BEST PAKISTANI and/or INDIAN in Melbourne!
Now that I have your attention, I'll explain.
Sizzler Ji looks like an unassuming restaurant on Koornang Road, the epicurean capital of the SE suburbs in my opinion. I haven't seen such a highly congested row of restaurants over 500 meters anywhere in Melbourne.
Upon walking in, the decor and table setting seems standard for such a restaurant; it's clean and polite but nothing intimate or overly-decorated with Eastern tapestries or religious icons. Just dark wood furniture with red table mats.
Outdoor seating is available, but it's literally a plain concrete courtyard out the back of the restaurant, where you're greet by the back of the Woolworth's parking lot. I'm sure it will expand in time, but at this time of review there's a plastic table with seating for 4-6.
I'm also pretty sure there's one family running the whole operation, from the little girl handing us menus to the mother and son quietly refilling our water glasses. The service is friendly, polite, and prompt without being overbearing.
The food is delectable. They are a Pakistani family, but also serve classic Indian dishes as well. You can't go wrong with anything on the menu, but I'll list my favorite dishes below:
Green Chili Chicken
Chicken Karahi
Lamb Vindaloo
Sindhi Biriyani
Butter Chicken
(haven't tried any vegetarian dishes... yet!)
Kashmiri Naan (naan made with sultanas and nuts... amazing for spicy food!)
The sauces are all incredibly complex and flavourful. The chutney with the BBQ items is TO DIE FOR (and secret recipe), and at Sizzler Ji they don't skimp on the meat compared to the usual Indian joint.
Also, the venue is BYOB, but they don't advertise it. If you bring in a bottle of wine, they provide glasses at no cost. I don't drink beer, but I find if you bring in 24 beers, it's pretty uncool.
A little gem of a restaurant, and worth the train trip out from the city. It's literally 50m from the Carnegie station. read more