So, Sam Christie. I’ve never met the guy. But starting with Longrain, he’s moved onto opening the Apollo (amazing modern Greek food), Cho Cho San (just been there recently, amazing modern Japanese food) and lately, we stopped by Subcontinental (amazing modern sub-continental food). This guy is like my culinary godfather, filling my life with foodie happiness.
For Subcontinental, now joining Bang Street Food, a stone’s throw away, has done the alchemical magic of combining wonderful South Asian food with contemporary Sydney cool. Take the pappadums, our starter: I’ve had these at a million Indian restaurants, and I’ve bought cheap packs of them for a dollar or two which I found puff up magically in the microwave (rather than just frying them). But these ones were thick tasty crackers, a completely different form, and served with a fresh tomato sauce: marvelous.
The Sri Lankan black curry with pork belly and pickled banana blossom was amazing; the fish of the day came in banana leaves that were charred, it really was a ‘street’ flavour matched with coconut, mustard seeds and curry leaves. The biryani was the nicest I’ve ever had.
With daily gin cocktails (delicious), how could you go wrong with that place? We had not a complaint, and finishing with kulfi popsicles, well…
Welcome, Subcontinental, to Sydney. It’s destined to be another hot spot… so plan well to get in. I went a few weeks after this first time, and it was just as good as before, and I got to try some other fabulous dishes: duck curry, lamb masala and gulab jamun modernised (it’s a favourite but the rosewater honey syrup that it sits in is so sweet; here, matched with lemon curd and ice cream, it’s perfect). Also, I didn’t mention before but the service here is tops: super smiley and friendly; great all around.