Review Tonka - Melbourne

Well its Indian cuisine but not Indian.. Its sort of Modern Indian Fusion. You will have a nice experience if you don’t keep your thoughts on Indian cuisine. Even the interior is warm and artistic. We enjoyed our visit and will surely try again.

Tonka comes with a big reputation and it doesn't disappoint. Creative and very well executed fusion dishes with an Indian influence. The tandoori trout was incredible. A great food experience with excellent wait staff, that makes this restaurant a must go.

An incredible journey of different flavours over small but perfectly sized dishes. These dishes are small with exception of the mains, intentionally. Designed for sharing or to have several. The service was second to none with attentive but not invasive wait staff. Recommendations were offered based on pallette and dietary requirements. A wide variety of drinks including several non alcoholic ones or drinks that could be modified to noon alcoholic. The venue itself is light, white and well insulated. Overall a great experience and a true culinary journey of you're looking for fine food. 🍛🍷🍹😎

🦀 Spanner Crab Betel Leaf 🐙 Deep Fried Baby Octopus 🍗 Mustard Chicken Tikka 🐟 Trout, Wombok Salad 🍤 Kerala Prawn Curry 🐑 Avani’s Lamb Curry 🫓 Naan Tonka is a modern Indian restaurant located in one of Melbourne’s most iconic laneways, Duckboard Place. It is co-owned by chef Adam Dsylva, has been featured on Masterchef and since opening have received The Age Good Food Guide’s ‘Hat Award’ every year. The ceiling installation ‘Drift’ by Melbourne artist Naomi Troski was designed to hit the brief “the magic of India” and is just simply stunning. The whole restaurant is the perfect balance between casual and formal. The service is faultless and the attention the detail was impressive. Constantly topping up our water, offering more drinks once we finished them and even clearing, cleaning and resetting the table with fresh plates and cutlery after every single dish. Definitely start with a Cucumber Margarita, I could’ve ordered one after another it was so good. All of the entrees were delicious, the (spicy!!) Octopus is a must and although they are small, I recommend the Spanner Crab Betel Leaf, Chicken Tikka and the Trout as they were all bursting with flavour. Although not mentioned on the menu, you can actually get half serves of selected curries. They were however, my least favourite dishes. The Lamb Curry lacked flavour and didn’t fall apart. The Prawn Curry personally wasn’t to my taste at all but my partner loved it! The naan was a good side. I feel like I have had better much curries from my local Indian restaurants at a fraction of the cost. I would still come back and try a different main or just stick to the first half of the menu! ⭐️ 4/5 (Great)

Birthday dinner for my wife and our son. The lights were either broken, seriously dimmed or on power-saving mode, but a relatively minor issue. Service was fast, efficient, courteous and friendly - drinks and food. Prices aren't low, but the food is excellent, and the curry portion sizes are huge. We couldn't finish our lamb curry and butter chicken, though we did have lots of appetizers. Dishes aren't spicy at all, so if you like a hit of spiciness, ask for chillies on the side. Huge drinks selection as well, though only one international beer(?). Great ambience and food. Definitely go. Have photos, but they're useless in the poor light and with my phone.

We've wanted to come here for a long time and finally the day arrived. We were a little early but pleasantly greeted and soon seated with menus and water after audio issues were resolved. We made up our own feast from the large menu. Highlights included the: 1, Pani Puri - beautifully presented, crispy balls with potato, mung bean paste, chutney and an aromatic water we poured into the parcel. The spices gave this opener a little bite which served to wake up the taste buds. 2, Deep fried baby octopus on a bed of harissa - crispy with flavours bursting in the mouth and our favourite of the day. 3, Confit duck with lightly pickled purple cabbage and a chestnut puree that harmonised soothingly with the tender, slightly pink flesh. We also had the Tandoori paneer, Kerala prawn curry and the Carrot halwa with cream cheese ice cream dessert. The paneer was delightful, the curry had too much bite for me and the dessert was intriguing. Entry is from a dingy and dank alleyway but once inside the spacious interior looks comfortable and elegant. At the back are huge windows opening out to Flinders St, infusing the space with natural light. Service was friendly and on point throughout. A memorable experience to a memorable place.

Tonka served modern Indian cuisine in a contemporary, fine-dining style setting. We ordered a few of their meals; Zucchini potato pakora, Chicken biryani with Sella rice, Pani puri crispy parcels filled with spiced potato, charred broccolini, and dessert Coque meringue Ispahan with rose cream lychee raspberry sorbet. All the dishes were full of flavours, delicious and presented well. The service was pretty good also. Overall, a great dining experience.

