Thursday, March 24, 2011

Chutney Mary in Toowoomba

Chutney Mary
www.chutneymary.net.au



When deciding where to have my birthday meal in Toowoomba, we noticed that the choices were pretty much limited to pub food, Thai or Indian. Since we just had Thai for Mochi's birthday, I opted for Indian.



There was a night, a couple of weeks back, when we tried to eat at Chutney Mary but found that they were closed from flood damage. A couple of my work mates told me it was back up and running so I thought 'SWEET, lets give them a shot'.


The restaurant was completely empty when we went in, granted it was very early on a weeknight. The interior was not unpleasant. I was expecting plastic chairs and a bright-colored takeaway store vibe but it had the usual Indian decor thang going. Plus a flat screen TV showing Bollywood clips.


After being seated, we perused the menu and started comparing whether it was better to get a banquet or order separately. Banquets used to be the be all end all of special occasion ordering but now we're finding that it's more fun, and equally as feast-like if we order exactly what we want.

We chose a curry each and as Birthday Girl, I got an extra pick. It didn't occur to us that 4 curries between 3 people might be too much, after all, we had Byron on the team.

It didn't take long for the curries to start arriving. Our table was small, which was bad in that every time a plate came, we had to rearrange all the cups to make room. At the same time, it was kinda good because it made our table seem very crowded and happenin'.

Plain naan and wholemeal paratha

Mochi and I got some plain naan and wholemeal paratha to accompany our meal. After analyzing the difference, it seems that naan is flufflier and more buttery wheras the paratha is flat with a rougher texture (probably because it's wholemeal). I quite liked both.

Lamb korma

Lamb korma is one of our must-orders and it was PERFECT. Mochi asked 'what is korma supposed to taste like?'... Well, this is a difficult question to answer because everywhere we go, there's a different version. My idea of a good korma is that it's creamy, thick, nutty and sweet. Byron reckons that korma is a curry that isn't supposed to have curry in it but this one did. Not sure if that disqualifies it from anything but it definitely fit my bill in terms of taste and awesomeness.

Palak paneer

The palak paneer came around the same time. On its own, I thought it was bland and uninteresting. I hate to say it but it tasted a bit like packet paneer (the kind you get from a cardboard box and then microwave). I would have liked bigger/more abundant cheese chunks. When combined with the korma, however, it was fine. Then again, maybe anything combined with the korma would have been delicious.

Goat masala

I ordered the goat masala because it is a Chutney Mary house special. I liked that it was different to most Indian curries I've tried. Mochi hit the nail on the head when she described it was 'tomatoey'. It was indeed very tomatoey with lots of spices. The curry wasn't creamy and the goat chunks had bone... both these factors put me to mind of South-East Asian curry. I did like it though and the serving was enormous. This alone is unusual for an Indian restaurant, where curry portions tend to be minuscule.

Butter chicken

Our final curry was the crowd favorite, butter chicken. It was a special butter chicken - I liked that the chicken had a distinct char-grilled tandoori flavor. I didn't like that the sauce was watery. Not even just a bit watery... way too watery. It was a shame because the actual flavor in the sauce was good.

Chutney Mary did well for my birthday feast. The small table forced our dishes to be crowded which leant to a very feast-like feel. We were happy with our choice, in particular the lamb korma. I had some goat curry and naan left over and the next day, had that reheated and the naan toasted. It was even better the next day!

21 comments:

  1. Indian ALWAYS tastes better reheated the next day in my opinion!

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  2. Chutneymarys having their Stall at Easter fest in Queens park ,Toowoomba... .If you are a curry lover and are going to Easter fest commencing on Friday the 22nd [April] until 24th Sunday ,don't forget to try Chutneymary curries ,you will not be disappointed .The stall has rogan Josh, vegetable korma,Butter chicken ,naan and rice on menu . the stall was very busy it was worth the wait though I had Rogan Josh and Vegetable Korma with rice which was delicious, my partner and kids went in for Butter Chicken and rice . we loved the curries so much that we had some packed for takeaway before heading home . we are definitely going back to Chutneymarys for more.

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  3. We love Indian food and eat out frequently ,Chutney Marys Goat masala is one of my favorite ,if you love hot[ hot to medium] and spicy curry do try Chilli Chicken next time you go there, its Simply delicious . Chutney Marys Butter chicken may not as be thick and creamy as the Butter chicken served in other Indian restaurants ,but it definitely is one of the best Butter chicken we have tasted in a long time .

