style as at Beyond India. Still the Tandoori Oven is a great place to dine in style, whether just two people or a mob.
Labels: restaurants, wines
posted by Forrest Rivers at 11:50
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