As I've mentioned in my Indian restaurant reviews before, I married into a large Indian family…read more This means I eat cooked-from-scratch Indian food quite often and I reckon I'm in a position to know what authentic is. With this in mind, neither my husband nor I thought much of our Taj Palace experience. The mint yoghurt tasted suspiciously like sour cream, the pappadums appeared to be mass produced and the service was overwhelmingly slow. All that said, this place has an outstanding reputation, and during our time in the restaurant there was an endless stream of people collecting takeaway. Perhaps we had the wrong dishes. Perhaps it was just a dud night. At any rate, we won't be hurrying back.

What a surprise! We have been watching this place slowly come together for what seemed like an…read moreeternity. Since our good ol' favorite The Taj Palace closed down a few years ago, Footscray hasn't had a top notch Indian restaurant. Sure, there are plenty of dodgy places that can microwave some sauce and pour it over some marinating meat - or the odd bain-marie and Indian Sweets (pop up) stores that last a month, but Sankranti is different. At first the size seems daunting and food barn like until you're actually in there. Each booth is fairly private and acts like a room, divided by tasteful partitions showcasing glass enclosed spices used in the cooking. Another good sign is the diverse crowd that the restaurant attracts. On our second night it could have been a United Nations dinner. I guess Sri Lankans, Chinese, Africans, Anglos and tattooed muscle men all find common ground here in groups. And now for the food! We started with a random entree of deep fried puffed rice balls served with three dips - a tangy curry one, a coconut one and a peanut based dip. I can't recommend enough a Southern Indian dish called Gongura.( I think they call South India ANDHRA on the online menu). I've had Gongura Chicken and Lamb and both are not your usual sloppy Indian curry made from heavily blended spices and yogurt. The meals here thankfully lack the bloated gee after-tummy - a big tick from us! For something different in the rice department, go for Chicken 65. Its a biriyani style rice with a few boiled eggs on top and special fried chicken in the middle. I'd say its close to a claypot, but hey, it was interesting and yummy. A downside to Sankranti is the eggplant dishes they offer on the menu - haven't been available both times we've been there. The chef and his wife are sticklers for accurate ingredients and giving us a genuine South Indian experience, so I'll need to be patient and wait for the small eggplants to become available (although with Little Saigon a smouldering heap that wait may be a little longer). Congratulations Sankranti team on filling the Footscray City Indian food gap and the space in my tummy.

From the owner: Sankranti Australia founded in Melbourne and named after a food harvest festival and celebrating…read morethe traditions with a twist. We have added a fusion twist and a dessert bar, to pamper your sweet tooth, to the menu to make it a unique place. We serve age old traditional south Indian, North Indian, Indo Chinese and also super modern culinary creations from western world. We take good care of our preparations from selection of quality ingredients to presentation of food for those popular photos for social media. Our knowledge and experience with use of spices, reflects in all the dishes. Sankranti Australia is not just about great food but great ambience and service. We want to take special care of every customer and offer wonderful experience every single time. Choose from our menu, or ask for our speciality dishes or request if you are keen on anything special. Whatever you choose, just relax and enjoy the meal with your loved ones. We will take care of your food requests while you are busy making wonderful memories with your family and friends. Lastly, we want to hear what you think at the end of your meal. We are happy to discuss and take your suggestions into consideration.

Great food, fair prices, Very friendly staff! We had a Thali with three curries and chicken tikka…read more All was fantastic, especially the garlic naan!

Blown away by this place. Killer Indian street food. Never had anything like it in the US. Flavor…read moreturned up to 11.

Food was really good! We ordered the chicken tandoori, butter chicken, garlic cheese Naan, saffron…read morerice, sweet and sour vegetable soup. It was phenomenal and so delicious. We ordered the chicken to medium spice levels and found that perfect for us. Also, the value for the portion size is really good. I highly recommend this resturant and would come again. Service was very attentive and lovely.

