There aren’t
many things that fill the spot in winter like a good curry. Well, to be honest,
I can think of a few more things, and before you have to rescue your mind far
out of a Calcutta gutter, let me clarify. In addition to curry, you can add
butter and garlic naan, vegetable pakoda, biryani and roti to my list. You
might say then that I would have been a very happy person to be invited along
for a night out at Indian restaurant Chandani. And you’d be right.
Yes. I was this happy - Image from here
The evening
began with my first venture into the Cape Town suburb of Woodstock. It’s just
about the only suburb within the immediate radius of table mountain to have
double digit growth on property year on year, and the character of some of the
places is fantastic to see (read: it’s abit of a sh*thole on the upward curve).
Chandani is located on the main drag, Roedebloem road, so the parking is on the
street which is hard for most of us ex-Joburgers to accept (read: it’s a bloody
nightmare – there’s no parking in this village)!
Roedebloem Road - Image from here
We ventured
into the restaurant which is in an old Woodstock home with really authentic
Indian decor. It was lovely and warm and the reception was friendly and
welcoming. To cut a long story short – I could ramble for hours – we ordered:
We skipped
starters, and I would recommend you do the same, or at least share. The mains
are generously proportioned and with rice and naan, they’re hard to finish
(which of course is therefore a challenge ;))
Now I have to
apologise at this point for the lack of images in this post (besides that
ridiculously good looking, happy man above ;)) Curry isn’t the easiest thing to
capture on film, and neither were my dinner guests (JOKING!) – so I avoided both.
Chandani is
well-known for its brinjal masala, and whilst I didn’t have it myself, a
dinner-mate did, and he had good things to say about it. He’s also a meat
eating South African male, so it must be amaaaaazing.
I ordered the
Tawa Jhinga which is explained on the menu as prawns and chilli tossed with
onions and green pepper in a tangy tomato sauce. After a slight mix-up which
resulted in us getting a free veg dish for the table, my food arrived.
Accompanying the dish we ordered steamed rice and garlic naan. It was also
compulsory for each guest around the table to eat some of the aforementioned
garlic naan to avoid any awkward moments.
The prawns in
my dish were cooked to perfection although quite scarce, but given the size of
each one – it was adequate. I really enjoyed the crunch of the onions and green
peppers in the dish alongside the spice of the tomato sauce. I unfortunately
asked the kitchen to go easy on the ‘hotness’ of the dish – which meant it was
relatively mild. I enjoy a medium curry, so they could have added a little
more.
We were all
completely stuffed from the mains so sadly had to skip the pudding, but fret
not – we’re planning a post with just dessert to make up for it!
Judging from
the mmm’s, nom nom’s and aaaah’s from around the table, the restaurant was a
good choice and if there weren’t so MANY good restaurants in Cape Town, we
would definitely be back.
Chandani - Image from here
Visit Chandani
at 85 Roedebloem Ave Woodstock or call them on +27 21 447 7887.
The web addy is
www.chandani.co.za.
To follow Lisa on Twitter, click here
Or find her @LisaEdwardsSA
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