Author: Alex

Belair Bhavan Tandoori Restaurant

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NOW CALLED MUMBAI INDIAN RESTAURANT BUT RUN BY THE SAME PEOPLE

date of visit: Sunday 18 Sept 2011

We’re always on the look out for a decent, and reasonably local, curry restaurant. There are places we like in the city centre, but that’s no good if you want to nip out for an early, and swift, dinner. I actually became aware of the Belair Bhavan’s existence when the restaurant followed me on twitter. Not only that, but the restaurant is in the Entertainment Book so there was really no excuse for not visiting.

The Belair Bhavan lives opposite the BP, as Main Road turns into Belair Road. It’s a slightly odd location, but being part of the Belair Vines shopping centre means there’s no shortage of parking. As we were visiting early on a Sunday evening, we didn’t bother with a booking. Funnily enough, at 6pm on a Sunday, there was no problem getting a table but quite a few tables were reserved (including a large one) and even after our swift meal, the restaurant was definitely getting busier. What was also great to see was how well customers who were obviously regulars were looked after.

With baby and pram in tow, we were seated at a window table, with plenty of space around us, and a highchair was set up. All of that palaver over, we could get down to the serious business of inspecting the menu.

As its name suggests, the restaurant does indeed have a tandoor which you can see as you enter and naturally the menu features plenty of tandoor cooked goodies. We skipped starters and headed straight for main courses. I couldn’t go past the achari lamb (a curry cooked with pickle – hot lime pickle is one of my favourite things, so put it in a curry and I will almost always order it) and Andy chose the Kashmiri Elaichi lamb. As accompaniments we had rice and a naan bread.

Now this is a pretty lean order on which to base an assessment of a restaurant – but we were really happy with everything on the table. (The baby was slightly suspicious of the naan bread though!). The consensus was that I had won with my achari lamb but Andy only conceded that grudgingly. The achari lamb was spicy, hot with lime pickle through it – especially perfect as I had a slight cold. The Kashmiri lamb was a lot more subtle and the yoghurt made it a creamy, rich dish with a cardamom hit. The naan bread was crispy and buttery (or should that be ghee-y?) and was polished off, as was the rice. It makes such a pleasant change to go for a curry and actually manage to finish everything, instead of the usual over ordering.

Décor wise, the Bhavan is understated – its tables and chairs are quite basic and there’s nothing flashy about the interior. Andy and I both decided that it was very much like an English curry house – and that is a good thing. The emphasis seems to be on friendly service and good curries – what more can you ask for from your local curry house? We will definitely be back.

You can follow Belair Bhavan on twitter.

Belair Bhavan Tandoori Indian Restaurant on Urbanspoon

Two Tone Cheesecake

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two tone cheesecake

I recently entered the Bikko’s Bake Off competition that was being run by Robern Menz.  I was very disappointed not to be one of the two lucky winners who will enjoying a day out with Robern Menz.  Congratulations to the choc mint cheesecake brownie and the dark chocolate salted caramel slice!

But everything has a silver lining and, in this case, it means I have a recipe all typed up and ready to go!  I was really happy with my photograph, too – quite a departure from my normal woeful efforts.

My creation was a two tone cheesecake:  chocolate and vanilla.  This was a bit of a departure from my usual cheesecake recipe, because I didn’t buy quite enough cream cheese.  However, I think this mix is better and it retains its two massive plus points:   no gelatine, so suitable for vegetarians and no eggs so suitable for those who don’t eat eggs.*

As it was a Bikko’s competition, my creation had to include Bikko’s, so I used milk chocolate ones in the base, and a layer of dark chocolate ones through the centre of the cake.

This is a set cheesecake so you do need to start it a little ahead of when you want to eat it!

Start with the base.

Grease and baseline a 23cm springform tin.

Coarsely crush 125g of milk chocolate Bikko’s and 50g of your favourite cheesecake base biscuits (I used gingernuts).

In a heavy bottomed frying pan, gently dry toast 80g of rolled oats.  Watch them carefully and as they start to brown, add 100g of unsalted butter (cubed, rather than in one big lump).  When the butter has melted, add the crushed Bikko’s and biscuits and stir for a little so the chocolate on the Bikko’s starts to melt too.

Gently press the mixture into the base of the tin.  The more firmly you compact down the biscuit base the harder it’s going to be and, while you want it to hold together, you don’t want people to be breaking their teeth.  I find that the quantities given above provide exactly the right amount for the base.

