I was sitting at work, pondering what Hamsley and I could have for dinner that didn’t involve too much effort as I was suffering from a mild case of the C.B.F.s  (for those of you (Mum) that aren’t up with what the cool kids are saying; CBF stands for: can’t be f-ed!)
Anyways, when I texted Hamsley asking him what he wanted for dinner, I promptly got a reply, “I’ve got dinner covered. Bring your camera.”

You can imagine what thoughts go through a food blogger’s head when they receive a message like that. So that perked up my energy levels and had me racking my brains!

After work I was shown the restaurant of choice that Hamsley had made a reservation at to surprise me. He showed me on my iPhone using the Good Food Guide application. I had driven past Bombay By Night many times whilst on my way down to Brighton and thought, ‘That place looks pretty faffy, must be expensive since it’s in the Good Food Guide…*sigh*… ah maybe one day!”

We walked through the door, and the maître d’ promptly greeted us, and took us through to our table. We were given a moment to take in how warm, yet spacious the restaurant was, with beautiful artwork adorning the walls, and lovely lighting that made you feel very relaxed.

A waiter presented us with menus for us to trawl over, with a list of a couple of tempting specials. Another waiter arrived shortly to take our drinks order, and came back momentarily with our requested drinks.


The mango lassi was the sweetest lassi I’ve ever had. It was fantastic though, full of mango flavour, nice and refreshing.

The second special on the list caught my eye… perhaps it was the lobster that did it, but I’ve never had lobster in a curry before, and I didn’t really feel like a rogan josh or vindaloo. I sweet talked Hamsley into ordering the lobster and prawn curry, given that he hadn’t had lobster before it helped to sweeten the deal.


It was incredible. You could really taste the lime, and worked perfectly with the seafood. It had quite a bit of a kick to it, so it also went well with a bit of raita. Hamsley enjoyed his first lobster experience, and really enjoyed it’s luscious green sauce as well.


There is always one thing I order when I eat Indian cuisine. I’m pretty sure it’s the same case for most people too, as I remember I joke, “No order at an Indian restaurant is complete without butter chicken”. Butter chicken or Chicken Makhani as it’s properly called, is one of my obsessions, along with meatballs, dumplings and chocolate. Luckily for me, Hamsley is an avid fan of the chicken makhani too, so there was no sweet talking involved when ordering this.
You can put us both down on record for saying that this is the best chicken makhani we have had. Deliciously creamy, with the perfect amount of flavour. It was fantastic with the basmati rice and freshly made garlic nan. I could have happily survived on this all night if I didn’t have to share.

We had decided not to go with appetisers as we where going for the lobster curry; and luckily so, as we were both well and truly stuffed by the end of eating everything.
We looked at the dessert menu and would have ordered a mango kulfi if our bellies had room. Never mind, there is always next time for dessert!

Bombay by Night also does take away. Their take away menu is here, and you get a 10% discount if you order before 7pm.
The full dine in menu is also available here.

The staff were extremely attentive throughout the night, especially the waiter in charge of filling up the water glasses. It’s not hard to see why Bombay By Night has been in the Good Food Guide so many years in a row.
The maître d’ came over and asked me if I was taking photos for my food blog, which was a bit of a specific question! I of course admitted my crime, and he said they had quite a few people come in a take photos for their blogs. At the end of the night I wrote down my web address so that he could check it out. Thanks again for your warm hospitality, and we will be back soon to sample the other delicious items on your menu.

Bombay By Night gets the first ‘Food Blogger Friendly’ seal of approval.

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Week 2 into the cookbook challenge, and the theme was Indian. I found a dessert I wanted to make, kulfi, but during the week I also found a main course I had time to make. Most of the Indian recipes I found required marinating or multiple processes that required hours of work, but the chicken tandoori wraps were something I could whip up quickly after work.

The wraps were amazing packed with flavour, I even got mum and dad eating cucumber, which they usually hate! It was such an easy meal to prepare, and everyone left the dinner table full and satisfied.

The kulfi was made a couple of nights before hand. It was a bit of an adventure as one of my kulfis spilt on the carpet on it's way to the freezer. Then another spilt on it's way into the freezer.

The flavour was pistachio and date, served with an orange syrup. The orange blossom water made it taste a little flowery. It isn't like your traditional icecream, but it was a nice cool way to end a meal. I probably wouldn't make it again though. Not really something I can see myself craving anytime in the future.

