Patina - When Desi meets Italian in Pataka style!

Patina is cushioned in a cozy space by the way side of the Woodpecker furniture store. The interiors are tastefully designed and a zingy appeal adorns the surroundings.

It has a very interesting menu comprising of street food, desi twist on Italian, a bit of North Indian and also added on are some delectable parsi dishes.

We were here on a weekday evening and tried a number of items on the attic and majority of it left us asking for more. First up the special carrot soup with coriander finely chopped was riveting. The taste was smattering containing a remarkable aroma.

On the snacks section, the okhra fries thatched with thecha aioli was crispy with a distinct taste. The anda pav which is the egg equivalent of the evergreen vada pav was a sure winner. The gun powder fries had a brittle feel to it subdued with an interesting tinge of masala which again was a tongue twister in a nice way. The aloo & peas samosa thought could have been a tad better with the mince of the flavour not appearing apparently. The best of all and rightfully the show stealer in the snacks side was the Papeta Pareeda a parsi dish comprising of sliced potatoes over a bed of tomato sauce bedecked with fried eggs on the up blossomed with a gooey center. This one was truly top notch.

For mains we tried the peas infused luchi. Now luchi is the upper North frontier version of the traditional puris. They tend to be a little more crispier and it went well with an aloo peas masala gravy. We also tried the Amritsari Panner Akhuri which were scrambled panneer pieces garnished with coriander and fried onions. This was like a high end version of panneer bhurji. We ended the show with a couple of pastas - the first one being the oil & herb version which had a lovely infusion of herbs, flakes and garlic. The second one and the better of the two was the Curry Macaroni pasta. Comprising of a tantalising creamy curry sauce topped up with corn & bell peppers these macaronis just danced away in full glory and it just tasted all the more exotic with a dripping layer of cheese dressed over the dish.

All in all, the food not only tingled out taste buds but also won over our hearts. It was a lovely experience with some fine churned up cuisine whipped up in a fashionable avatar which is not usually well associated within the city. Totally worth every bite.

Taj Bhavan - Hardcore Indian cuisine down under!

Wigram street in Harris Park is inundated with everything Indian from restaurant's to groceries to accommodation avenues. It's the restaurant's dazzling with lot of color and glitter of the Indian kind that attracts the attention. There are plenty of eateries here with traditional Indian names catering to cuisine from up north. One such fine dining place is Taj Bhavan. Quite akin to most of the other hotels lined up on this stretch,this one resembles a house converted into a restaurant.

The ambiance is pretty plain jane with nothing really eye popping. The color palette largely adopts the Indian tri color whether it be the wall paintings, portraits or even the light bulbs which are ignited with saffron, white and green. The decor is simple with just plastic chairs of green and orange colors and the tables are all white again giving an imprint of freedom and India.

It was however the food which walked the talk. Considering from the outset there wasn't anything really appealing, the food was quite a delight and ended up being way beyond expectations. We started our foray with soup and a bunch of entrees. The tomato soup was absolutely lip smacking and the smell of cream was apparent in every mouth. It's been a long time since I tasted such fine quality tomato soup. The sweet corn soup too was good however well short of the brilliance of the former. We had two varieties of chats viz Dahi puri and Bhel puri. The Dahi puri was lovely. Though it wasn't decorated with curd and masala on the plate, the inside of the puri had the ammunition to set the tongue rolling with excitement. The bhel puri was passable. It was crunchy but somehow lacked the muster. We also had a ball galloping the Achari panneer tikka, corn cheese balls and Gobi 65. The panneer made in sizzler style was especially top notch.

On to the main course, we told for an assortment of Indian breads with the Dal Bhukara and Kali Mirch Panneer for company. Be it the Naan or Tandoori Roti or the Aloo/Gobi Parathas, they passed the test with flying colors. What really elevated it were the side dishes. The Kali Mirch panneer with a twang of sweetness and hint of pepper with succulent pieces of cottage cheese floating gracefully on the gravy was brilliant. The Dal Bhukara was a show stealer. Just didn't expect the black dal to be so good in a little known place. I found it to be better than most high end fine dining restaurant's back home.

We rounded our evening with Salt Lassi and Mango Lassi. The salt lassi was flavored with tinge of masala bits and seemed a good digester however found it to be a tad watery. The mango based one was a bit too sweet for the liking though it was pretty thick.

Overall the food turned out to be quite exceptional especially pinning down some of the stuff. I thoroughly enjoyed the tomato soup, Achari Panner Tikka, Dal Bhukara and the Panneer Kali Mirch. Nothing was bad and everything was bordering from the good to excellent. The service was a mixed bag. Items came to our table in a jiffy which is a good sign but it seemed time consuming in clearing the consumed food particles thus occupying too much space on the table. The rates seem fairly reasonable for the quality of food on offer.

This was our last tryst with restaurant hunting during our short stint in Sydney and we were glad to have chosen this place which really proved to be quite a fitting farewell to our foodie escapades over the last couple of weeks. Would definitely recommend Taj Bhavan for high quality North Indian cuisine.