DIVINE!!!! HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!! First time visit for us and it didn't disappoint, the service is wonderful and the food is DELICIOUS! My partner enjoyed his cucumber (with volcanic salt) martini ( he had 3!) and I with the mango lassi with white rum For entree, we had the vindaloo steak tartare and Kabuli Chana in betel leaf with roasted pineapple For mains, we opted for the half serve of the butter chicken and lamb curry- just as well because the serving was quite generous as well as the fried cauliflower For dessert, I thoroughly enjoyed the guava and mango Bombe Alaska with caramelised quinoa The restaurant is very trendy and decor is sublime. The staff and crew was very friendly Would definitely come back next time we visit Melbourne

Aftre a great night of food, wine and service at Marion's, we headed with anticipation to Tonka's. Very disappointing. We were walk ins so seated at bar table closes to door-cold night, constant draft which is ok but Manager volunteered he would move us as soon as another bar table was free. He did not keep his word. He kept pilling new customers into free tables. Food was delayed. Service was haphazard. Food itself was a bit frou frou, small portions. Butter chicken for $32 was really a serving for 1. From start entree took 30 mins, next dish another 20 minutes then main 40 minutes later. Wine list was ok. But no service to refill. In paying bill, if paying by cash, they will help but paying by credit card you would have to walk to the busy cashier (archaic no mobile eftpos). It's more like a bistro pretending to be an upmarket restaurant serving contemporary Indian cuisine. This is Melbourne! The food city. Not good enough. Disappointing.

Me and lovely wife to be. Arrived around 8pm last night it was quite busy for a Tuesday evening, Our first time here . Quickly given a table even though we hadn't booked. Great wine list and staff had good knowledge of food and wines, friendly and welcoming. Watched how much attention to detail and effort the chefs put into plating and cleaning down at end of service, shame not all restaurants in Melbourne maintain the same high standards of what these guys at Tonka do. Really enjoyed the food and atmosphere, best Naan in melbourne by far crispy, fluffy and buttery. The desserts where heavenly and bursting with flavour.. Great work guys, we will be back�

I have spent a week in Melbourne on a business trip, and I was looking for some of the top places to eat. This place came up and I have to say I was not disappointed, the service that was provided the food that they suggested, I rate highly, the whole experience. Be prepared to pay that little bit more but you get a lot more in taste. That to me is what dining out is all about.

Wow wow wow, this little gem, found in AC/DC lane did not disappoint. Beautiful decor, attentive and helpful staff and amazing food. Will be back for sure.

Beautiful decor and vibe, this place has a modern twist to the Indian food, which is quite impressive. Starters were good, mains were even better. Hubby totally loved the Biryani :) We were so full that couldn't try the desserts..but will visit again to try them. Bookings before hand is recommended, as we went on a weekday and we got our desired sitting as place was fully booked during the lunch hour. Overall great experience..will visit again :)

This place serves modern Indian cuisine and there are queues even on the weekdays. The fusion cocktails are good. The food was flavourful , although I found it lacking in punchy flavours. The ambience is all clean-lines and the staff are polite. Good for special occasions like birthday dinners...

Ambience, lighting, staff and food was on point. Had a beautiful birthday dinner here, will definitely be back again.

Dined here a few weeks ago with #melbournecitydiners. I was a little hesitant as Indian Cuisine is not one of my top choices. With the help of the fantastic wait staff we chose a variety of dishes and entrees to share amongst each other. I was blown away by the presentation and the delightful modern twists that accompanied each dish. This restaurant has made it into my top 3 picks in Melbourne. Definitely worth a visit :-)

First time at Tonka yesterday the food the service the environment was just fantastic great place to dine and have a conversation without blaring music and what I like the most they don't hurry you along to have the table free.

Just incredible!! The food, staff, atmosphere, decor, wine everything was incredible. Joyce helped us selected the food and Travis introduced is to the most amazing wine to complement the food. You will regret not coming!!

Fantastic place ...atmosphere was just amazing & staff very attentive ... food delicious , would definately go back for another visit 😊..if I had to pick one fault it's was how dark it was in the restaurant as I had to use my torch on my phone to see menu & looking around quite a few other people were doing the same, maybe even making the writing darker & slighter bigger on the menu would help immensely 😊

One of the best restaurants I have visited yum yum yum.

Amazing Restaurant from the second we entered through the front door we were greeted, coats taken, seated st the bar given water and cocktail/drinks menu. The Espresso Martini was the best I've ever had!! Dinner was just as exceptional. Food and wine list was explained and recommended without having to stress too much about what to order. Water and wine was topped up without having to chase down anyone so you could just enjoy the experience wholely. Could not fault Tonka ran smoothly and everyone knew their roles and played them well. Coming from Sydney you don't see this kind of service or quality of food at such a good price. This is going to be my usual place when I visit Melbourne in the future. Looking forward to trying out Coda too 💕

Recommended by a friend, great place. We didn't have a booking, so ate at the bar. The food was amazing! Traditional Indian flavours served in a modern way, not as heavy as I usually find Indian food. I will definitely be back

After hearing great things about this restaurant I was very excited for a great dining experience when I arrived. Restaurant was well decorated and a nice environment. I ordered the kofta for starter which although very small in size for the price, was still tasty. I had the Biryani for main ($28) and it was completely disappointing, the spices tasted raw and the serving size was tiny (and I still didn't finish it due to the taste). The wine is pretty expensive. There are positive reviews here about Tonka so maybe I was just unlucky, however I wouldn't return.

Amazing place, the staff very attentive and the food exquisite, would definitely go back.