Singhs

55-57 Lygon St, Brunswick East; 03 9387 0066

Singhs is not an intimate eatery. It’s an expansive, tavern-style restaurant, brightly lit, with a large kitchen and bar in the middle. The menu is similarly extensive, covering all the Indian staple curries and side dishes. Their wine selection is of the bottle-shop variety, which means good prices by the glass, and some bottles for just $16.

SG is not a spice lover, and despite the option on the menu to tailor their dishes to your own level of spice, he neglected to ask and hence struggled a bit through his chicken masala (with onions, tomato and capsicum). My more accustomed tastebuds weren’t too assaulted, and found the spice lingered rather than attacked. My dish of choice was the eggplant pashwari - eggplant pieces in cashew nut paste and yoghurt sauce with garlic, ginger and spices. The yoghurt and cashew sauce was well balanced between acidity and nuttiness. The eggplant pieces were disappointing, adding little of their own flavour to the dish - perhaps over-salted or overripe?

Singhs has been around for 20 years, so their black clad waiters and fake flower arrangements make up parts of a tested formula. They deliver the quality of food that their pricing suggests - decent, spicy indian, without breaking any flavour boundaries.