Kammadhenu @ Neutral Bay

6.3 Average

Food  6      Ambience  5      Service  6      Value  8     

There’s no signage outside the restaurant or any other clue that you’ve arrived at the correct place. The only hint of activity was the sound of blaring rock music coming from the bar outside. I’m not sure what the connection here is supposed to be. One doesn’t normally associate Indian restaurants with pubs and loud rock music. Is the bar part of the restaurant?

Anyway, if you follow the sounds (and believe me they were loud on the Sun night that we were there), you’ll enter a building (no 12) and find yourself in the courtyard where there’s an outdoor pub with a band playing. We thought we’d come to the wrong place until I saw a glass door (again, no signage) with what looked like a restaurant on the other side. We gingerly entered and were relieved to see other diners. Thankfully too we were shielded from the blasting music but happily that didn’t go on for long.

Behind the safety of the glass doors, there’s a dining area upstairs and a few short stairs takes you to another pub downstairs. The downstairs part of it was pretty empty but they have a good selection of German beers on tap and one or two English varieties. We downed our drinks there and headed back up the stairs where it’s pretty much bare bones basic with wooden furniture, wooden floors and nothing in the way of decor or ambience. This is like a Salvation Army kitchen without the atmosphere.

I had tried to book earlier in the week but was told it wasn’t necessary and it wasn’t. Whilst there was a smattering of other guests (some spilled over from the outdoor pub when the music stopped) we were easily able to get a table.

The sole waiter was polite but he seemed overwhelmed, running hither and thither trying to take orders, place diners and deliver food. I noticed that later he was joined by the barman from the quiet bar downstairs. But even so, the service was excruciatingly slow and for this reason alone I’d hesitate to come back. We even had to go up and grab our own menus as none were delivered to our table.

For starters we choose the veg samosas, which were bland and could easily have come from the frozen food section of the Woolies across the road. As an accompaniment, our overworked waiter plonked a bottle of tomato sauce on the table, which probably did come from Woolies.

For mains we choose the lamb saag and butter chicken with rice, naan bread and dhal and supplemented that with a dosai. Everything was fresh but on the whole fairly ordinary and portions were small. The dosai was nice treat though. It’s an extra large pancake and we chose the mushroom and cheese filling. It comes on a silver platter with little slots for the sauces but these were mostly watery stuff that tasted a bit like chutney.

The pancake though was tender and overflowing with tasty ingredients. The rice was white and fluffy and they left us a fairly large bowl on the table but the naan bread was slightly burnt and a bit oily.

For dessert we had our fav Gulab Jamun with ice cream and that was the best dish of the night. The two sizeable pieces were round and chunky and soft as butter. They just melted in your mouth and the fresh vanilla ice cream on top, complementing it well. The whole concoction was swimming in a delicious syrupy sauce. Not too sweet, just right.

This is a cheap place so you needn’t worry too much about breaking the budget. With our Entertainment Book voucher (25% off up to a max $25) we paid only $53 for that lot (excluding the drinks).

Toilets were easy to find and reasonably well provisioned but as expected were neglected during the evening and I found them dirty with towels on the floor.
For parking you may need to drive to the bottom of Waters Rd and into Belgrave Street, where we managed to find a spot.

We only tried this place because of the Ent Book voucher and I don’t think that I’ll be hurrying back. The food is average, the service is slow and ambience virtually non-existent. The only plus are the interesting tap beers and the GJ dessert.

Sep 01, 2011 

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  9     

We tried this out after purchasing a deal through deals.com and were really impressed. The people here were very nice and the food, absolutely beautiful, even though I am not a huge curry fan. We tried Chicken and Mango curry, Chilli crab and mushroom curry. All sensational. It was very quiet (Monday night) so the service was very good, so absolutely no complaints and I would definitely go there again.

Aug 16, 2011 

9.3 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  10      Value  9     

Order the Sri Lankan food and stay away from the other stuff and you will be fine. Cheap and cheerful. Great bar too.

Apr 26, 2011 

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  9     

We have been here a couple of times now. Service is spot on. Food is very good and excellent value for money. Outside open air section a pleasant surprise.

Feb 19, 2011 

4 Below Average

Food  2      Ambience  5      Service  5      Value  4     

We had tried to go been many months ago and were unable to get a table, however, last night we thought we would try again. There was no issue getting a table which, perhaps, should have been a warning to us.

The food was very poor. Although the dosai was good everything else disappointed. I had a samosa which was more like a frozen curry puff and the meat in our mains was very poor quality and full of fat. The sauces were watery yet overpowering in flavor. I would not go back and would not recommend.

Jan 08, 2011 

4.8 Average

Food  5      Ambience  6      Service  3      Value  5     

I am one of Kammandhenu's greatest fans... Was!

I've been to Kammandhenu's Neutral Bay at least 4 times if not more during my work lunch breaks, always tried a variety of different foods veg and non-veg and getting awesome, great flavoured, top quality food. Best for Indian, Malaysian and Sri Lankan.

Today I've gone back after at least 6 months and My Favourite Kothu Roti has gone down the drain. It was just missing something. The punch. (has management changed since the original guy I used to order with and do all cooking was not there?).

Secondly they heard my order wrong, when I wanted chicken Kothu Roti, they gave me Lamb Kothu. Fine, miscommunication happens but instead of just apologising or giving some sort of admittance of the fault. The waiter blamed it on me.

For someone Like me who doesn't bother with such small complaints, left feeling very Very disatisfied by the bad customer service and unsatisfying quality of food.
Just left a bitter taste in my mouth. I felt insulted. Reading previous comments definitely proves me right when I say, the customer service and food quality has gone down, majorly. Not going bac.

Oct 20, 2010 

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  9     

I really like this place, the staff try so hard. Exceptional selection of european beers on tap, affordable wine list and a knockout variety of Indian, Malaysian and Nepalese curries. Really love ordering the Chicken Tikka with Pappadums and dips. Goes really well with a big refreshing half litre of Bavarian Beer. Yum!

Oct 09, 2010 

1 Not Recommended

Food  1      Ambience  1      Service  1      Value  1     

We went to the $30 buffet night they have on the last Saturday of the month. Complete rip off! There was one meat, one veg, lentils and Kothu for hot food on the buffet. The food was tasteless. We walked away in disgust.

Sep 26, 2010 

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  9     

I had Onion Dosa and Paratha with Chicken Chettinadu and felt the touch of real south indian food after a long time. The place is nice and clean. Bar is really good with many wines and spirits especially their beer range. The staffs are friendly. Environment is relaxed. Compared to other restaurants as far I know and been "This is Best" and I already recommended my mates. Looking forward for the next visit.

Aug 05, 2010 

8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  7      Value  9     

On a summer's night it is nice to dine outdoors in a quite and far-from-the-road area with a water feature. Even the indoors is not too bad. We have dined there a few times, and each time we have found the food and service to be consistently good. Parking is easy, there is plenty of parking around that area (under Woolies as well). The menu is full of variety and the prices are reasonable. Will definitely continue to go back.

Jun 12, 2010