Bala Da Dhaba

Ph: (03) 9523 8683; 56 Glen Eira Rd, Elsternwick 3185

Indian, $
Open Tue-Sun 5.30pm-11pm; Licensed, BYO, Corkage $1 person; AE, BC, DC, MC, V, Seats inside 75

Mietta's Review
The pressing crowd in the small entrance is a persuasive advertisement: must be good, with this stream of people. You soon affirm the presumption with spicy dishes from the tandoor, fluffy rotis and curries prepared in different ways, Bala Da Dhaba does a roaring takeaway trade. The dine-in service is something else. The young waiters are too few, and out of their depths trying to cope with the service. If you're hard-pressed for time, takeaway will get you in and out quicker than dine-in. The restaurant is large but cramped. On a Saturday night it is best to book, but be prepared to wait.

Other published opinions

The Age Cheap Eats 2005 "LIVERIED waiters, red decor, tapestried walls, respectfully spaced tables; Baia Da Dhaba doesn't tamper with a familiar formula ... The food's good, too"

The Age Cheap Eats 2004 "THIS cosily kitsch curry house is chocka every night. But the young Indian waiters, decked out in baseball caps and waistcoats as garish as the burgundy tablecloths, keep the smiles (and water jugs) coming."

The Age, Sunday Life, 18/1/04, Dani Valent,'the service is laughable but the food is incentive enough to brave it...offerings are tender and delicate'

The Age Good Food Guide 2003. Score 12/20. The Sunday Age (Eat Streets), 30.04.00, Jane Faulkner & Angus Holland

"Its a cosy chintz room with the obligtory view of the poor fellow sweating it out in the tandoor. The service is hurried but efficient and the food is reliably good with stand outs including the devilishly hot vindaloo, the eggplant curry and the products of the aforementioned tandoor. the perfect local in other words."

The Sunday Age (Eat Streets), 19.3.00, Jane Faulkner "Locals have been getting their curry fix from this bustling curry house for some time now and bala's popularity doesn't wane; we've never dined with less than a full house. warning though; sit too close to the tandoor and you'll feel the heat, sit away in a corner and you might be forgotten-despite any army of waiters, service is erratic and often slow. the endless flow of takeaway diners is partly to blame. Still, the standard fare is satisfying and inexpensive. There are complimentary pappadums and chutneys while you decide on a feast of succulent chicken tikka or a more substantial offeing of chicken makhani"