Harbourside Indian Restaurant

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Contact Details:
No 5
corner Walker and Lavender Street
Lavender Bay
NSW, 2060
Australia
Phone: (02) 9922 2787

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T2DMan
Michael Brandon
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The food is nice - but eat in if you want some level of service. I ordered home delivery and was treated very badly.

Guessing its location and view would make it a popular spot, I recently booked a table for myself and partner at the Harbourview Indian restaurant in Lavender Bay, North Sydney.

Booking two days in advance seemed like a wise decision when we arrived on a Wednesday evening at 7:40 (having booked for 7:30) and the place was full. So full, in fact, that we had to wait outside for 15 minutes before a table became available.The staff seemed genuinely apologetic about the delay and there did seem to be a very large group there taking up almost half the whole restaurant (it's not very big) so it's possible the reason for the delay was out of their control.

When we were shown to our table, however, not only did it not have a view (I'd asked for one when we booked), but it was squashed up against the counter and wall - it seemed more like a one person table. We were assured more than once that a better table would be given to us when it became available, but this never happened. Admittedly I didn't chase it up, but I shouldn't have had to. Incidentally, a group of four beside us had to ask to get a better table as well.

We chose an Evans and Tate Classic White wine ($25, from the choice of two! - don't know if it's BYO), onion bahjis and tandoori prawns for starters, saag ghost (lamb curry with spinach) and a ling fillet fish curry with coconut as mains, and accompanying rice and garlic naan.

The bhajis were tasty, but when we'd finished they tried to take our plates away - before we'd been served the starter prawns. When the prawns did arrive they were done tandoori style - parts of the shells were black - I don't know if this is normal or over-done, but they tasted good.The fish curry and lamb were good too (despite the colour of the lamb curry sauce, but it's good to know they don't use unhealthy colouring like many British Indian restaurants) and the garlic naan was delicious - very, erm, 'garlicy'.

It came to just under $100, which in my experience is about average for dinner for two in Sydney, but overall it was a disappointing experience. I get the impression the location and view ensure it's busy most nights, but the staff could really could have made more effort.

The quality of the food brings it up to an 'average' mark overall, but I don't think I'll be back.I thought the Harbourside would be a more classy experience than it was. Does anyone know if it has changed hands recently?

Verdict: Recommend? No.

There's another Indian restaurant up the road at Blues Point Road that I might check out next.

- Very good food, full of taste and not greasy at all
- Very enjoyable view if you get a nice table
- Service ok but not very good (ordered one sparkling water glass i am still waiting)