I know I haven't blogged about Shine in Glen Waverley yet but I used to go there all the time to have curry. Yes, it is a modern Australian cafe but some of the chefs are Indian/Sri Lankan and frankly, apart from the curries I didn't find anything else appealing there. When I heard that the main chef had opened up his own Indian/Sri Lankan restaurant (Elephant Corridor) just around the corner, I was instantly sold. Ever since, I'd been dying to try it out and never really found the occasion (especially when the weather was getting warmer and warmer).
Yuye and I were at travel agents in the vicinity of Elephant Corridor the other day and decided to give it a go. I was a little skeptical about having curry for lunch since curries are quite substantial and heavy but to my surprise it was actually quite good, although it was so much food we didn't end up finishing all of it (by all I meant soaking up all the sauces).
The decor is a mix between modern and traditional where funky decorations hang from the ceiling while elephant statues lined the counter. It was a bit different to other Indian restaurants I've been to where they were covered with gold and silver ornaments and religious monuments, but I liked the overall atmosphere of Elephant Corridor with their modern twist.
We were given complimentary papadums and 2 dipping sauces before we ordered our meals. The papadums were beautiful. They were so crunchy and fragrant I didn't need the sauces to give it flavour. I used part of mine to dip curry sauce in the end though because the naans we ordered were way too filling.
Not too sure exactly what the dipping sauces were but I believe the red one was tamarind, tomato and chilli and the green one was green chilli, mint and coriander (correct me if I'm wrong).
We ordered 2 garlic naans between us as that's our favourite type (we also order potato naan sometimes but I like garlic a lot more). The naans were fragrant and soft, although I think I prefer mine with a bit more garlic. We definitely prefer naan over rice to soak up the curry sauces.
Elephant Corridor does a very good lunch deal between Wednesday and Sunday where a few (mostly chicken) dishes are discounted and come with extra items. Yuye ordered the Tandoori Chicken Tikka for $14.90 which came with a plain naan, tandoori chicken tikka, dhal makhani and palak paneer. I didn't realise the dish came with the extras so when the waiter brought out the latter two dishes, I thought he had made a mistake and given us orders from the next table. He must have thought I was crazy.
The chicken was by far my favourite dish of the day. I've always been afraid to order tandoori chicken because most places overcook the chicken and make it tough, stringy and bland. However, Elephant Corridor's version was so juicy and tender I gave a look of surprise when I took my first bite, not to mention it was very flavourful. I didn't try any of the plain naan but if it was the same standard as the garlic ones we ordered, it must have been good too.
Dhal is the Indian word for lentils and makhani means buttery. Together it becomes an Indian staple dish that is made with lentils and red kidney beans with added cream to give the dish that 'buttery' taste. It's a high source of protein and great as a vegetarian dish. The size of the dish was almost the same as a regular main curry so that's why I was surprised. I never had dhal before then so was surprised at how tasty it really was (I was never a big fan of vegetarian dishes or beans for that matter). I should really order this dish more often. This dish was more saucy than anything else (thankfully) so we were still able to finish most of it.
The other dish that came with the tandoori chicken was palak paneer. Palak paneer is an Indian or Pakistanian dish consisting of spinach and paneer, an Indian farmer's cheese, cooked in a thick sauce with pureed spinach which is what gives it that green colour. The cheese was quite creamy and more milky than cheesy. It also had a different texture to regular cheese which I found to be quite interesting. This dish was blander than the other curries and was a nice contrast and palate cleanser. Thankfully again there wasn't too many cheese pieces in the curry or else we would have struggled even more.
I ordered a regular lamb rogan josh for $19.90. It consists of lean lamb cooked with a variety of spices and yoghurt and is a popular dish you can find in most Indian restaurants. When I saw Yuye's dishes compared to mine, I was a bit disappointed as it didn't come with anything else apart from the curry and it was more expensive! However, I'm glad I ordered it because it was fantastic and also because the lunch specials don't have any lamb dishes. If I had also ordered a lunch special, think we'd have had to get take away. The lamb was well cooked although a tad dry and the sauce was slightly on the salty side but it was totally fine as we soaked up the sauce with the naans. These curries might not look like much but it really was quite filling.
