Perth Voice Interactive

IT was one of the hottest lunch dates I’ve had in a long while.

I’m not talking about some Tinder Mature hook-up with a middle-aged, chain-smoking divorcee from Butler, but the curries at The Chatter Boxx.

They were nuclear hot and it felt like an atomic bomb had gone off in my mouth – and that was just the korma!

Situated on the Albany Highway in Victoria Park, the Chatter Boxx isn’t going to win any prizes for its demure, understated facade.

It’s a farrago of clunky advertising with a garish advertising board, big illuminated sign and some posters stuck to the window declaring the even clunkier phrase “where dishes tells a story”.

They should have ditched all the advertising and just kept the sign, showcasing the large bay windows.

Anyway, all of this was inconsequential if the food was top drawer, as some of the tastiest meals I’ve had were in places that looked like something out of  Apocalypse Now.  

Thankfully the Chatter Boxx interior was a lot nicer with a classy bar, decor and tasteful furnishings.

The menu had a nice range of Indian dishes with an emphasis on biryani as well as crowd-pleasers like korma, butter chicken, rogan josh and masala.

Highlights included Prawn Dum Biryani, Railway Goat Curry (introduced in British-Indian railway carriages in the 1900s), and Barramundi Kalia curry.

The starters had a good variety with everything from chicken tikka chaat to tunde kabab.

There was also a good choice of veggie dishes including Palak Paneer, Bhindi Masala and 18-hour cooked Dal Bukhara.

The staff were super friendly and appeared to be of Indian descent, so I was confident it was going to be an authentic meal.

It wasn’t long before I tucking into my slow cooked Chicken Dum Biryani ($22.50).

This was a real treat – a mound of fragrant basmati rice punctuated with succulent, bone-in marinated chicken. This slow-cooked South Indian dish really hit the mark and the rice, which can often be dry in a poor basmati, was spot on and had a fluffy moistness.

But be prepared for some serious heat when you bite into the chicken, which had a real fiery after-kick.

Thankfully there was a little dish of mint sauce to offset the supernova developing in my gut.

I often bemoan the lack of heat in Australian curries, compared to their counterparts in the UK, but this caught me off guard and had some serious fire. It was delicious, authentic and spicy.

I was intrigued by the beetroot cutlet starter ($13), so I ordered it as a side.

The spiced croquettes were a delicious diversion and had a light breadcrumb coating and a lovely moist filling of beetroot and toasted peanuts.

I had never tried these before and they were really nice. And yes, they were a bit spicy too.

I ordered a Lamb Korma “extra mild” for the kids to share ($24) with basmati rice ($6).

It was a huge serve and there was lots of tender lamb, but it was too spicy for my kids, even at the requested extra mild.

To be fair, there was a kids menu with butter chicken, so I probably should have ordered that to be on the safe side, but I wanted them to try different dishes and push the envelope a bit.

Aside from the spice level, this North Indian dish was perfectly executed and had a lovely creamy sauce with traces of cashew, onion and yoghurt.

Our Indian meal at Chatter Boxx was authentic, delicious, well-priced and the portions were big (there’s also a dedicated lunch menu for those on a budget).

But unless you like it flamin’ hot, ask for the spice level to be toned down, or you could be ordering half a dozen mango lassis and reaching for the Rennie Extra when you get home.

The Chatter Boxx
439/441 Albany Hwy,
Victoria Park
thechatterboxx.com.au

by STEPHEN POLLOCK