A rocking evening at Maya da Dhaba

TheState of Origin Rugby was on and one expected to find a lot of tables empty this Wednesday night. Not so at Cleveland St’s Maya da Dhaba though.

The Surry Hills restaurant was warmly welcoming. And not only because we had walked in from the cold outside. There seemed to be a happy buzz about the place.

My wife and I were there with two other couples, all Australians who love their Indian food, and we had all brought our children along. The kids were not big on eating spicy food, but it was school holidays and this was an adventure for them. We all settled into the evening and bottles of wine (and coke for the children) were opened. The menu was religiously perused and important decisions were made – after all, friendships are forged or broken over meals like these.

Ordering proved to be a challenge. The menu has an offering of over 16 types of entrees, and over 26 choices in the main course of which 13 are vegetarian and then 13 types of breads. Meals are all freshly prepared and there seemed to be very generous servings of the food, as we looked at other tables around us. We settled for a combination of vegetable cutlets, amritsari fish, tandoori chicken, prawns gulnar and seekh kebab for starters. It was one of the better decisions of the evening. The seekh kebab was spiced just to perfection – not too much but with just enough bite to leave that tingling feeling in your mouth. The touch of sourness in the fish complemented the robust flavours of the tandoori chicken and the vegetable cutlets seemed to melt in the mouth. The taste buds were challenged and they were in for one great evening of culinary delight. Yes, the kids were converted from KFC to MDD

(Maya da dhaba): the tandoori chicken, it was unanimous, was “cool”.

For the main course, we went for the rogan josh, goat curry, saag paneer, goan fish curry, dal makhani and of course, butter chicken. Lachcha parantha, naan and rice came too. There was a revered hush around the table as these delicacies were consumed. The goat curry was succulent, the saag paneer was well balanced in spices, and the goan fish curry took one back to the beaches of Goa. The butter chicken was a bit spicy for the kids but as soon as they discovered the naan bread balanced the flavours, they were hooked. What started as a perfect evening was getting better as it progressed. For deserts, the fresh hot gulab jamuns satisfied the cravings of those with a sweet tooth. The dumplings were not rubbery as they sometimes can be, but soft and fresh and obviously made with love. Yes, and we finished them off with extra special love too!

Sitting back in our chairs after two hours of eating, the dreary far away look was in everyone’s eyes – a perfect evening.

“And how will you describe the restaurant?” I asked the friends.

“Rustic is the word that comes to mind,” the well travelled Indophile Aussie mate said. “This is Indian food as perfect as I can expect in India. The spices are well balanced and the flavours explode in your mouth”.

I could see the smile on the face of Ajay Raj, the owner of Maya da Dhaba as he overheard this remark. Customers confirming the owner’s desire to give them the best Indian food experience, was surely a dream come true. Ajay Raj seems to have achieved the very best accolade from his customers with that remark.

Ashwini Goel

Maya da Dhaba is at 431 Cleveland Street, Surry Hills. (Ph 8399 3785). They are open for lunch and dinner. They specialise in catering with packages to suit all budgets. Call Ajay Raj on 0413 052 449 to discuss your next party requirements.

Just another ordinary love story

Film: Love Aaj Kal

Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone, Rishi Kapoor, Rahul Khanna

Director: Imtiaz Ali

Midway into the second half of Love

Aaj Kal, Rahul Khanna screams at Deepika Padukone and asks her to make it clear what she actually wants in life. That’s one of the very few moments in the film