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