Aangan is located on a street full of competing restaurants with enticing cuisines from the western…read moreand southern parts of India. Aangan tries to do it all with an extensive menu featuring street style food "chaat", indo-Chinese food, South Indian masala dosas, goan fish curry, lots of veggie North Indian options and meat curries with choice of lamb, goat or chicken. Their beverage menu is equally extensive with various types of lassi. The typical salted, sweet and mango lassis are found on the menu but you can additionally order their mixed masala lassi, mixed fruit lassi and even jaljeera. The restaurant has an extensive wine and spirits list too. Portion sizes are large for the price you pay. Aangan means courtyard and though you enter a large enclosed restaurant there is also an attached courtyard with long tables that may be used to host functions. We ordered the chaat platter with our choice of three chaats. We got the samosa, papdi and aloo tikki chaat. The aloo tikki was the most delicious out of the three. Tender potato patty with a smoky flavour in a creamy yoghurt, tamarind and coriander chutney sauce with sliced onion, tomatoes and boiled chickpeas. The samosa filling was above average but not amazing. Papdi chaat could do with a kick to it. The goat madras curry now was one of the best curries I've had. Didn't taste like pataks. Not creamy or buttery sauce. Just a really thick masala sauce with tender pieces of goat and strong but not overpowering fllavours of mustard. The thick garlic naan was equally delicious. We couldn't have enough. Even though I was full I had to get to the bottom of the copper bowl holding the curry. I tried the masala lassi (arrived in a massive mason jar) which was as expected savoury and requires a palette that is acclimatized to drinking masala in yoghurt. The mango lassi was nice but sickly sweet. The dessert options include various flavours of kulfi, gulab jamun, carrot halwa and faluda. The faluda had a strong almost pungent flavour of rose syrup. And it was hard to finish. Should have been served in a sundae glass with a fork as the noodles were slippery. The service is polite, quick and attentive. Make a booking as the place got very full very quickly even on a public holiday. Patrons included both Indians and non Indians. They do lunch take away curry specials for 10 bucks. though some menu items can be worked on - I really enjoyed the food and service.

In the heart of Chinatown is the Daughter in Law restaurant. Brought and colorful and billed as…read more'the unauthorized Australian Chinese restaurant'. We had the great lamb chops as well as delicious garlic naan. You've got to try the Ball of Happiness - a hollow shell that you pour mint, yogurt and tamarind sauces into and eat it in one bite. Excellent!

As a Indian food lover I had to absolutely try some in Melbourne while I'm here. Went to Daughter…read morein law last night. Now not your typical Indian restaurant. This was kinda upbeat, trendy hipster a little bit. I did enjoy the music very much while there. Service was good. I would say it was a very solid 4 stars . More closure to 4.5 Just not the insane depth of flavors like I've had in many other places but good non the less. Had the lamb Rojan Josh. And we did the naan Bread and condiments sampler.

Orright, so here's the thing. I married into a large, Anglo-Indian family. With this in mind I'm…read moregoing to make an important claim: I know Indian food. I eat homemade, created-from-scratch cuisine of the Indian variety at least twice a week. Christmas, Easter, Birthdays and other family functions consist of enormous, sumptuous buffets of the stuff carefully crafted from recipes passed down through generations. Now, my husband's family is from Southern India and for those who lack the necessary exposure, there's a world of difference between Northern and Southern Indian food. The Indian Palette claims to do both. I use the word "claim" because I'm not so sure they do either very well. We've eaten here twice (being an easy walk from home we wanted it to be good) and what I can tell you from these experiences is this: - Service is extremely casual. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's just very laid back. Expect to have to ask for things more than once. - "Mild" means "the mildest form of spicy that we do" - it's not an absolute term. I love spicy food, but some Indian dishes just aren't supposed to be. For example, mint yoghurt should be quite thick, cool and infused with fresh mint, not watery and spicy. - The buffet offers great value when it's available, however the great price point ($9.90 a head) is justified by plastic plates, plastic cutlery, extremely limited menu (4 dishes incl. rice) and even more passive service. We won't be back in a rush, but I wouldn't go out of my way to prevent someone else from trying it either.

Excellent food and excellent service. My husband and I love Indian food and have visited this…read morerestaurant twice. Both times excellent.

Just amazing lunch for $10. Can't imagine better Indian food, let alone at this price.read more

This is my favorite restaurant in Coburg and I have been here often because it is an easy walk from…read morehome. I have explored their extensive menu of traditional Indian, Malaysian and Sri Lankan dishes trying everything from the usual curries to their venison biryani and haleem, a mutton dish that is part of ancient cuisine of Hyderabad. Nila's specialty is roti, dosai and other types of Indian pancakes that are cooked at the front of the restaurant adding to charm and authenticity of the dinning experience. Their ghee dosai is spectacular creation with a very large thin rice pancake formed into a cone on which a second pancake is impaled like the brim of a hat. My favorite is their Murthaba Ayam, a stuffed roti filled with chicken, onion, tomato, chili, fresh egg and spices. Nila offers great food at affordable prices making it a favorite for students and families. The atmosphere is relaxed and informal and the décor basic with Bollywood music videos playing on two televisions, except during the cricket season when there is cricket, of course, and during Ramadan when they are switched off. The restaurant is halal and during Ramadan has an all you can eat buffet. Upstairs there is a function room for catered parties. All the food is halal and there is an extensive vegetarian selection.

"go on, treat yourself to the goat" is a fairly common saying among my housemates. The goat masala…read morehere is off the hook good. In fact everything's awesome here from the awesome range of cheap curries, dosai to the roti that's made out the front of the restaurant while you watch. The staff here are ridiculously friendly! To the point where I think the guy who owns it was trying to get us to go to the northern territory with him, in a friendly way, not the creepy way! This place has a great tacky charm, and in my mind is the best Indian/Malaysian in the area by a long shot. It's well worth braving the stupid Sydney rd traffic to try this place out.