"It never rains but it pours" - Curry Buffet at Siana

Siana Bar Dining Lounge
www.siana.com.au



Today's weather was, in my opinion, absolutely shocking. Charlie made the comment 'it NEVER rains this hard in the CBD'. I wouldn't go as far as saying that but we did indeed get soaked, despite the fact that we bought a large umbrella.

Yesterday, I read in a local newspaper that Siana on the riverside had weekday curry buffets at lunch time. I remember when Siana was just getting built. When I first found out it was a pan-Asian restaurant on Eagle Street Pier, I was quite intrigued but it looked a bit too posh so I never got around to eating there. As another friend of mine pointed out, you normally associate Asian cuisine with loud, chatty restaurant environments. Siana seemed up-market and reserved.

Having said all that, I could not resist a curry buffet. Yes, I did say I was slightly 'over' Indian curry (went too far during my Indian food craze) but Siana offers food from across different parts of Asia.



It was raining so hard today that I was nearly deterred from making the journey to the riverside. It just so happens that curry and wet-weather go nicely together so I decided it was worth my effort.

And, it certainly was...



As soon as I stepped into Siana, I could see the curry buffet table set out. They do not pretend it is a full buffet. From the start, you are made aware that you get 4 curries to chose from (different every week), along with some accompaniments and steamed rice. It is not compulsory to order from the buffet - they also have a full a la carte menu and some platter options. Platters are priced per head and have a minimum order of 2 people, which I thought was very reasonable. In fact, I saw a few platters being served and they looked very impressive.


Siana has a lounge area and an indoor and outdoor dining area. I didn't explore the deck because of the rain but the indoor dining area features long, high tables. I found it slightly awkward to climb on and off the tall stools, especially since we had to do that quite a lot for the buffet. It wasn't enough to distract from an overall good experience though. The bar at Siana is huge...


We chose the curry buffet. This week, the curries on offer were: chicken tikka masala, beef and pineapple, lamb green curry and an Indian chickpea curry.


There is also a lovely selection of chutneys and relishes, as well as a variety of vegetable crisps and papadums.

Lamb and beef curry with a papadum in the foreground

I made 2 trips to the buffet bar. First, I tried the South-East Asian curries - the lamb and the beef. They were both very tasty but I had a preference for the lamb. I thought they were better than the curries at Bow Thai.

My second plate contained the tikka masala and chickpea curry. The chickpea curry tasted a lot like what they serve at Govindas (which isn't a bad thing). Not long after we were seated, the waitress brought us a basket of fresh naan bread. I thought the tikka masala went well with the naan bread. It wasn't the favorite Indian curry that I've ever tasted but then again, I've tried many kinds and it all boils down to personal preference.

Vegetable crisps with chutney in the background

Special mention should be made about the vegetable crisps and chutney. I thought this really made the meal extra special and in fact, better than non-buffet curry meals elsewhere. I loved the coconut relish and Indian mango chutney. They also had spicy carrot, onion, mint and coriander and tomato relish. The crispy pieces of sweet potato, pumpkin and possibly taro were really yummy and innovative.

After a satisfying feed of curry, I was eager to try Siana's desserts. They have a few modern Asian choices but we opted for the easy way out: dessert platter.

Dessert platter

This was basically a combination platter with a bit of everything: half-baked fudge cake, fruit spring rolls, yogurt shots, fresh berries, Indian donut (gulab jamun, fried won ton skin and 3 scoops of gelato.

Half-baked fudge cake

I thought the fudge cake was great although the center wasn't 'that' molten. It was best eaten together with the ice-cream.


The Indian donuts were extremely sweet but I've had them at other places and I think that's how they're supposed to be. I quite liked them in the same way as I like baklava - sickly sweet but somehow addictive. Again, it worked well together with the ice-cream.

Yogurt shots

Charlie and I weren't sure how to eat the yogurt shots, I just spooned at it. He literally shot the lot in one go. I liked the taste and texture of drinking yogurt with finely diced fresh fruit. It's something I wouldn't mind trying at home if I could be bothered with the chopping.

The fruit spring rolls were something different. Still good but I didn't like it as much as the other items. I didn't dig the berry dessert that much but Charlie happily finished it off.

I went into Siana with an expectation of snobbiness but to the contrary, the staff were absolutely lovely. Admittedly, we were the only guests that didn't look like we stepped out during an office lunch break. Nonetheless, the waitresses were courteous and attentive.

I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at Siana and recommend you give it a go too. I'm eager to go back and try other dishes from their menu.