Kings Indian, Parramatta

Well, if I thought I was a bad photographer after my recent dinner at East Ocean our visit to Kings Indian in Parramatta cemented this thought in my head once and for all.

After my East Ocean post, where I told a sob story of my photography woes,  I received great comments and helpful photography tips from readers and fellow bloggers on how to fall back in love with my poxy, stupid, evil, betraying Nikon D3000.

Armed with these tips & tricks I was feeling very chipper when The Boy and I settled into our seats at Kings Indian - ready to redeem YET ANOTHER meal deal voucher.  As an aside from my camera whinging (just for a second mind you), The Boy has decreed that I shall not be allowed to be in possession of any more than four meal deal vouchers at any one time - ah, never going to happen my friend?  Just saying!

This photo was taken at f/2.8, ISO 1600 and Shutter Speed of 1/15

We'd all established that I'd had the F Stop set too low at East Ocean (f/1.8), so I upped it a bit on this night, which did something wacky to the shutter speed - making it too slow for my shaky hands to hold. I turned up the ISO and "thought" I was getting great photos, but nearly 90% of those I took were too dark, blurry or just plain B.A.D!  To make matters worse Kings Indian was much much darker than East Ocean was. Argh!  Once again, I've try to adjust the colour of the photos in Picasa and crop them a little - they do look better than their original state...but not by much.

This photo was taken at f/1.8, ISO 1600 and Shutter Speed of 1/40

Our meal deal voucher included either a glass each of the house red or white wine.  Neither The Boy and I felt much like drinking wine, but were told we couldn't substitute the wine for soft drinks - interesting, as most other voucher deals don't mind this at all.  The wine was actually quite nice - crisp and dry, and I enjoyed drinking it.

This photo was taken at f/1.8, ISO 1600 and Shutter Speed of 1/30

The voucher allowed us to choose anything we liked from the menu - two entrees and two mains.  We had free reign of the menu and it took us AGES to decide what to order as everything sounded so nice. In the end we settled on two of our favourite entrees - Chicken Tikka and Tandoori Barah (Lamb) Kebab.  

We were impressed to see that the Chicken Tikka was free range (happy chickens - yay). The chicken had been marinated in yoghurt, "exotic spices", ginger and garlic then roasted in the tandoor oven. The meat was slightly charred in places and really flavoursome.  The Tandoori Barah Kebab, also marinated in spices and cooked in the tandoor, was amazingly juicy and tender - I adored these lamb cutlets and wish that we had received more than just one each.

This photo was taken at f/3.2, ISO 1600 and Shutter Speed of 1/5

The Boy was fixated on ordering his favourite Butter Chicken as one of the mains - until I pointed out we had the option of trying Butter Prawns - something which neither of us had ever sampled before.

This photo was taken at f/3.2, ISO 1600 and Shutter Speed of 1/10

I decided to go the vegetarian option as I really love Malai Kofta - a mild curry of cottage cheese croquettes mixed with potato, cashew nuts and spices.  We even spotted the odd raisin in the croquette which gave it a lovely sweet taste. The sauce is a smooth and luscious mix of cream, almond meal and crushed tomatoes. 

This photo was taken at f/2.8, ISO 1600 and Shutter Speed of 1/25

The meal also came with rice, as well as our choice of Garlic Naan or Plain Naan.  We decided to order one of each type of naan bread - just because we could. I really loved the way the Naan bread was slightly crisp, which made it perfect for dipping into the left over curry sauces.

This photo was taken at f/2.8, ISO 1600 and Shutter Speed of 1/25

This photo was taken at f/2.8, ISO 1600 and Shutter Speed of 1/25

Despite its dim light and my terrible photography, I really loved the food at Kings Indian. The restaurant is really just a 15 minute walk from our house and The Boy and I both agreed we'd be back sample more of their dishes...as soon as I've used up all my meal deal vouchers that is.

This photo was taken at f/2.8, ISO 1000 and Shutter Speed of 1/15 - in the rain, brrr.

Kings Indian is at 40 Phillip Street, Parramatta. Phone them on 9635 9677.