Indu - Sydney

Last evening was my third visit to this restaurant. I must say the reason I have come back so often is because the food is fantastic yesterday was another story - don't know what's happened it's obvious the Chef has changed - it was a very disappointing. If I hadn't had to great experiences earlier I wouldn't have bothered but the bar was already raised . I had the set meal - the kale and dosa wrap was awful- . The Rana has no flavour , the mussels were sweet and the coconut milk was over the top . The cottage cheese with crisps was a fusion cheese board done badly . The scallops had the coconut crisps overpowering the flavours - bread was rubbery. The highlight of the meal was the water melon salad and the dessert. Not going back there for sure .

If I had an option to rate it as zero, I would do it without hesitation. Undoubtedly the most overrated Indian restaurant I have ever been to. The smallest portions for the highest price. Even the world's smallest eater wouldn't be full.

There's a dearth of traditional and contemporary Indian cuisine in Sydney (same goes for Malaysian, Singaporean, Hong Kong, Taiwanese, Chinese and even Korean and Japanese cuisines). Ask any friend from these places and you can easily strike a conversation on their unsatisfactory dining experience. While it may be extremely difficult to recreate authentic food experiences, good fusion restaurants are few and far between. Indu is another modern Indian restaurant which goes horribly wrong. Inspired by traditional Indian and Sri Lankan cuisine, the underground restaurant in Angel Place is a mixture of luxury, contemporary and ambition with its sophisticated decorations of scarlet garlands and hanging ceremonial brass bells. Despite carrying "chilli symbols" and a plea for additional intensity, food simply falls flat. (Spicy food can mean a higher intensity of spices and not scotching spice) I ordered three dishes, namely flame-seared turmeric-cured salmon dosa, coconut sambal with red chilli and goan pork belly curry. As a food taster who was outstationed in India for six months, the food offerings at Indu is the least authentic (contrary to their chef's interview and if they did not claim authenticity as a selling point, I would judge them differently). First of all, the coconut sambol, which combines shredded coconut, onions and cashew nuts, lacks several other essential ingredients like chilli powder and garlic. I do not recall cashew nuts in all my pol sambol/coconut sambol in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, the mixture of sambol is void of any "authentic taste," texture and flavour. Its one-dimensional flavour is bound to frustrate you. Second, the dosa appears more like a crepe and does not have the distinct black gram. Unlike traditional dosa which is served hot with sambal, potatoes or chutney, the cured-salmon and turmeric appears distinct and separate. Third, the pork belly is dry, overcooked and hard. Goan curries are generally less spicier than other Indian curries but the mixture of spices - tamarind, asafoetida, curry leaves and fenugreek, appear superficial and conservative.

There's a dearth of traditional and contemporary Indian cuisine in Sydney (same goes for Malaysian, Singaporean, Hong Kong, Taiwanese, Chinese and even Korean and Japanese cuisines). Ask any friend from these places and you can easily strike a conversation on their unsatisfactory dining experience. While it may be extremely difficult to recreate authentic food experiences, good fusion restaurants are few and far between. Indu is another modern Indian restaurant which goes horribly wrong. Inspired by traditional Indian and Sri Lankan cuisine, the underground restaurant in Angel Place is a mixture of luxury, contemporary and ambition with its sophisticated decorations of scarlet garlands and hanging ceremonial brass bells. Despite carrying "chilli symbols" and a plea for additional intensity, food simply falls flat. (Spicy food can mean a higher intensity of spices and not scotching spice) I ordered three dishes, namely flame-seared turmeric-cured... read more

After hearing good things and seeing amazing photos of food, it was all a bit meh. The food varied from quite lovely (both lamb dishes), to ordinary, to pretty bad (the rubbery flavourless scallops and bland paneer). And the gin and tonic cheesecake that sounds so amazing is just a lemon cheesecake. And the specialty gin and tonics had the special ingredients added on top of a mountain of ice, so the flavours didn't actually infuse the drinks unless you stuck your fingers in, and not helped by so much ice! Service was solid but there was clearly an aim to get us out so they could serve someone else, which never leaves a great feel. The value was kinda average. I've had dishes in the same quality range at more mundane Indian/Sri Lankan places for much better prices. The big killer for me was the pre-added credit card surcharge. Two things here. Firstly, charging people a fee to pay their bill is just plain rude - do your costings and build it in to the prices. It's not like this is a cheapy local - the prices are high enough that it's a natural assumption that all costs should be included. And before anyone says I don't understand credit card fees etc, I am a merchant and I do not charge any surcharges to pay by any card. Secondly, one way to ensure I don't tip (and I'm a generous tipper) is to put any crappy compulsory charge on my bill, be it holiday surcharge, credit card fee or compulsory tip. So, overall, won't bother going back there again.