I believe in karma-of all kinds including and not limited to strange things such as karma of lifts. For not having a license for several decades means that I have gotten several lifts over the years and I probably owe the universe several thousand. So when I was confirming plans to meet with Laura at Janani she mentioned that she didn’t have her car. I offered to pick her up and drive her there in Purdie the Prius.

Slowly I fought my way through peak hour city traffic where I tried to find the lane markings which were slick and glistening with what looked like oil. We finally made it to Janani with a combination of the GPS and Laura’s instructions and fell upon it gratefully.

Laura is a regular here and she and her friend NQN reader Maddie have been going here for years so she gets a warm greeting when we enter. “I always order the same thing so let’s order weird things tonight and let’s order lots of food!” she says eagerly. We peruse the plastic coated pages and start at the drinks. The two owners, a husband and wife team are here 7 days a week and the wife answers any questions we have about the menu items.

Faludha $6 on left and Butter milk on right $3.50

The closest description of the faludha is a thick, rose scented milkshake drink with scoops of kulfi ice cream and faludha seeds. It’s is sweet, thick and delicious without being too overpowering with rose. In contrast is the butter milk-not buttermilk, the by product of butter making, but an entirely different entity. Here they blend coriander, curry leaves, cumin seeds and ginger with milk and serve it cold. It’s unusual and definitely savoury and your brain, especially after having the faludha thinks  “No” but when yo think of it like a cold soup like a gazpacho through a straw then it tastes better. It’s kind of like the first time I tried a salty lassi or ayran. Now I love them both but the first time I didn’t.

Ginger Milk tea $3.50

“That’s three drinks right?” she asks us and we both nod. I always love going out to dinner with people that love to sample a lot. The ginger milk tea is my favourite of the drinks, not just for it’s warming properties on this cold and wet night but once I add a couple of teaspoons of sugar it gives a bit of spicy, milky sweetness that is like a little hug.

Chicken 65 $8

“Don’t ask me what Chicken 65 means” the wife says to us laughing. “What does it mean?” we ask. They say  that it is called that because it has been made since 1965. The dish is made up of tender pieces of chicken marinated in what looks like a spicy yogurt marinade and grilled until juicy and charred on the edges. It’s similar to a Tandoori chicken in smaller, bite sized pieces.

Hopper: coconut milk and jaggery $3.50

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“Oh my god, that’s Russell Crowe over there!!” one of Miss America’s friends says. And sure enough the Gladiator is sitting there metres away from us.

“What do we do?” someone asks.

“Nothing! Just keep taking photos of the food and not him!” I answer his reputation preceding him.

We’re dining at Flavour of India in Edgecliff, an establishment that has seen its share of celebrities. It occupies a block of road right next to one of Sydney’s most expensive suburbs Darling Point and our waiter tells us that Nicole Kidman has dined “over there” and he points to a quiet corner and this is of course the infamous place where Michael Hutchence had his last meal.

But back to us, it’s native New Zealander Miss America’s twenty year anniversary dinner living in Australia. So having Russell, a native New Zealander who now lives in Australia whom we’ve just reclaimed along with the pavlova is kind of a lucky charm no? We’re having the $49 banquet here tonight. Now I should add that the banquet is not really a banquet and it’s not very good value from what we can tell. You basically have a mixed entree and choose from a list of eight curries for your main and you end off with a tea. Which would cost you about the same if you ordered them separately and then you would get more curries to choose from and there’s no sense of “banquetness” i.e. an array of food unless there are a lot of you happy to share.

Pappadums

We start with some pappadums with mint yogurt, mango chutney and a tomato, onion and cucumber salad.

Mango Lassi

I try a bit of Mr NQN’s mango lassi and it’s not bad although it’s not quite sweet enough with the tangy yogurt but that’s just me perhaps.

Mixed entree

Our mixed entree arrives and it has a tandoori lamb cutlet which is a superb, tender soft cutlet of lamb generously coated in a tandoori yogurt sauce. There is also a piece of chicken tikka thigh which is juicy and moist and also coated with a tikka yogurt sauce. The samosa, something that can often be dry and stodgy has a lovely crispy shell and a delicious interior that avoids all stodge.

Chicken Butter Masala

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“Chocolate naan…” Queen Viv’s voice on the other said and that’s about all that I heard apart from the words “afternoon tea”. Queen Viv’s colleague had mentioned the new concept of an Indian Afternoon Tea at Aki’s, Woolloomooloo and like I complain that Mr NQN has selective hearing, drowning out all cleaning requests with  a gentle buzz, all I heard were the two words: chocolate naan.

I know, I know, high tea has a different meaning to afternoon tea and despite its lofty name, high tea was usually served to the working class, I get that, but I suspect that this high tea is not a working class affair. It’s on the Finger Wharf in Woolloomoloo and despite the sometime rainy day, there are already eager diners partaking of the afternoon tea. On every day during the month of October as part of the Crave International Food Festival in Sydney it will then be hosted every Sunday from then after.

Miss America and I take our seats at a table and we can see another table have just received their three tiered stand and are busy taking photographs of each other with their prized lunch. I secretly love it when tourists are about as I feel less conspicuous with my camera

With the High Tea menu ($45 per person), you can choose a soft drink from a choice of three: masala chai or mango, sweet or salty lassi. Then you choose a Brown Brothers Sparkling wine-either a glass of their limited release Prosecco or their NV Pinot Noir Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier. In the interests of trying something different, we order one of each sparkling, a masala chai and a  mango lassi.

Mango lassi, masala chai and Brown Brother sparkling wines

Our sparkling wines arrive first and then the masala chai which is a strong black tea made with Indian darjeeling masala tea with cardamom and milk. The mango lassi is a mango flavoured buttermilk yogurt drink which is just the right consistency.

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