September 17, 2006: Fitz Curry Café

The observant reader will notice a preponderance of Indian food within these pages . I’ve always been something of a curry connoisseur, but Cindy’s Indian enthusiasm is a relatively recent development, stemming from a trip to the US that involved sharing a house with an Indian American and spending 10 days staying a few blocks from Manhattan’s Little India. Going veg has no doubt played a part in her conversion as well – you’re rarely short delicious vegetarian options when you choose Indian takeaway. Whatever the cause, it’s meant that one of our first tasks on arriving in Melbourne has been to seek out a convenient and delicious Indian takeaway option. So far, The Fitz Curry Café is leading the race. It’s a vaguely organic-themed Indian place about 15 minutes walk from our flat. The vegetarian menu is a strong point, with thirteen choices (including two types of kofta!), and the prices are reasonable ($8-$10 for a vegie curry). After a mammoth cooking day yesterday and a few hours tramping around Prahran and Toorak today, we opted for a lazy Sunday night takeaway of: navaratan korma, saag paneer, vegie samosas and a garlic naan. The samosa(s) unfortunately come in serves of one, so were left with only half of their stuffed pastry deliciousness (the mint yoghurt sauce that they came with was a cooling bonus). The curries were also slightly on the small size, meaning our lunches will be a little light tomorrow. Both were tasty enough, although I failed to notice the dried fruit that was supposed to be in the korma and found the paneer a little bland in the saag. Neither curry was particularly spicy, meaning that they really needed to have distinctive flavours, and neither quite excelled. The garlic naan, on the other hand, was generously garlic-ed and I’ll be tasting it on my breath for at least the next few hours. So an affordable and tasty meal, but not necessarily a winner in our quest for a local Indian eatery.


Address: 44 Johnston St, Fitzroy
Ph: 9495 6119
Price: Vegie mains $8-$10, rice & entrees $2-$5

Categories

• Takeaway