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The Rupee...A Hot Currency!
Saturday Night in Bunno. Groovin’ the Moo,#Groovinthemoo is in full swing, to be honest, I’m a bit too old for that! What to do and where to go? To hell with it. When in doubt, go and have a curry!
I had been itching to try The Rupee.#TheRupee I have heard some good things about it, so it was high time I found out for myself. Not content with a lonesome dinner, the whole family came.
First of all. Who doesn’t love the concept of BYO. For someone like me who likes a glass or three with my dinner, it really cuts down on the cost of your meal. BYO in Bunbury is even more desirable now. There has always been the added stress of having to wait for a taxi at the end of the night but with Townarounds,#Townaround new ride App, you are ensured a safe and comfortable ride home and what’s more you can save a dollar or two. www.townaround.com.au
Anyway. I digress. The Rupee. Let me start by saying that as mentioned above. Bunbury was very quiet in general. I put this down to the music festival that was on. We drove past it on the way to the restaurant and it was banging! We had booked a table of four. I am glad we did book, as I reckon they may have closed the place up early as when we arrived, we were the only guests there, and that didn’t change all night. Some might say that having a restaurant all to your self is quite intimate. I disagree. I love the atmosphere of a full venue.
Authentic is the first impression I got from The Rupee. As we walked into the smell of Indian cooking slapped me in the face and instantly got the taste buds doing a Bollywood,#Bollywood dance in my mouth. The heavily textured wallpaper and various Indian artworks made me feel like I was walking into someone’s home rather than a restaurant. Many years ago, I lived next door to a lovely Indian family who used to invite me over on a regular basis for a meal. This place made all those memories come flooding back, and for that I thank them. Even to the point of bringing their children to the restaurant, (although the baby crying out the back may have been pushing the authenticity just a tad.)
We were given the choice of where to sit and were promptly bought water and a basket of pappadums. Our menus were handed to us. Let the choosing begin!
I liked the fact that they have not over complicated their menu. A lot of Indian restaurants these days seem to want to offer you every concoction of curry their chefs can think of, most of which if they were offered to an Indian person they would be met with a questioning look. The Rupee’s curries consisted of a few old favourites like Madras, Korma and Vindaloo, plus a few specialities. It made choosing a lot easier. We went for Homemade vegetable samosas and our old favourites Onion Bhajis for entree. Our curry choice was Chicken Jhal Frazi,#chickenjhalfrazi Butter Chicken, and a Chicken Korma. We also ordered a Chicken Biryani, (a rice dish), and a Dal Makhani, (spiced lentils). A large Basmati rice bought it all together as did the Naan breads. (Do you think we were in the mood for chicken?). Just to add a bit of starch, I had to order the Bombay aloo, (potatoes).#Bombaypotatoes
OK. Just a quick point to note. My youngest son hates spicy food. This is why he always chooses a Korma, we call him the Korma King, and he is in our eyes the absolute authority on them.
The first dishes were bought out. The samosa looked inviting. Big triangles of pastry and clearly packed with filling when cut into. I took my first bite, and let out a laugh.
“What’s so funny?” My wife Lisa asked.
“You’ll see” I replied mysteriously
My youngest took his first bite. The first few seconds nothing, then his eyes grew wide and the source of my merriment was revealed. Wow, these packed a punch, I really mean a big punch. I loved them as I love hot food. They were full of flavour and certainly cleared the sinuses! My youngest was not impressed. We had to order him a Lassi,#Mangolassi (a yoghurt drink) to put out the fire. The Bhajis were ok. I do prefer the more chunky variety, these were a bit flat, but very tasty. Both entrees were served with a mint sauce and a tamarind sauce that lifted them to above average.
Once the Korma king was over the initial shock of the hot samosa he diligently tucked into his Korma. He gave this a big thumbs up. It was creamy, no heat and generous amounts of chicken. Just how he likes it. The Butter chicken was good. A hint of heat, and a nice thick sauce. Stand out for me was the Jhal Frazi. The heat built nicely and left warm and fuzzies in the mouth. Juicy chunks of chicken, plump green chillies, peppers and onions all bought together in a flavoursome thick sauce. Delicious. The Dal Makahani was a bit too hot for Lisa. The menu stated it was medium, I would argue that it was borderline hot! The Biryani was OK. Lots of flavour and the rice was cooked perfectly, again, maybe a bit too hot, but I guess if one wants authentic, this was it. In fairness it was served with Raita, a yoghurt sauce to quash the heat a bit.
The Bombay Aloo was awesome. For me they were perfect. Just the right amount of spice and the potatoes were cooked just right, soft, but not mushy. The basmati rice again was perfect. Light and fluffy. The Naan breads soaked up all the left over sauces. One slight moan. I don’t like it when Indian Restaurants cut up your Naan bread. I like to rip my own bread up. The bread was served cut up in triangles. I always feel a bit cheated when they do that!
On top of the meal, we ordered a few soft drinks. The bill at the end of the night was $182. We thought that was a little high, but in fairness, we did order a fair bit. All in all, above average food. An authentic setting. Lacked a bit of atmosphere on the night. A solid 7.5 out of 10
