“Mouth-watering pickles,” comments my dining companion and photographer, just as the waiter sets down a second basket of poppadoms for us to nibble. My ritual at this place is to sit down, close my eyes and smell the Indian continent.
Being a creature of food habit, I order the thali vegetarian ($5). It has so many things I like: naan, daal, vegetables, rice, pickles, salad and raita. Brad opts for the fish tika masala ($6) and we get ready to share. Setting aside the cutlery, we dig in with our fingers. “Somehow Indian food just doesn’t taste as good if you eat with it a knife and fork rather than scooping it up with a piece of naan,” I comment. Brad nods in agreement and reaches for more bread.
The extensive menu includes shuraat (‘quick bites’) ranging from masala papa ($1) to shami kabab ($6). The shora (‘soup’) section includes a hale-and-hearty lentil soup ($1.50). Lovers of seafood – samundar in Hindi – can get fish curry ($5) or prawn masala ($7). And it doesn’t come much healthier than the raita of cucumber, potatoes and onion in yogurt ($1.50).
Vegetarians get two pages of the menu, including paneer tika pudina (cottage cheese marinated with mint and spice) at $6 and tandoori aloo dilnaz at $5. Carnivores can tuck into the aloo mutton curry with potatoes and green peas ($6). Cooked with onions, ginger and spice, it’s steeped in taste. Another meaty choice is the chicken dhaniya ($6), which is boneless and served with fresh coriander and herbs (this is an Indian establishment, so don’t go looking for beef).
A slight menu anomaly here is the Indo-Chinese fusion. Try the chicken spring roll ($4.50) to check it out. Lalsingh, the restaurateur who was born in Nepal and educated in India, offers a few recommendations. The first, chicken tika masala ($6); the second, mutton vindaloo ($7); the third, chicken biriani ($5.50).
House wine is $3 a glass. Argentinean shiraz-malbec is $12. The white on offer includes a Chilean sauvignon at $16 and a Canapi Italian (red or white) comes in at $17. The usual soft drinks, beer and liquor are also available on tap.
Dining on a Sunday afternoon, we’re the only non-Indians in the place. Lalsingh says about 30% of his customers are Indian and the rest are a mixture of Westerners, Korean and Japanese. Cambodians have yet to experiment with Indian cuisine, it seems, although a few are starting to filter in.
Open from 10am to 10pm, seven days a week, Flavours of India is a great retreat from the Khmer and Western food on offer almost everywhere else.
Flavours of India, #158 Street 63; 012 835907.