MELBOURNE | When Janhavi and Venkatesh (Venks) Kanchan moved to Australia, they wanted to open an Indian restaurant. Settling into a new country and raising a young family put a pause on plans for a while. When the opportunity arose to purchase Sydney Road stalwart, Tom Phat, in 2023, they decided to take it.
Running Tom Phat, and getting to know the area and its locals, combined with the relative lack of good Indian food in the area, confirmed to Janhavi and Venks, that the next step should be to open the Indian restaurant they’d always wanted to. When the space formerly home to Baba Hawker, just a few doors up from Tom Phat, became available late last year, they took over the lease, and Raas Indian was born. A few weeks ago, Janhavi and Venks invited me in to take a look.
Raas Indian showcases the diversity of Indian cuisine, mostly sticking to tradition, with a few playful twists along the way. Janhavi has a Maharashtrian and Kannadigan background, and grew up all over India, and aspects of all of this can be found on the menu. The earthiness and spice-forwards aspects of Maharashtrian food feature, as does the subtle, balanced approach of Kannadigan food. Head chef Satbir Singh, who has almost 20 years experience in the kitchen of four and five star hotels across India, makes all of his dishes from scratch each day, including freshly grinding all of Raas Indian’s spice mixes.
Juicy, tandoor-cooked chicken tikka is a top tier take on the classic favourite. So too, the crisp yoghurt and cheese dahi kebabs, with a soft, oozy centre. For something playful, try the ‘KFC’, which puts a Kerala-spin on Southern US-style fried chicken.
The curry section of the menu is extensive, with 22 meat and vegetarian options to choose from, covering all dietaries. There’s favourites like butter chicken, lamb rogan josh, and saag aloo, plus regional specialities such as Dhaba-style North Indian goat curry, chicken rara, and chingri malai curry. The latter, a Bengali curry featuring plump prawns cooked a rich, creamy, coconut milk-based sauce, is a highlight. There’s rice and an assortment of tandoor-baked naan, roti, and paratha to go with it, or course. Be sure to try the keema naan, which is stuffed with spiced minced lamb.
There’s a handful of traditional desserts like gulab jamun and kulfi to finish things off, plus an assortment of Indian and local beer, wine, and spirits. House cocktails put an Indian spin on the classics. For example, the refreshing paan mojitio, with white rum, Jaan Paan liqueur, simple syrup, club soda, and mint leaves.
Raas Indian
148 Sydney Road
Brunswick
Victoria 3056
Australia
Telephone: (03) 8338 1166
E-mail: [email protected]
Website
Open
Sun – Mon: 5:00pm to 9:00pm
Tue – Sat: 5:00pm to 9:30pm