On a Wednesday night, Devonshire Street quiet as a tomb, we did have some trepidation pushing open the door to lonely heart Eat and Love - little did we know they would live up to their name. This little Indian, Bengali and Nepalese restaurant has only opened fairly recently and is full of promise.
The decor is sort of Queen of Hearts - quite sweet, very heartfelt. It's sparkling with lots of white tiles and mirrors which reflect the Bollywood movies playing on the flatscreen on the wall. Choose your angle so you don't have to watch yourself dribbling curry down your chin!
Non-veg momo (large serve), $8
At first glance the menu seems like a standard Indian restaurant menu, but there are hidden exotic gems. These non-veg momo are Nepalese dumplings in a kind of thick, almost pasta-like skin. They were tender, drizzled with a thin curry sauce and quite nice. Also try Fusion Cafe and Momo Bar in Footscray for good value momo.
Chicken vindaloo, $10.50
Palak paneer, $9
The worst examples of palak paneer (also known as saag paneer) are horrible, just rubbery cheese in a khaki-coloured pureed spinach sauce, with little more than acrid, dried-out ginger strips or a few token bits of tomato. This was not at all like that - the spinach was textured with home-style pureed tomato and just enough cream. Love the touch of authentic fenugreek leaves. Very pleasing indeed.
Raita, $2.50
Really loved this raita, thick and sweet with grated carrot. It was much more substantial than the watery versions that abound, and good value at $2.50 - hate how sometimes a tiny serve is more than $4.
South Indian rice, $4.50
Interesting South Indian rice with coconut powder, curry leaves, dried fruit and mustard seeds. Honestly, I covered this with so much lovely saucy curry flavours, I can't really comment!
Butter naan, $2
Pretty good naan, perfect for soaking up the last bits of vindaloo sauce.
We were so pleasantly surprised how much we loved our meal. The prices are right and when I called back later to check something on the bill, Jack whom we spoke to was a perfect gentleman. Definitely heading back to check out the Bengali/Bangladeshi meal for two, which includes traditional Eastern Indian tuna kebab, "chicken roast" (marinated, shallow-fried chicken apparently) and two varieties of biryani. Check out the website for menu, coupons and deals.
We came, we ate and we did indeed love!
Thank you Lisa via Facebook for the tip! I am trying a new map format - below the restaurant demographics below there's a link to my Google map. This way you can also discover nearby restaurants by navigating between the pins. Red pins are restaurants, blue are food stores. If any links are broken, let me know.
Eat and Love
20 Devonshire Road, Sunshine
Phone: 9311 9277
Hours: Tues-Sun, 5 pm - 10.30 pm
Corkage $2/glass
View Footscrayfoodblog reviews in a larger map
Oh I'm guilty of always feeling trepidation about empty restaurants, a very if-no-else-wants-eat-here-why-should-I childish mentality! And I can totally commiserate about small servings of raita - i've been charged $4.00 for a saucer before! Totally craving vindaloo and naan now...
ReplyDeleteOh boy - what a thoroughly excellent find! I actually quite like the runny raita. Have learned to love it. Mostly I get it with thalis and puris with chick peas, though, so it's actually part of the overall price.
ReplyDeleteI 100% agree with you about bad paneer. It's nightmarish! That one looks really nice, not too creamy + I'm drooling over the very mention of naan right now.
ReplyDeleteYum yum. Another to add to my list next time I'm down that way...
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love this place. I work around the corner and apparently it has been open since December 2010 but it is so innocuous that I didn't even know it was there. If it had not have been for a Deals voucher I would not have even noticed this good value restaurant. The Palak Paneer is one of my favourites on the menu but I am also a fan of the Dal Makhani. As a self confessed omnivore I do not even miss the meat when I eat great Indian dishes like these. Of course I have tried many of the meat dishes too. Eat and Love may not be high class dining but the staff are friendly, the food is good and the price is right. They are still very quiet so I would love to see more people find this place so they stay in business.
ReplyDeleteHmmm after last week I think I am beginning to see why they are so quiet. I attempted to use the voucher off their website (I have gone there several times without one but thought the voucher was a bonus) only to spend over 15 minutes of my 30 minute meal break debating the validity of the voucher. The day before I rang up for delivery which they offer on their website and menu only to be told to hold while they check with their manager if he can deliver the food as their driver has not showed up. I had wasted 10 min of my break to be told that the owner was too busy. Two days in a row I was left disappointed with no food and limited time to get something else. They really don't want to help themselves as I will not be going there again - there are too many great options in the western suburbs to put up with indifferent service.
ReplyDeleteDarn it! That is indeed disappointing. Thanks for letting me know. I am so dodgy about any voucher deal as I have heard so many negative stories. Let me know if you find more good Indian in Sunshine. Classic Curry is pretty decent, and I see Roti Ria are doing a chicken curry with roti now.
DeleteLauren I can't remember the name but there is a dodgy looking venue right near where the buses depart at Sunshine Station. It is a good price and reasonably tasty food. There is also the Indian in Hampshire Rd which is not cheap but again quite good. Indian near the train station at St Albans which is wonderful - again can't remember the name and finally Sri Lankan which you have reviewed Hop n Spice in Ballarat Rd. All have at least a few dishes which are tasty. More and more we are being spoiled for choice in the Western suburbs. Multiculturalism is working wonders for food in the west and I feel privileged to live here.
ReplyDeleteOoh thanks for all those wonderful tips. I am curious about that Indian in Hampshire Rd, so old school. Will definitely check out the St Albans joint. Yes I agree, I feel so lucky to live here. We went to Geelong recently which was lovely, so peaceful, but I knew I couldn't live somewhere so monocultural.
Delete