Shop 7, 2120 Logan Road, Upper Mount Gravatt
I went on a coupon online shopping spree last week and picked up a 3 course bargain from a restaurant I'd never heard of called BBQ Tonight. Maybe I should have felt wary about something so unknown and under-reviewed. It wouldn't be the first time a coupon destination turned out to be a sad, unpopulated hovel. However, I was drawn in by the large volume of purchases, reasonable Urbanspoon feedback and the promise of Pakistani cuisine, something I hadn't tried before.
I made a booking for a Thursday night. We arrived and approached the premises hesitantly because there were literally zero diners in the restaurant. Was it closed? The sign on the door claimed otherwise. We were greeted by a friendly waitress who gave us our pick of tables. The restaurant was large but near deserted with only ourselves and the waitress in view. She turned on a projector with some foreign drama; not our type of show but we were grateful because it made the space more lively.
Our coupon offer was explained to us. We were allowed to each pick 3 courses (entree, mains and dessert) as well as drinks. Each item was maxed out at a certain value so we combined our allowance for desserts to order one serve of kulfi.We also ordered an extra serve of garlic naan, as naan bread wasn't included as part of our coupon.
Pakora
For entrees, we ordered the pakora and samosas to share. Both arrived with a mint yoghurt dipping sauce that perfectly complimented the fried savouries. I always enjoy pakoras because they're basically balls of spiced onion rings. What's there not to like?
Meat samosas
The samosas were pretty good too. They were flaky and crisp and the filling was a tasty seasoned mince. Actually, the entrees ended up being my favourite course.
Our two curries were brought out with rice and naan. Most of the curries on the menu were chicken, with the exception of something containing mutton. We chose the lahori chicken and boneless chicken karahi.
Lahori chicken curry and boneless chicken karahi
The curries were fairy tasty and nicely spiced but not as creamy as I would have liked. Maybe that makes it authentic but they didn't taste as moreish as the butter chicken type dishes I'm used to. With irresistible curries, every last bit of sauce is slurped up. With these, I found myself picking out the bits of chicken and leaving the rest.
Garlic naan
The garlic naan, by contrast, was very good. It was smaller and less squishy than some other naan bread I've tried but had a lovely charred toasty flavour. This to me was the savior of our main course.
Kulfi - evaporated milk ice-cream
For dessert, we shared one serve of kulfi. I have tried kulfi at many Indian restaurants and it's something I really enjoy. I didn't love this one on first bite because the texture was so hard to spoon through and it had an icy quality. However, the flavour won me back over. It was definitely unusual and I can't say this is like other kulfi I tried. The best description I can come up with is 'cheese flavoured ice-cream'. That might sound gross to some but it was right up my alley. Even Marc, who can be put off by strange foods, kept going back for more.
BBQ Tonight was more or less what I expected. We were glad 2 other diners showed up during our meal so we weren't the sole patrons anymore. Food was brought out quickly. Entrees were tasty. Mains were ok but nothing to write home about. I can't imagine going back again. With our Groupon it was a great value meal but at full price, I can think of many other curry vendors I'd rather go to.
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