Haldi - Moonee Ponds

This is my second visit to Haldi after a great first visit. I am pleased to say that the standard of service and food are consistently good. We had a number of small entrees fish tikka, samosas and onion bhajji followed by some hearty curries with a basket of sorted naans and chicken biryani. All dishes lived up to expectations and were full of taste. There was no exaggerated curry powder flavor in the curries, which meant that the taste of the ingredients were able to shine. (Some places where we were the curry were just a mess of curry powder) Due to their cooking process, Biryani was always a highlight. You have to wait 15 minutes until it is prepared, but it is good to wait. It comes with a red pastry covered the pot and improves the cooking process as well as keep the plate hot until food. Desserts chose three. The Gulab (traditional Indian dessert from Donuts), Kufi (a range of ice creams with unique flavors) and a special cheese dumpling in rose water and ice. During this last dessert not as an appetite proved to be the highlight of all desserts. One of the males in the night was a little disappointed with the bathroom that could have been a bit cleaner. Overall, Haldi presents itself as a high-quality Indian restaurant where the presentation, service and food are there with the best. We look forward to a return visit.

Best food. Paneer Tikka Chicken Tikka was delicious. Service is perfect and must try **** Mary in drinks. We loved everything.

Haldi presents itself as a restaurant with a nice modern atmosphere and touches of the past from its old lights around the room. Food is well presented making it appealing visually. The taste of the food was also very good and not over powering in any one particular spice so you don’t go home with a strong aftertaste of turmeric or curry powder or chillies in your mouth. Service from staff is excellent with just the right amount of attention. The kitchen can be seem from the dining area through a window which ensures you that everything is being handled carefully and cleanly. The meal started with some pappadums and dipping sauces. A great way to start off whilst waiting for entrees to arrive. Entrees are a good size and presented in a stylish and appetizing manner. We had the paneer nuggets (the presentation and taste do not do justice to this dish it is well thought out with a good balance of flavors), achari fish malai tikka (salmon) could be cooked a bit less so the flavor of the salmon could shine through, but still very good flavors and onion bhajjia which was a great twist on onion bhaji using kale in batter ontop of the fried onions it provided great textures and went well with the sauce. For mains we had the Beef Vindaloo and asked for extra spicy as two of the diners At the table that night can take very hot curry. They found it mild and when we let the manager know he bought out some special chilli paste which when added to the Vindaloo made our two spice loving diners very happy! It’s attention to detail like this making sure your diners receive a dish that meets or exceeds expectations that makes a difference between a good restaurant and a great one! We also had the chef special fish curry (rockling) that was tempered down towards my spice lacking palate and malai kofta (Indian dumplings) and Chicken biryani. All dishes were elegantly presented and full of flavor the biryani had a layer of pastry ontop which is a brilliant idea as it kept the contents hot until the rice was eaten. A basket of three naans was also ordered and this was a great accompaniment to the curries. Crispy and hot on arrival it enabled us to mop up the curry on out plates to the last drop. As mentioned, the use of spices was properly tempered so that nothing was so over powering that it left you feeling like you had just been on a six month trip across India inhaling curry every day. We then went for two desserts kulfi and Gulab again both exquisitely presented and the kulfi has some unique flavors blueberry, mango and pistachio. They were all strong in their representative flavors and a great way to finish the meal. The Gulab was ultra sweet and well tempered by the vanilla ice cream and syrup. The food is a level above your standard Indian restaurant and makes you appreciate that good Indian food doesn’t have to be a mountain of sloppy curry and rice on a metal tray. To sum up, we had a very good night there and enjoyed the food very much. The staff take just the right amount of care and attention (even though that night they had a busload of people come in for a buffet). As mentioned, if you say something then they attend to it right away or find a way to meet your expectations as happened with the Vindaloo not being spicy enough. Care on that level is above standard nowadays.

The service was lovely. The food looks beautiful and tastes amazing....

One of the best experiences: loved eating