Chillies - awesome suburban Indian

Just around the corner from where I live, is a small shopping corner with a pizza bar, hairdresser, dentist and an Indian restaurant called Chillies.   I have been visiting this place regularly, but have never blogged about it.... so when the opportunity came (see disclaimer below) I ordered my favourite dishes, prepared my camera and readied my stomach.

There are many reasons I like this place, one of them being that the food tastes great, secondly the servings are enormous and lastly they have one of the best butter chickens I have tasted.....

Juicy charred pieces of chicken

To kick things off, I have never ordered food online before.  I never felt I had the need to, probably due to the fact I've never had a bad experience with my orders.  I've ordered food on the phone for as long as I can remember.  So when the opportunity came to test a relatively new and successful online ordering system I was definitely going to be a honest critic.

I visited www.eatnow.com.au at around 2:30pm and created an account in less than 5 minutes.  The site was clean and professional looking, but had a weird octo-pussy looking character on a scooter that made it a bit 'tacky'....  anyway, I browsed through the local restaurants using the post code search function and immediately saw Chillies and knew that was to be my dinner.  Clicking on the restaurant name opened up a very nice and neatly displayed menu (example of Chillies' here http://www.eatnow.com.au/restaurant-4319/Chillies-Authentic-Indian-Cuisine.html).  I clicked on my 3 favourite dishes and was ready to proceed.

My only recommendation is for the option to change from 'Delivery' to 'Collection' to be bigger or better displayed as I was confused why I was being charged an additional $5.

That aside, the payment process was quick and easy.  So basically from creating my account to finalising my order (with an automated SMS to confirm) it took less than 10 minutes.  I could also see a 're-order' function, so I'm guessing subsequent orders to the same restaurants would be even more streamlined and efficient.

Fast forward a few hours and at 6pm, I arrived, and provided my name and my order was given to me.  Simple, hassle free, quick and easy way to order and pickup.  I'd like to try it out with other restaurants just to test whether this process is always this smooth!

Now, on with the main course!  The food!

As stated, Chillies provides massive portions for takeaway.  First up, Buhnna Gosht which is a lamb dish.  I know there are many out there who don't like lamb, but let me assure you, this dish doesn't have any strong pungent lamb smells or tastes.  The meat is very soft and never a chewy but to be found.  My mum, who hates lamb and any red meat, actually enjoyed this dish because of the lovely flavours of the sauce and the tenderness of the meat.  However, on this occasion, they forgot to provide me with the coriander dressing/paste that usually accompanies this dish.

Buhnna Gosht ($14.90) - Tender lamb with smoky flavour tomato, onion, ginger and fresh coriander 

Next up, Chicken Tikka Masala which is one of my 'must order' Indian dishes along with Butter Chicken.  Very generous sized pieces of chicken thigh, cooked in the tandoor giving it a moist centre but charred exterior.  The sauce is full of flavour and not spicy, with large chunks of vegetables.  I counted 8 large pieces of chicken in this dish.  Definitely one of my favourite dishes, and Chillies does it really good.

Chicken Tikka Masala ($14.50) - Juicy chicken Tikka pieces cooked in rich sauce of ginger, garlic, tomato and hint of cashew nut sauce with vegetables

Next dish is everyone's favourite, Butter Chicken.  Many places just use normal pieces of chicken, however Chillies uses tandoor cooked pieces of chicken, giving this dish an extra boost in flavour.  You can actually see each piece of chicken you eat, it has a charred edge and the lovely flavours of Tandoor cooked meat.  The sauce is a very mild and sweet sauce, goes very well with rice.  This is a must have dish along with the Chicken Tikka Masala.  

Butter Chicken ($13.90) - Boneless tandoori chicken pieces in a creamy gravy of tomatoes and aromatic spices and ground almonds

Very decent sized pieces of Tandoor cooked chicken

To finish off the feast, I ordered garlic and butter naan.  Nothing special with this Naan, pretty much the same with any other place that sells Naan.

Garlic Naan and Butter Naan

I'm sure we all have our favourite Indian takeaways, and I'm proud to say this is mine.  For a long time, Indian Temptations has been my number 1, but Chillies is much closer and food I think is even better.  I feel that Chillies' dishes have much less oil than other Indian places, mainly because after eating a big meal like this, I don't burp up oil every 5 minutes.

If you're going to try out Chillies, I highly recommend the 2 chicken dishes above, and I await your feedback!

Hayes gives Chillies (takeaway) 8.5/10 chops on the Chopping Board

The online ordering system was a breeze and will definitely order again.  Hopefully more restaurants jump on board and provide better range of cuisine becuase currently, its a bit stale with pizzas, Indian and B-grade Chinese takeaway.

Disclaimer - we were recently approached by a representative from www.eatnow.com.au inviting us to review their online ordering website.  We were provided with a coupon to select from a list of participating restaurants.  Chillies happened to be one of those restaurants that I often visit but had not blogged about.  Killing 2 birds with one stone, this review is on Chillies' takeaway food, and the online ordering experience that is offered by www.eatnow.com.au