Chicken Tandoori Pockets with Raita

1 tablespoon lime juice
100g tandoori paste
70g yogurt
400g chicken tenderloins
8 large flour torillas
60g snow pea tendrils

Raita
280g yogurt
1 lebanese cucumber, halved, seeded and chopped finely
1 tablespoon finely chopped mint

1. Combine juice, paste and yogurt in a medium bowl with chicken.

2. Cook chicken, in batches, on heated oiled grill plate (or grill or barbecue) until cooked through. Stand 5 minutes; slice thickly.

3. Meanwhile, heat tortillas according to packet directions.

4. Make raita (combine all ingredients in a small bowl).

5. Place equal amount of each of the chicken, tendrils and raita on a quarter section of each tortilla; fold tortilla in half and then in half again to enclose filling and form triangle-shaped pockets.

Makes 8.
Pistachio and Date Kulfi

100g unsalted pistachio kernels
395g can sweetened condensed milk
300ml thickened cream
125g fresh pitted dates, chopped
1 tablespoon orange blossom water
3 oranges
1/2 cup caster sugar

1. Line six 150ml dariole moulds (don't worry, I don't know what they are either, I used plastic cups), with plastic wrap, leaving some overhanging the sides.

2. Process pistachios and condensed milk in a food processor until nuts are finely chopped and you have a coarse paste.

3. Lightly whip the cream in a large bowl, then fold in the condensed milk mixture, dates and orange blossom water. Divide the mixture among the dariole moulds, then cover with the overhanging plastic wrap and freeze for at least 6 hours or overnight until firm.

4. Zest the rind of 1 orange using a zester. Place in a saucepan with the juice of 2 oranges, the caster sugar and 1/2 cup water. Stir over low heat to dissolve the sugar, then summer for 5 minutes until the syrup has thickened. Set aside to cool.

5. When ready to serve, peel the remaining orange, then slice the flesh into rounds. Place on a serving place and drizzle with some of the candied rind and syrup. Turn out the kulfi onto plates, then drizzle with the remaining rind and syrup and serve with orange slices.

Serves 6.

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It was the evening of Earth Hour and we have sort of made it a habit to go out for dinner with friends.
We decided on somewhere fairly close to home, at a place Iron Chef Alana highly recommended.

I called during the week to make a booking with no problems. I then called up again 1 hour before we were due to be in to make the booking a bit later as a member of our party was running late. When we arrived at the restaurant we were left standing around whilst staff members hurried about. Another group of 4 walked in and were immediately seated, whilst we still stood there. We were then told our table was being cleared and we waited, and waited.
When we were finally seated it took a short while to receive menus. When we did receive the menus our papadums where plonked on the table without the usual condiments.

Iron Chef Alana took care of the ordering, and drinks were promptly delivered.
Nerdy Rob had this Rose Lassi, and for me it tasted like pot potpourri.

We were delivered our vegetable samosas shortly after which were delicious! Definitely home made, with chunky vegetables and delicious with the mint riata.

Then Tandoori chicken arrived promptly after finishing the samosas and it was amazing! Juicy thigh fillets, cooked to perfection! The best part about it was the chicken was boneless.


Then we waited a little. Our plates were cleared. We waited some more, them some more... then about 30-40 minutes later after seeing some staff members possibly arguing over noticing our table hadn't had any service for quite some time our mains arrived.

We clearly over ordered, despite the fact that we were all starving. But it was worth the wait. Everything was delicious.

This pumpkin masala was served in a pumpkin! Pretty spicy, but nice!


The butter chicken was a little tomato-y than what I'm used to, but it was still nice. I still think the best butter chicken I've had is at the Curry Club in Richmond, but this one is a lot closer to home. With rice and garlic naan, I was in heaven!


We also had a Chicken Malabari (boneless chicken cooked in mustard seeds, coconut, curry leaves with whole red chillies). I didn't take a photo as we were all too hungry and got right into eating. It was just as good as everything else, and the coconut really helped to mix things up. It tasted more Thai than Indian in a way as I'm not used to coconut cream in an Indian curry.

Apart from the service, or perhaps it was just lacking on that particular night, this place is great. I really enjoyed the food, and we weren't crammed amongst other diners.
Bookings are a must, the place is always packed when I'm driving past. Just perhaps don't go if you are seeing a movie in case your food gets delayed like ours did!

Tandoori Den - Camberwell
261 Camberwell Rd
Camberwell, VIC 3124

Tel: (03) 9882-5353
Fax: (03) 9882-8266
Web: www.tandooriden.com.au


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