Amaya: The Indian Room

Redefining Indian cuisine for a gourmet dining experience

Quality counts for baby boomers. We’re more careful about how we spend our money when eating out, looking more for great experiences than for volume of food.

Amaya invites you to experience fine Indian cuisine, and delivers on the promise. Agreed, Indian cooking is highly flavourful and often spicy (but not always), and Amaya fits the bill. This is a la carte, delightfully delicate, gourmet Indian food – a culinary experience, not a quick generic curry and a beer.

As you enter, there are  hints of flavours to come rather than an overpowering olfactory assault, and it’s peaceful – no loud music to dominate the audio scene. The decor is soothing and contemporary, there’s a welcoming bar with skilled staff and premium cocktails on offer while you have an amuse bouche Indian style before you take your seat in the 64-seat (approximately) dining area. The bar area was so relaxing, we chose to have our kurkuri bhindi  appetizer (perfectly crisp okra coated with cumin and chickpea flour crust) before taking our seats at the table, crisp white linen and all.

This was our fourth visit to Amaya, and each time we have been delighted by the food and the service. The tasting menu is truly worth a try, but this time we chose from the menu – the chicken tikka masala special, and also a delightful  lamb korma which should be lightly spiced lamb shank in rich sauce with cashew and green cardamom, but we asked for the spice to be taken up several notches – it was! Add to that a butternut squash veggie dish, garlic naan, and we were in heaven.

We bravely tried, and thoroughly enjoyed, a kheera-mirchi gimlet (Bombay Sapphire gin, cucumber juice, green chilli and lemon juice) as an unusual and colourful cocktail, then couldn’t resist a cardamom infused creme brulee and a spiced brownie with vanilla ice cream. Gourmet desserts too. If you’ve ever tried an unidentifiable dessert at an Indian buffet restaurant – these perfectly presented sweet treats are a pleasant surprise.

The menu is great, showing influences from the major food regions of India, including tandoori flavours from the north and seafood specialties from Goa. The wine list offers something for everyone with an emphasis on quality, the service staff are awesome. We’ll continue to go to Amaya, and invite you to do the same. This is deliciousness at its best.