Place the tin in the fridge and start work on your filling.

I put the chocolate filling on the bottom, so that’s next.  Beat 300g cream cheese with 50g of sour cream until smooth (if you have a stand mixer, use this – the colder the cream cheese is the longer it will take to get it smooth but it’s worth it).  Mix in 75g of caster sugar.

Melt 100g of best quality dark chocolate (either in a bain-marie or in the microwave), allow it to cool slightly and stir into the cream cheese mix.

Whisk 150mL of cream (reasonably firm peaks, but not butter!) and fold this into the cream cheese mix.

Spread this mix over the cooled and set biscuit base.  Level it off and cover with 125g of dark chocolate Bikko’s, lightly pressing them into the mix.  Return to the fridge to set (at least an hour).

Now make the vanilla mix.  This is essentially the same as the chocolate mix but use 1tsp of vanilla bean paste instead of the 100g of chocolate.  Spread this mix evenly over the Bikko’s layer and return the cake to the fridge to set (again, another hour at least).

When ready to serve, grate over dark chocolate and job’s a good’un.

*Note that if you want to make the whole cheesecake egg free you need to choose your biscuits carefully.  Anzac biscuits (homemade) are an excellent egg free base material.

Barendoe

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date of visit:  Sunday 4 Sept 2011

To be perfectly honest, I forgot that it was Fathers Day* so I thought nipping for an early dinner in town (and when I say early, I mean 6pm-ish) wouldn’t be  a problem.  By the time I remembered the occasion, we were already committed and it turned out I needn’t have worried.

When we arrived at Bareñdoe we actually thought it was shut. The restaurant has two rooms that face Hutt Street and the first was full of stacked tables and chairs and in darkness. Someone sitting out the front having a coffee pointed us towards the right door.

The restaurant has quite a plush feel to it: carpets, leather (or at least leather like – I didn’t spend that much time inspecting) chairs, and proper cloth napkins. The décor is very contemporary.

When we arrived, there was just one other table (of four) seated. Usually if we are out with the pram and baby I ring venues ahead, to make sure they can (and are happy to) accommodate us but on this occasion I hadn’t. We were able to snuggle ourselves into a corner near the bar without too much hassle but it was cosy. Still, Bareñdoe isn’t really the type of restaurant you’d drag a small child to on a Friday night and there were definitely plus points as the staff were happy to shift tables and chairs around so we could squeeze in the pram.

As we were there for a quick dinner, we only tried out the main courses. Andy ordered the Italiano calzone (declared by one friend to be the “best calzone ever”) and I chose the linguine marinara. Both were very nice – Andy was not sure that, while very tasty, the calzone could be described as the best ever. My linguine ticked a lot of boxes – the pasta was al dente, the seasoning was good, the amount of chilli was just right. However, one of my clams had remained resolutely shut and should never have made it out of the kitchen. Also, the menu describes the dish as calamari, scallops, prawns and clams but on my plate mussels substituted for the scallops. While this doesn’t make any difference to me, it’s the type of thing that customers should be told about when ordering. I imagine plenty of people like scallops but not mussels and maybe some people are even allergic to one but not the other (I know shellfish can be a bit funny like that).

Service wise things were OK. There were no blatant faux pas, and there was nothing particularly stellar about our experience. Bareñdoe does indulge in one of my pet hates – the comedy oversized pepper mill being brought to the table and we did have to wait a little while when it came to sorting out the bill (given that by that point there were a whole two other tables occupied no one can blame an unexpected rush for front of house staff).

Overall, we both felt that, while we had enjoyed our food, it was just a trifle expensive ($22 for the calzone, $27 for the pasta). It was as though everything was trying just a little too hard to be something it wasn’t. While it’s very pleasant to eat in a restaurant with carpet and soft furnishings (and much reduced clatter, as a result) this alone doesn’t push it out to a fine dining experience. And I’m not convinced that that’s where Bareñdoe should be aiming.

While I’d be happy to eat at Bareñdoe again, I don’t think we’ll be rushing back. But you should probably make up your own mind on the calzone!

Barendoe on Urbanspoon

*No discussion on the lack of apostrophe, please.  If you take the approach that it’s a day for fathers then there’s no implied possession and no need for an apostrophe.