~ Curious Charlie ~

Best Indian of the West - Dosa Hut (Footscray West) @ Thursday, April 05, 2018

Thursday 29th March
Charlie & Co, dined as guests.

This Thursday Lina & I journeyed out west, to Dosa Hut, a South Indian restaurant in Footscray West. There's more than a dozen Dosa Huts, mainly out west, one in the city, and even one in India!

Rated as the best Indian restaurant in Yarraville & the Maribyrnong area, we were excited. I do really like Indian food. Located on a strip we spotted at least 3 places offering dosa, though this one was definitely the most popular. Arriving for dinner at 7.30pm the line was almost out the door for takeaway.

text

Inside it was quite nice, normally Indian places are either no frills or white cloth fine dinning, though this was the happy brightly lit medium, that's still cheap and delicious.

The menu was extensive with a total offering of 161 dishes!! This is the biggest menu I have ever seen! There are around 90 dosas! This is pretty exciting as we don't often try things that are completely new, I don't know what most of the menu is.

Seating is limited, so do book. Seated under a fairy light lit ceiling (that changed colours) it was lovely though the tables were a bit small, that or we ordered a bit much in one shot. I do like the design of the space, with the window on one side and mirror on the other.

Mango lassi is the signature drink here, and I love it! There is literally a fridge full of it, perfect for cooling down with all the spices. There's also lemon lime bitters if you are that strange person (like Lina XD) who doesn't like mango...

No 1. Samosa

Starting with something familiar, a deep fried triangular/pyramid shaped pastry. This is probably one of the best ones I've had, as it wasn't spicy at all (I'm weak, sometimes I find toothpaste hot, that's my level). It tastes like a gourmet potato mash with chicken stuffing (but the good kind) with all those herbs, the rosemary was prominent. It was very different from samosas I've had at other Indian places.

26. Sambar Idly

I have no idea what an idly is, so this was completely new. Google says it's "a type of savoury rice cake... made by steaming a batter consisting of fermented black lentils and rice." So this would fall under entrees.

A savory steamed rice cake, like nothing I've had before. It came with a tahini like dip and spicy dip, that's familiar something then Crossways use in their dishes too, a certain spice. Lina quite liked eating these on their own without the dip too.

Dosa Hut specializes in Dosa and Biryani, and so we ordered one of each to share, these are main dishes. But what is a dosa? It's something I've had once and would describe as a very thin and big savory crepe with fillings. A South Indian dish "made from rice flour and ground pulses, typically served with a spiced vegetable filling".

101. Chef Special Dosa

Combo of masala, paneer, chicken & lamb

With 90 to choose from it was a challenge! Though our waitress recommenced the chef's special to share as it had three different filling within one. It was the perfect dish, with the combo of veggies but also meat. Served on a huge shiny tray with three sauces/dips including the tahini, and spicy red one from before. I'm not sure how you're meant to dip it?

The filling had what was listed on the menu, but also potato and spring onion, with plenty of flavour with all the spices wrapped up in a light savory crepe, it was fun to eat and yummy. Lina really liked it, and this is actually her very first time trying dosa. It was a bit salty for me (just a little), but balanced with a sip of mango lassi. I would most definitely order this again.

77. Chicken 65 Biryani

Biryani is also a specialty at Dosa Hut, and for Lina a day isn't complete without a rice dish (coming from HK), and so we also had a Biryani to share.

It came presented on a huge shiny tray (why is everything shiny?) and very popular, with both our neighbours ordering them. The serving is huge! I feel as though it's 1.5-2 serving, (the rice) though needs more chicken. Which was spicy and on the bone, it only gets hotter says the waitress, though the raita certainly helps (a yoghurt sauce). We couldn't finish, it was that big! It was pretty tasty though pales in comparison to the dosa, as its in its league.

Service was very friendly, and the waitress explained to us what the dishes are, and how spicy they are. It was a bit cold as I was right in front of the air con, so you know it won't be too hot in summer here. Some of the cutlery in the ikea holder wasn't clean, but we quickly got some new forks (which were clean).

Take away was very popular, city popular. If you want a table it's best to book as it's popular and the restaurant not that big, though very nice, under the almost star-lit ceiling.

Dosa Hut delivers through menulog, ubereats and deliveroo. You can check out their website here, check out the menu, make bookings, etc.

P.S. We got here on the 220 Sunshine bus from Footscray station. It also departs from outside QV in the city.