——-15/10/2011——-
When I was invited to a birthday dinner at a venue I’ve never even heard of before I was so excited and I’ve never eaten Nepalese food or been to Curtin shops so I was doubly excited! The Hungry Buddha is very new restaurant located down stairs next to the chemist at the Curtin shops and has only been open for three short months.
Their website reads:
“The Hungry Buddha offers a wide range of authentic Nepalese cuisine as well as dishes from India, Malaysia and southern Asia. All of our dishes are prepared in the traditional Nepali style giving them the true flavours of Nepal.”
Simple decor in a spacious room.
Mango Lassi
Entrees
MoMo dumplings (6 per serve) Traditional Nepalese steamed dumpling served with homemade sauce; chicken with mixed vegetables($9.00) The dumpling wrapper seemed a little thick or there wasn’t enough filling inside, it was still nice though.
Vegetarian samosas (2 per serve) (V, DF) Homemade cone pastries stuffed with lightly spiced potato and mixed vegetables served with tamarind sauce ($8.00) I didn’t get to try one but other people said it was tasty, I did taste the sauce and that was really nice.
Sides
Cheese and garlic naan
Mains
Goru Ko Masu (DF, GF) Nepalese style curry of tender boneless beef cooked with fenugreek, cinnamon, tomatoes, coriander and bay leaves ($19.00) The beef was a favourite and was finished very fast. The meat was very tender in a very flavoursome sauce.
Pictures may be deceiving but here is my hand as a reference point (p.s. I don’t have big man hands or anything).
Jogi Tarkari (V, DF, GF) Nepalese style mixed vegetable curry with cauliflower, peas, potatoes, capsicum and bamboo shoots flavoured with spring onion and fresh coriander ($18.00) Nothing too special but a nice mix of vegetables.
Bheda Ko Masu (DF, GF) Boneless lamb cooked in traditional Nepalese style with fenugreek, cinnamon, tomatoes and coriander ($19.00) Also very tender and not too spicy.
Daal Bhat A traditional Nepalese set dinner of rice and daal (lentils) served with a choice of meat (goat, chicken or beef) together with a traditional vegetable dish and pickle ($23.00). I went anti-social and chose the platter because I really wanted to try a bit of everything (I did share though). I had goat as my choice of meat but it could have been lamb or beef and I wouldn’t have known the difference. I feel you get a lot more variety by choosing the platter and I wanted to try something ‘Nepalese’ rather than that of the neighbouring Asian countries. I particularly liked the daal and goat curry.
Eeep! It wasn’t until now that I realised I didn’t take a photo of the butter chicken that we ordered, I was probably too busy eating. Here’s the info anyway:
Butter chicken (GF) Boneless pieces of chicken marinated in traditional north Indian spices and cooked in butter and cream ($19.00) It was nice, not the most special memorable butter chicken but both servings did get devoured very fast.
The service staff was very attentive and it wasn’t a long wait for our food even though we were the biggest table during that seating. I would come here again to try more from the menu as well as support them during the month (and a bit) for Street Smart, which I think is a fabulous cause.
Venue: The Hungry Buddha
Address: 44E Curtin Place, ACT 2605
Phone: (02) 6285 2425
Website: thehungrybuddha.com.au
One of a few ACT restaurants participating in Street Smart between 14 Nov to 24 Dec2011.
I just went on their website and found this (22/11/2011)-
Birthday Offer: Celebrate your birthday at The Hungry Buddha for free!
The birthday guest can receive one (1) free main meal when they dine at The Hungry Buddha on their birthday.
TALES OF A CONFECTIONIST 