Maya Dhaba at MHCC

If you are well-connected in the world of internet trivia you may have seen reference to a certain raunchy Burger King ad, allegedly tempting the usually staid people of Singapore.

The good people at The Atlantic have seen fit to address our questions about the efficacy of this sort of food advertising. "No!" they say, "sexy ads drown out the product, diminish brand recall, and often don't reap dividends" ... and then embed a plethora of examples to prove their point.

Just because Fiji is spared this sort of advertising, doesn't mean that we are off the hook when it comes to "food with sexual innuendo."

Enter the mighty dhosa: an lusty South Indian delicacy with unavoidable phallic connotations, the signature dish of Maya Dhaba at MHCC.



Undeniable shock and awe value. A tasty, hearty meal, the chicken dosa goes for $8.90; the (vegetarian) masala dorsa for $6.90. Each is served up with a side of coconut chutney and a bowl of sambar.



The biryani ($8.90 for chicken, Goat/Lamb for $1 extra) is also worthy of your attention. Both the biryani and the dorsa are cooked to order.



Tandoori chicken starts at $3.50 for a quarter of a bird. The food warmer offers a variety of meat and vegetable curries in various combinations (with rice and drink) ranging up to $8.50. The usual caveats about eating food with a dairy component from the food warmer apply. Plain and garlic naan are also available.



The ever present scourge of the food court, the coke fridge, offers up the usual range. But! for those of you who demand a more authentic experience, there is a choice of Sweet or Mango Lassi.

An extensive range of Indian sweets rounds out this offering.

For me, the success of this little food court outlet is that every time I eat here, it makes me want to eat at their parent restaurant on Victoria Parade ... though that is an experience better suited to dinner and a larger budget than is sensible for lunch.

Thumbs-up for bucking the boring food-court routine, staying affordable and offering one of Suva's most visually provocative dishes.

In Summary

Maya Dhaba

MHCC Food Court, Thomson Street, Suva

Opening Hours:

Mon - Sun: 9:00am - 9:00pm

Spend:

$3.50 - $13 per person

Rating:

Thumbs-up

Merchant Curry House

Unless you are accompanied by a regular, your first visit to Merchant Curry House may be a little strange. This small eatery is tucked away at the back of the Merchant Club parking garage, beneath the Purple Haze nighclub.


The menu board has no prices, and little relation to what's available. The food warmers are perpetually empty. A large cardboard cut-out of a mutant iguana oversees all proceedings. Don't let any of this put you off: you are very close to a good Fiji-style curry.


The best approach is to ask what's available. Our visit coincided with the availability of the chicken and lamb curries, and these were ordered with a vegetable curry side, dhal and roti.


The lamb curry (above) was a little on the bland side, but tender. A good meal.


This excellent chicken curry deserves a bit of explanation. The picture above is the 'live' chicken curry (as opposed to the 'frozen' chicken curry). The 'live' curry is $1 dearer and is prepared from freshly slaughtered free-range chicken (junglee murgi). The Hindustani swear that these make better curries than the 'soft', commercially farmed chickens. They also reckon that meat curry is tasteless without the bones.

We have heard good reports about the goat and various seafood curries but haven't had the occasion to try them yet. Let us know if you have.

You're expected to eat with your fingers (as God intended) but spoons are provided.

The proprietors seem quite flexible with requests: less roti, more roti, swap this for that and give me more of the other ... we heard all of these, and all were accommodated.

The members from the Merchant Club next door occasionally shout orders through the window: the curry house doubles up as the club kitchen and provider of 'curry chasers'.

Should you chose to eat in, be prepared to make conversation with the squash players passing on their way to the squash courts via the stairs ... you will also have to ignore your conscience as these masters of lunchtime exercise survey your artery clogging endeavours.


On that note, as is our tradition when reviewing curry houses, here are the oily remains of the meal. What can we say? Good Fiji curry always seems to carry a cholesterol tax.


Merchants Curry House accepts phone orders and (according to their sign) offer some catering services.

In Summary

Merchant Curry House

Merchant Club,
Cnr of Butt St and MacArthur St

Phone:

9229 457

Opening Hours:

Mon - Sat: All day

Spend:

$3 - $7.50 per person

Singh's Curry House

It was a subject of some debate amongst the Lunch in Suva group as to whether this article needed to be written at all. Singh's Curry House is famous enough without any help from us. However in the interest of full coverage of the Suva lunch scene, we've decided to write this completely unnecessary post.


The first thing one notices about this place is that it is popular. If you want to sit in for lunch you need get there before 1230. Turn up after 1245 and takeaway is probably your only option. Luckily the takeaway is well packed.


I do recommend that you make the effort to turn up early and get a seat as you get a bowl of good dhal soup (and a rather boring salad) with the sit-in meal.


We have the standard meat curries (chicken, goat, duck, lamb) and typical vegetable curries (bhindi, aloo baigan, kattar). Often prawn, fish, and kai are available as well. As vegetables go in and out of season Singh's does a good job of adjusting their menu accordingly (as the excellent Duruka curry that we ate attests).


The lamb curry is uneven, sometimes quite tasty, other times way too salty. Heartburn is almost guaranteed with the lamb curry. The other meat curries are all arse burningly excellent. The vegetable curries are probably too spicy, vegetables generally do not absorb chilli as well as meat does, but Mr. Singh insists on adding the same amount of the red stuff nonetheless.


The ambience and décor is quite bizarre. The music seems to consist of Bollywood ring tones on continuous loop. The décor is one third nautical (lighthouses, lifesavers, boats), one third Chinese, and one third 1930s art deco. The doorman is forced to wear a silly uniform with a ridiculous hat.

Note from Picky Eater: (1st May, 2008)
Kania Tiko's coverage of the lamb curry warrants further coverage. So, after yet another trip to Singh's (yes, citizen journalism requires a strong stomach), we present you with the following evidence:


Quite nice, even a little curry leaf putting in an appearance. And now, we present the leftovers:


Perhaps a larger than normal dose of cholesterol ... we still recommend Singh's, just not the lamb curry.

In Summary

Singh's Curry House

Cnr of Gordon Street and Victoria Parade

Opening Hours:

Mon - Sat: 9:30am - 9:00pm

Sun: 10:30am - 8:30pm

Spend:

$4.50 - $10 per person

Verdict:

Thumbs-up (avoid the lamb though)