Tandoori Express - Erskineville

I heard that this restaurant has new management, and I don't know if that's true, but it has greatly improved since the last time I visited. The samosas and tandoori chicken have much more flavor now. The chicken was a bit chewy, indicating that they still specialize in pre-prepared food from the window. However, when my group of 10 had an eat-in celebratory dinner, the food was great and the service was impeccable. This restaurant has gone from being at the lower end of Indian restaurants in Newtown to being one of the best.

We are lucky that this is on the corner of our street, but it is still the best of any I have tried in Sydney (and even a couple overseas). Too many favourites to highlight just try them. We have never been disappointed. Note their telephone number is 9519 9800. Enjoy!

Growing up in the UK (admittedly many years ago), the only place to get some spice and really interesting food was the curry house. Unlike many foods, the UK did the curry well back them. Upon coming to Australia in the 90’s I was really amazed that the curries here were really just not good, yet foods of so many other nationalities were just wonderful. For a long time I had craved that “proper” curry experience and the Tandoori Express delivers this in spades. I know there are many places doing this now, however this place gives you a great curry with quality ingredients and friendly service. My favourite is the beef vindaloo, slow cooked for tender beef, good amounts of proper curry spice (not just chill is checked in there) and not swimming in oil. Naan breads are great and the chicken biryani is fantastic.

I've passed this place numerous times on my walk to from the Union Hotel it never looked too appetising form the outside, so I gave it a try on Uber Eats. I went for a chicken dopiaza and a garlic naan. Pretty decent flavour without being amazing, good level of spice, the naan was quite floppy but it worked well to soak up the sauce. I wasn't the best Indian I've had, but was a good price so I suppose I might give it another try another time. I'm not sure if they allow BYO but a nice IPA from the bottle shop across the road would go down pretty well.

Look in and you’ll see a fairly fancy dining area but most business seems to be people ordering takeaway from the window. If you eat in, some dishes will come from the window in 30 seconds and others will take 30 minutes to come from the kitchen. They were still pretty bland after 30 minutes, although the vegetables had an enjoyably firm texture. The prices are pretty good and I might have liked it more if I’d gotten takeaway from the window.