Neelam Restaurant, Parramatta

I have never done an Indian review before on this blog. Actually, I've never had Indian food until this very day. This restaurant came highly suggested by my Indian friend who said it was his family's favourite and go to whenever they were eating out. This of course got me very intrigued because being the Indian food noob that I am, I don't really know what's good or not, BUT I can say this. From now on, you'll be seeing me around Indian food a lot more. The first thing I notice as I enter Neelam Restaurant is the aroma of the food and spice. 

Dheli Chat-$7.90 First up, we chose some entrees. I left this all to the expert of the group to decide on what would be nice. I never take notes on what the dishes I eat are called so I always have this long struggle trying to figure out what I ate. In the end I had to confirm with my friend by showing them a picture LOL. On that note, I'm pretty sure this is their House Special, Dheli Chat. It was served with yoghurt and fried peas (at least I think it was peas). The flavour combination was something I had never tried before so it was like a whole new world to me, but OMG that yoghurt dressing/sauce is the best thing out. I think my tastebuds were also very confused because the dish was served cold, but eating cold stuff on a hot day is always good. 

Left: Jhinga Dabari- $13.90 Right: Aloo Tikki- $7.90 Jhinga Dabari is a dish where the prawns are dipped in a spicy batter and then fried. The prawns were crispy and you could even eat the tail because it was that crunchy. The green sauce you see to the side of it is served cold and compliments the spiciness of the prawn perfectly. This was probably my favourite entree of the 3 that we chose. The Aloo Tikki is a potato patty served with masala yoghurt and tamarind sauce. I loved this as well because of all that yoghurty goodness. It was sour but then spicy and just a general flavour explosion. 

Top: Vegetarian curry (unsure of which one it was), Right: Cheese Nan bread-$3.50, Bottom: Butter Chicken-$15.90, Left: Butter Nan Bread-$3.50 For the main course, we chose a curry and a few different types of Nan Bread which isn't pictured here. I must admit it was quite expensive for such a small portion. But it was a very delicious portion so I guess it balances out? Despite how small the portion actually was, me and my friends could barely finish the curry thanks to all that nan bread and the number of entrees we had. My favourite out of all the Nan Breads we ordered was definitely the cheese nan. It was soft and fluffy and just complimented the Butter Chicken so well. The Butter Chicken was so smooth... for a lack of a better word and I just loved every bit of it. Great choice for someone who has never tried Indian food before. 
Overall, the service was great and we were greeted as soon as we walked through the door. We sat near the window so had great lighting, but the rest of the restaurant was very dimly lit. We went around 1pm so it wasn't as packed, but my friend has told me that it can be very busy especially on weekends so if you ever visit Neelam Restaurant, try to avoid peak times. I am definitely heading back here to try some other dishes because what I had so far, I have completely fallen in love with. 
73 Macquarie St Parramatta, NSW 2150

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