Ambala

5.8 Average

Food  6      Ambience  6      Service  6      Value  5     

I have eaten here many, many times. We moved into the area in 2004 and ordered here on a weekly basis at one stage, so feel well informed to speak about a few dishes.

It is a fairly good neighbourhood Indian restaurant with usually over- attentive service. Big plus, nice bridge views to be had at a reasonably priced restaurant. Milsons Point Railway station is next door and the restaurant occupies the Old Bowling club rooms. If you're driving, parking in the metered parking on the Milsons Point side is a good bet since Kirribilli can get busy.

Quality of the food can be variable but seems to have improved in recent times.
Apart from one episode of appalling takeaway food, change of chef since then we've been told, the food has been Ok to good. If you enjoy Bollywood music videos, a large flat screen TV keeps you entertained while you wait.

Food, our favourite dish is the Goan fish curry, delicious, creamy dish well flavoured with a hint of curry leaves. Palak paneer, usually well made. Kadai paneer also nice. Biryanis, go for the goat or lamb, but had 2 takeaway experiences in which we could count on one hand the pieces of meat under the flavoursome Basmati rice. Meat dishes sometimes suffer from the use of poor quality meat. Breads, invariably good.

Overall, nice food sometimes lacking in consistency but reasonably priced with Harbour bridge views.

Jan 07, 2011 

8 Recommended

Food  6      Ambience  7      Service  10      Value  9     

Food was fine, was thinking about dining here for months as every time I walked past it was packed out! also the smell of the restaurant is enticing. This was one of the few restaurants which we had the owner sit at our table and discuss anything over some beers on the house. Also the food is not stereotypical indian, you get to specialise your order so you can have it the way you want. I'll be going again! service was very excellent. Staff was very helpful for everything.

Apr 08, 2010 

7.8 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  8     

I've eaten here a million times and its just fab every time. The Goan fish curry is a favourite, also the lamb sagwalah and chicken makhani. The service is ok, the main course dishes all arrive together, they happily do BYO (and if you forget, the bottle shop is just over the road!) and becasue they have a large seating area (relative to some other Kirribilli restaurants) you can always get a table no worries.

The room has been done up, there are now beautiful stone steps outside. The concrete floor has been covered, in timber? tiles? I can't remember, I'm too busy reading the menu! Some curtains and a change of lighting would make it a little less club-like, and a little more restauranty, but nonetheless, this is a fab neighbourhood curry house.

Aug 17, 2009 

5.3 Average

Food  7      Ambience  3      Service  6      Value  5     

Ambalas is located within the grounds of what used to be the bowling club right near the Milson's Point station alongside the Harbour Bridge. The interior is basically a concrete floor with tables set for diners. That's about it. The food is quite tasty although the portions size of main dishes was mediocre. We had a large group and had a banquet for $36. There really wasn't that much provided for that amount.

There was plenty of naan bread of different varieties but they were placed in separate single baskets for a long table so unless you wanted to yell down the other end of the table you may miss trying some of the flavoured varieties. The place is BYO although you can buy some basic alcohol. I found it a bit odd that they charged everyone a corkage charge but it was clear that not everyone had even touched a wine glass set for them. Basically this is not a place I would rush back to.

Dec 07, 2008 

7.5 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  8     

Good quality Indian, great lamb vindaloo! Tandoori lamb chops also great. Breads are also very good, particularly the Lachna Paratha, just like you get in India. Excellent value as well.

Oct 31, 2008 

7.5 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  8     

Another update (Oct 2008) - its back! The food has a bit of its old twinkle back again, and certainly has put indian food on the agenda again as this is the only one in the area that has ever been worth visiting. The renos have helped make the space a bit more inviting, and bonus that you no longer have to tromp through the halls of the forlorn bowlo and its abandoned trophies anymore. Mixed entree plate was good with kickass mint chutney, and of the multiple mains tried, the saag (lamb in this case) was back to its silky best and no complaints about the rest. Shame we've missed curry season for this year but welcome back Ambalas...

Update: Since first commenting in August 2006, I have to now (sadly) revise my opinion. I believe its changed hands several times, and the owner excitedly told us on our last recent visit that there was a new chef. Well, I can only say...get the old one back! While a chicken vindaloo gave us a bit of bite, it was just a facade for lack of any real substance in any of the dishes (most disappointing - my old favourite paneer saag was just gooey gloop) and I can get a better curry at home by using when of those pre-packaged sauces. And that’s exactly what I'll be doing until I hear that it’s picked up again.

Previous Review: After taking the edge off the week with a few drinks with friends at the Kirribilli pub, there's nothing better than following it up with a curry dinner on the way home! Don’t pass by this relative newie (used to be the Bowlo) tucked under the bridge between Kirribilli and Milsons Point. It's a great setting - a bit cavernous still from its glory days as a bowling club but killer views make up for it.

The average cost of chicken or lamb curry is $15 which is great value for such chunky, tasty, first class curries with the sagwalas deserving of a special mention. The tandoori entree platter for 2 easily does for 4. The breads are the only let down as they are not up to the same standard as the rest, though some swear by the fruit/coconut one which is a bit sweet for me. After years of putting up with the erratic quality and indifferent food of nearby curry houses, finally we have a local Indian worthy of an after pub visit!

Oct 13, 2008 

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  10      Value  8     

I have been here three times in the last month with different groups of people. Each time the staff were really helpful and attentive and the food was excellent, the vindaloo was great. Kashmiri naan and butter naan were light and very tasty.
Dessert was Gulab Jamun which were soft, warm and sweet, perfect with ice-cream. I'll definitely be back.

May 22, 2008 

7.5 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  6      Value  8     

We went here when it first opened a few years ago and thought it was average. We gave it another go a few weeks ago and were really impressed! The staff were pretty inexperienced but they tried hard. The dining room has great views of the bridge plus the kitchen is open - plan so you can see what's going on.

The Goan Fish Curry was excellent - the fish was fresh and flaky and the curry had really freshly ground spices. All the curries were great and the naan breads were lovely and light - not the big, thick stuff you get in some places.

It's a good place to pop into during the week for a quick, affordable curry experience.

Apr 28, 2008 

8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  9      Value  8     

We went to this restaurant without any reviews but the food was very good. We will really try it later on.

Jul 01, 2007 

5.8 Average

Food  7      Ambience  5      Service  5      Value  6     

Good view if you get the right table. The food here has improved since first opening, service is always OK. Could be improved by dimming the lights and turning off the "sports bar TV" which dominated the room. I don't care how much the staff like cricket. Worth mentioning the food again though - the mixed vegetarian curry (requested very hot) was rich and hot, and excellent. Bathrooms are just plain old. Its popular wedding/party hall doesn't interrupt the main dining area. Keep at it guys.

Apr 05, 2007