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  4. Hello Cora, love reading your blogs , after reading your reviews on Chutneymarys we decided to go and try the food there ,it was a Friday and by the time we got there the restaurant was full, thank god we had done the booking earlier our table reserved for us. the food we ordered arrived in time ,for the entree we ordered mixed platter for two it had Samosa,kebab, Tikka and Pakora served along with mint chutney which was tasty and vanished within minutes .for our mains i wanted to try the Korma and like you mentioned it was very delicious ,we also ordered Chicken Balti ,Prawn Vindaloo for my husband who liked his curries hot . the Nan breads were soft and fluffy .Overall we really enjoyed the food,good atmosphere and staffs were attentive . we will be going to Chutney marys when we visit Toowoomb next .Thank you .

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  5. Hi Cora,

    We had our Hens night out dinner at Chutneymarys ,there were Six of us and we went in for Maharajhas banquet and shared it among us the entrees were delicious ,the curries to die for . we had an excellent time wining and dining there . going through you blogs i noticed that you are a Korma fan .Chutneymarys Navraattan Korma which we had for our dinner is a vegetarian Korma full of veggies ,its creamy ,cashewy with mild sweetness in it and was delicious .do try it next time you dine in chutneymarys .i bet you will definitely agree with me .

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  6. Hi Anonymous...

    Thanks for the korma rec! It is one of my fav curries :D. Glad you had a fun hen's night.

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  7. loveeee it!!!! :D

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  8. Love Their Butterchicken! The best in town.

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  9. It was raining the night we booked a table for four ,Very Flavorsome food ,fully licensed BYO wine only ,relaxed atmosphere ,good service we are very impressed and couldn't ask for more! We are planning to go back soon .

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  10. Hi Anonymous...

    Curry in wet weather! Love it :)

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  11. Kiona:

    the Butter Chicken was absolutely lovely :) couldn't have done better :)

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  12. Hello Cora,

    Thank you for your review about Chutneymarys we are from Dalby, have heard good reports about the restaurant from our Indian friends who have dined there.We took our friends who were here visiting us from Bombay India to Chutnemary for lunch and we were very happy with the food served to us it was one of the best ,the chef on our request prepared the Dal soup the way we wanted it ,which was very kind of him .we are planning to go to Chutneymarys NEXT TIME WE GO TO TOOWOOMBA.

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  13. Indian at its best ,the moment we stepped in we felt the magical aroma of the curries float the entire dining area and to add an extra hint of Indian specialty the TV playing Bollywood clips offered a nice feel,warm and relaxing decor. .Excellent food ,good customer service ,great value for money . will be going back for more.

    Gerald.

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  14. iam from Saudi Arabia doing Uni here in Toowoomba Love Chutny marys Biryani,very special .my friends and i eat there every now and then. very good food .quick service ,god bless.

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  15. Took my date to Chutneymarys she loves indian. The setting and ambiance is really nice and they do have excellent selection of wines. The food is more upmarket and flavoursome than other traditional curry houses i have been to.the staffs were very polite. we enjoyed the food .Higly recommended

    Scott .

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  16. I love good Indian meal and can say that it doesn't get much better than here.they have a wide choice on the menu ,the serving portions are generous and the food divine. the staffs are friendly and the service brilliant , made us feel welcome i could not fault this restaurant on anything at all whether you eat in or have a takeaway the food is to the same in quantity and in quality.


    Michaela

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  17. Went for a casual meal with friends (five of us)last weekend. We all ordered different dishes and were all really pleased with our choices. Recommend the Tandoori chicken (very moist and truly delicious). The naan bread was quite simply the best we have ever tasted, the Sag Aloo made deliciously, etc, etc. Really wish we lived close enough to get takeaways. but this restaurant is definitely worth the drive.

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  18. BELISSIMA!!

    yes if i have to describe this place in one word it would be 'Belissima'. I took my husband and his family there for dinner last saturday and I'm so glad I did. every thing we ordered tasted so taste buds pleasing.. we ordered Mixed Pakkodas,Paneer Tandoori Mushroom,Chicken tikka gobhi paratha and reshmi kabab for appetiser, and every thing was so bright and colorful ( u know u can taste the food with ur eyes when it looks so fresh) and it taste no less than it appeared. though the mango lassi was little filling but it couldn't stop us from litterally cleaning our plates squeaky clean..chicken butter, lamb korma, paneer palak , and assorted breads ( my husband is a bread addict) we wanted to try the desserts but we were so full.yeah the ac probably wasn't cooling enough i guess, it was kinda hot but the smooth music covered it. I really can't wait to go back. our wedding anniversary is near so definately then.

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  19. Hi everyone,

    It seems to me that a lot of these anonymous posts sound like they're written by Chutney Mary. I've published them anyway but make up your own mind.

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  20. Hey. ^.^
    I've been to Chutney Mary's a couple of times, and it was a generally good place to be.
    Whenever you're in there, there is a really good smell of the Indian food, and the people who serve are friendly. It's got a good atmosphere to be in. (:
    Their servings are usually really generous and the food is never unpleasant. I love their butter chicken. ^.^

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