Taste of India

Fancy a culinary trip to India? Look no further than Kasturi's Tanjore restaurant, which serves up authentic Indian cuisine night after night in downtown Nadi.

Offering Tandoori (clay oven) dishes, it is the only restaurant in Fiji to serve whole Tandoori fish. And with a chef who hails all the way from Bangalore in India, Kasturi's is definitely in a league of it's own.

The restaurant has an extensive menu, a mind-boggling 316 items to be exact, of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes.

First there is the extensive wine list of around 30 labels, then the hot and cold beverages which includes Lassi, a popular Indian drink made with yoghurt. Next come the soups, appetizers and accompaniments.

One of the unique things about Kasturi's is that the accompaniments such as the variety of Naan, Puri, Roti, Rumali Roti, Kulcha (Indian bread) and rice are offered separately, allowing customers to pick and choose according to their own preferences.

Then there are 33 vegetarian main courses and 103 non-vegetarian main courses to choose from. Some delicious classic Indian desserts also feature.

Dishes on the menu are divided by the key ingredients such as prawn, lamb, chicken, crab, lobster or fish. So on a page, you might find fish dishes culled from various states in India such as Kerala, Goa, Mumbai, Punjab, Madras and so on.

A brief description accompanies each meal stating the region in India it is from as well as the ingredients in it.

There are plenty of popular dishes to choose from at Kasturi's. Butter Prawn and Butter chicken, Vindaloo, Lamb and Chicken Kofta (dumplings), Rogan Josh, Tikka Masalas, Biryani made from Basmati rice, Chicken Kurma and Chicken Patia.

Popular vegetarian dishes include Navrathna Kurma, Vegetarian Paneer Tikka Masala and Malai Kofta.

To add to the variety of flavours, the restaurant also does Malaysian, Thai and delicious Fijian dishes featuring a variety of seafood.

The authentic Indian table setting with stainless steel crockery and soft classical Indian music in the background add to the dining the experience.

Right next door to Kasturi's Tanjore is the sister restaurant, Talanoa Pizza, which specializes in pizzas and Italian cuisine.

The pizzas are made with Mozarella cheese sourced from New Zealand. Owner of both restaurants, Kamlesh Chandra says he picked up the art of Italian cuisine while studying in Australia.

He helped out at a friend's Italian restaurant while he was a student there. What that translates to is a wide variety of authentic Italian style pizzas and pastas.

There are six different pizza sizes to choose from and the pizza toppings are spread evenly over the bases ensuring every piece has the key ingredients. Booth seating and subdued lighting makes it a pleasant setting for families and groups of friends.

Fijilive