Located in Terrey Hills, Urban Tadka is what we wo...

Located in Terrey Hills, Urban Tadka is what we would describe as fine dining Indian. If you re from the Eastern Suburbs like us or anywhere on the southern side of the Harbour Bridge, you ll almost need your passport and a VISA for the journey. If you love Indian food and curries, it is well worth travelling for. You ll need a car to get here and as you travel through Terrey Hills, follow the directions closely and you ll pull into a large car park and on this huge site amongst a few galleries is Urban Tadka.

Be sure to ring and book ahead as when we were there it was almost full and we also know they do lots of weddings and also have a huge catering business.

The restaurant is more a venue than simply a restaurant, it is in a lovely bush setting, it has a huge outdoor space, plenty of room indoors for dining, a large bar with a cushioned couch area and a function space.

The food can be described as authentic Indian with a modern twist. Food is plated beautifully and popping with colour and cooked with a diversity of flavours and spices. Cooked in a variety of methods; smoked, slow cooked and wok tossed.

We began with papadums and a 3 dip colourful platter of tomato/onion dip (kachumber), salsa and beetroot yoghurt A great started to prepare you for the culinary adventure ahead.

The Mahararja Kebab Platter was recommended and like its name, this amazing tandoor mixed meat dish fit for a King. This dish was served on a cool home made display stand, crafted from copper pipe. The meats all tender and juicy with a good amount of spice;
The lamb cutlets - flavoured with garlic, ginger, yoghurt and tandoori spices (Adraki Champein)
The Tandoori smoked shelled prawns, garlic and spices (Zatar Lasooni Jhinga).
The (Donalli Seekh Hazaarvi) a kebab meat roll of chicken and lamb mince, rolled with herbs and spices
The chicken tandoori fillets (Murgh de Tikka kararee)
Sitting on the bottom of the frame was the tandoori marinated barramundi fillets with ginger, lemon, dukkah and garum masala (Dukkah machi Patrani).

There was a good range of mains to choose from including chicken, lamb, pork and seafood options as well as vegetarian selections. This making for a tough decision, best to go for a banquet if dining in a group.

It is pretty much obligatory to order a curry, The Kesari Lamb sufiyana - made with tender slow cooked pieces of lamb in a beautifully rich creamy cashew sauce with mace and cardamom. The curry sauce has a nice sweetness and a good spice kick.

The show stopper, as extravagant as a Bollywood block buster, was the Urban Agari Lobster - the sweet lobster meat wok tossed in a pan with a combination of special spices and ingredients that are aromatic and compliment the sweetness of the lobster. Presented nicely with the shell of the lobster tail. It was incredibly flavorful, so much so, there was not a skerrick of sauce left on the plate.

You couldn t be at an Indian restaurant and not have some naan. We had the cheese naan and ordered a serve of basmati jeera rice, for mopping up the tasty curries and sauces. Urban tadka also sell biryani and roti.

If you re here in a large group, the Banquet Dawat would be great, for $49.90 pp, you receive the Papadums, dips, 5 entrees, 4 mains, breads, rice and dessert. For $60.90, they add in an extra entree and main. Dawat means a festive or joyous meal, and the food here is certainly something that will provide that.

The meal finishing with another highlight, the Dessert platter with Chocolate, Mango and a stunning pistachio kulfi.

There was also the Mango mousse cake with coconut, cream cheese and raspberry, so light and fluffy and not overly sweet.

Another light dessert on the platter was the chololate and pistachio mouse served as a dome with a light green glaze. This dessert was nice and airy, perfect to follow the rich spicy food we enjoyed beforehand.

The platter also including the Urban Tadka version of the Black Forest cake served on a crisp chocolate biscuit base of cereal.