Food review by Frank Liebeskind and wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

Today, with a terrific crowd of 47 the Society was honoured with having Manjits, Varun and their team prepare an outstanding lunch based on their ‘focus to redefine Indian cuisine’. Dishes range from Bombay, Delhi street fare and home style tandoori cooking.

I certainly couldn't thank the key people enough. Grant for organising and Manjit and his son for organising. Food wise, the best Indian food I've eaten, not only in quality, but quantity, no one went home hungry.

We sat for the entrees as well as the mains, and each table had two generous servings of each dish, and condiments to share.

A true feast and all the senses were dancing as the dishes were passed around.

Bug curry was Balmain bugs, a homage to their original restaurant in Balmain.

Every dish was a flavour explosion, as Varun said to me, Indian food must be a party in your mouth.

A meal fit for Royalty and my expectations were totally exceeded.

Manjit and Varun were exceedingly generous, with two lucky members winning wine and food lunches at Manjit's on the Wharf.

I asked Varun if he could do something for the members, and yes, mention WFS, and have free BYO on a Monday evening.

Manji also brought a tandoori oven along, set it up at the REX outside area, and members got fresh naan, and some members went and learned how to do tandoor.

Great food.

Entrées

Gol Gappa

Chicken Tikka

Samosa

Boti Kebab (lamb)

Mains

Butter Chicken

Lamb Roganjosh

Bombay Aloo Methi

Bug Curry

Accompaniments

Dal, Rice and Naan

Cheese

Paneer cheese with honey and rose syrup and other assorted cheeses

Coffee was a chai course.

Manjits has redefined Indian cuisine, Winner of 12 AGFG Chef hats.

Dishes range from Bombay, Delhi street fare and home-style tandoori cooking, to the most sophisticated food of the royal families. 

Manjits, Varun’s father launched one of the first Indian restaurants in Australia in 1984 and during the 1980s, he introduced a catering division, and, began hosting and managing events of a much larger scale.

A solid foundation of respect for the history of Indian dishes while paying homage to the country that welcomed them so openly over thirty years ago is the basis of the creation in our fusion menu.

This inspired vision born Manjits Wharf, our latest and most luxurious location overlooking the incredible Darling Harbour in Sydney.

Join their Curry Club or find one of their vendors for Manjits Food at Home.

Follow them on Facebook, and see Varun’s videos cooking his specialities.

Wine

The format for today was Indian and very good it was indeed. I arrived right at 12.30 pm to find everyone already seated. At first, I thought my watch had misled me and that it was in fact 1.30! I was soon advised that due to the nature of the food we were to enjoy it was easier to consume seated, rather than juggling and dropping large dollops of Indian food on the carpet. A sound decision, although I did miss the 20-minute pre-lunch chat with other members.

Dealing now with the wines, the first cab off the rank was a Hugel Jubilee Riesling 2009 at 13.5% and at 14 years old it was in my view starting to show some wear and tear. Acid starting to fall away and beginning to lose crispness. Quite sweet overtones. Irrespective of these remarks I thought the wine went well with the spicy entrees. A good match, warts and all!

The second wine was in my view far better. An Italian Monte Tondo Soave 2021 at12%. I enjoyed this wine. Fresh and clean with good fruit flavours. Soave hails from Northern Italy and is made from the Garganega grape. A popular grape in Italy and Spain it produces a flavoursome taste with a crisp acid finish. It went very well with the food.

We then moved on to two reds, the Torbreck Struie Shiraz, and the John Duval Shiraz, both from 2008. Whilst they were both Shiraz from the Barossa district (Marananga and Tanunda) and from the same year, I found the wines quite different, in that I did not enjoy the Sturie, but very much enjoyed the Duval Wine. Reason? At 15.5% the Struie was too “hot“ with excessive alcohol throwing the wine out of balance. An unappealing initial front palate leads to a jammy, stewed, over-ripe fruit, finish. This wine had followed the same pattern of other Struies I have had in the past. I have never been a fan. No doubt others take a different view. I will just pass on the Struie thank you.

The Duval wine was, in my view excellent. With the Struie, I have never had a good one, with the Duval Entity I have never had a bad one! I really liked this wine. A solid hit of alcohol 14.5%, but a far better balance with an excellent finish. A terrific blend of fruit, oak and tannin. Duval in my opinion is one of the best winemakers in Australia. A far better wine than the Sturie.

We then moved on to two whites, a Tyrrell's Vat 47 Chardy from 2013 at 13.5% and another German Riesling from 2011 at 11.5% I thought the Tyrrells was a first-rate wine and the label indicated an impressive list of show awards. Excellent fruit, restrained oak and a lingering finish. Drinking superbly as a 10-year-old with plenty of time ahead. I have written in the past that I detect some members having a less than favourable view of this wine. For the life of me, I cannot understand why. All at the table I was on were very impressed. Go figure! Anyhow, to each their own.

The second Riesling, a Gunther Steinmetz, was typical of a German, high quality wine at 11.5%, mouth filling, with generous fruit flavours. Despite the sweetness a good food wine with the right choice. Most enjoyable.

The final wine for the day was a Bullers Tokay from Rutherglen Vic at 18%.   An outstanding sweet wine brimming with ripe fruit, but well balanced. The classic Tokay from its ancestral home Hungary is made from the grape Furmint. My research indicates that the Bullers wine is made from Muscadelle grown here. I am aware that sweet wines, Port, Muscat and so on have struggled in recent decades to regain their popularity of times gone by, however, I urge you not to give up. The Tokay we had today was an excellent sweet wine of high quality. Drunk in moderation these wines can be a great way to finish off a meal.

Many thanks to our Winemaster for bringing these wines to us today. Never an easy task to pick a wine to go with Indian food. Well done Nick.