A new addition to the family

This business of opening sister restaurants around the place seems to be catching. A success, and off they go, opening their doors in other parts of the city to replicate the popularity in a new neighbourhood.

A feast laid out at Bollywood Masala's new Kingston restaurant.

Bollywood Masala has a bit of a following in its smallish corner spot in Dickson, and now has opened in Kingston on Giles Street near the Silo bakery. Bollywood has always fancied things up a bit in the decor. It aims for a smart look in Dickson, and likewise in Kingston, where large ornate doors are the motif - in the menu, too, which you open like you're entering a palace.

Don't get the wrong idea. It's not plush or luxurious. Bollywood has placed itself firmly at the affordable end of the market - mains not much above $20. But it also adds a tiny touch of bling, in the likes of a long bronzed seat against the wall, for example.

Bollywood Masala aims for a smart look with the decor.

In the food, the Kingston restaurant does Indian the way you are probably used to it - creamy, fairly heavy, familiar curries. When you compare the menus at Kingston and Dickson, you get the impression it is attempting to step out of familiar territory in its new restaurant. Whereas the Dickson menu is arranged by headings of chicken, lamb, beef and the like, the Kingston menu has a list of ''classic dishes'', another of ''regional dishes'' and a third of ''specialties'', plus vegetarian. It also has what it describes as ''innovative'' combinations, among them our entree, lahsuni murg tikka ($12.90). Certainly the chicken has an unusual taste, marinated in garlic and served with fried garlic, and while the taste is not gorgeous, the meat itself has been well handled.

Stuffed mushrooms with a chickpea filling, kudrati kebab ($11.90), is an intriguing dish, the mushroom caps stuffed with a fairly dry spicy chickpea mix. They're earthy and spicy, with a super-hot sauce that leaves the mouth burning and the brow sweating.

The tandoori jhinga, six prawns ($14.90), come on a bed of greens. They're red with spice and hot, just okay.

Restaurant owner Arjan Chehl.

The favourite of our dishes tonight is from the vegetarian menu, palak paneer ($18.50), the ubiquitous dish of spinach and paneer. Nothing unusual here; the pureed spinach is plentiful and beautifully green, and the dish is mild and smooth.

We're looking forward to the Bollywood leg of lamb ($25.50), described as the restaurant's most popular signature dish, an ''off-the-bone, melt-in-the-mouth Mughlai style'' dish of lamb pan-cooked in a thick yoghurt sauce with ''a touch of rum'', herbs and home-ground spices. Sounds interesting and we're in. But in the event it's a disappointing dish, and it's difficult to see what makes this a favourite. It's nicely rich and spicy in a way that has potential, but the stew is too heavy and quite pasty. The lamb doesn't feel like it has shredded with slowcooking or fallen from the bone - not that the description said it would be, but it doesn't feel at home in this sauce. And sadly, the bone sticking out of the middle is clean and feels cool - if it was cooked in this sauce, it doesn't seem to have been reheated with it, and it feels like a decoration rather than a contribution to the flavour.

Among the ''classic dishes'' are rogan josh ($19.50), butter chicken ($19.50) and an on-the-bone goat curry ($21.50). But a Goan fish curry ($22.50) on the list of six regional dishes catches our eye. It comes as quite a bright orange dish, the sauce again rather too thick, the barramundi flesh a bit mushy to be very appealing.

The naan ($3), though, are good, flaky, warm and enjoyable. We've been regular consumers of Bollywood's daal Bollywood, a dhal dish that combines kidney beans with black lentils - as a takeaway from the Dickson restaurant. While it has been too salty on occasion, it's also turned us into fans of this style of dhal - dhal makhani - a mix of kidney beans and lentils - and we cook something similar regularly at home. So if you eat at Bollywood, this would be a dish to order. As would the palak paneer. In some of the other mains we're eaten tonight, a problem has been the heavy rather difficult consistency of the sauces.

We enjoy Bollywood's version of gulab jamun ($8.90) to finish. These milk dumplings in sweet cardamom syrup come in a glass, and taste fresh and good.

Service has been very good - attentive, friendly, helpful and timely. The wine list is fairly brief but does the trick. Grant Burge wines dominate, and you'll also find a few local wines, like Nick O'Leary's riesling ($40) and shiraz ($40), Clonakilla Viognier 2009 ($60). Some decent options by the glass.

Bollywood Masala

Address: 46 Giles Street, Kingston
Phone: 6162 1113
Website: bollywoodmasala.com.au
Owner: Arjan Chehl
Chef: Bal Jeet
Hours: Lunch Tuesday to Friday, lunch noon-2pm, dinner Tuesday to Sunday 6pm-10pm
Licensed: Yes, plus BYO, wine only, corkage $8 bottle
Vegetarian: Plenty of options
To pay: Visa, Mastercard, American Express
Wheelchair access: Yes
Seats: 70 inside

Food: 1/4
Wine list: 2/4
Style: 2/4
Value for money: 2/4
Service: 3/4

Score 12/20

Summary: An OK, popular Indian restaurant now open in Kingston, with familiar curries and some of its own innovations.

11 something went wrong. 12 not so great tonight. 13 fine for a cheap and cheerful, not so for a place that aspires to the top end. 14 good. 15 really good. 16 great, when can we move in. 17-20 brilliant. The stars are a quick reference to the key highs or lows. They do not relate directly to the score out of 20.

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald, 10 October 2012