Review Gurkha's Express City - Melbourne

Located right opposite Melbourne aquarium, Gurkha Express is a nice, little Nepalese restaurant. Service is good. Tried Goat curry which was delicious, although the meat was a bit chewy. Staff is friendly.

We ordered over the internet for some take away (20 minutes) and it was great. Kuhura Ma Krim (very mild), Goruko Masu (nice and warm), and some Bhuteko Bhat (rice) was a great combination to start with. Sure, it's not a place I would fly to Melbourne to have, but it is a place I would tell my circles about if they were in the mood for some Nepalese curries.

Small little restaurant tucked away on Flinders. If you want something a little different its definitely worth a visit. The value is great however it can sometimes be slow. Overall great experience

Service was little too slow, rice was bit dry. Other than that food was good. Will go back again to try few other stuff.

Lovely food at a fair price. Very friendly staff.

I ordered Gukhas takeaway off Menulog one night, and was surprisingly delighted by the food that came. The dumpling skin was light and the filling was tasty. The nann bread was soft and chewy and filled with a dense potato filling. I had also ordered a scallops curry, and it was rich, and perfectly on point!

I have been ordering from this restaurant 9-10 time as a home delivery  had no problem with it and all of sudden they said that they can't deliver to my suburb because its too far away. I even explained myself by letting them know that i am very regular customer and there was no problem before and why are they doing this now, but the guy was keep repeating himself that its too far away.<br/>SO I GUESS CUSTOMER LOYALTY DOESN'T MATTER TO THEM ANYMORE <br/>SHOULD HIRE A PROPER MANAGER WHO CAN DEAL WITH SITUATION RATHER THEN JUST REPEATING ONE- TWO WORDS.

Filthy bathroom with no hand towels. Lacks ambience. Chicken was overcooked, curry wasn't too bad but the food was very expensive given the portion sizes.

Really good value for money. The decore is simple but welcoming, the staff friendly and the food delicious and served with generous portions. Simple, honest and down right yummo!

When I worked in town across the road it was my weekly indulgence. Consistent, homely, generous and delicious. Spewing I'm not working in town anymore.

“Nepalese food isn’t a cuisine that is commonly found in Melbourne, with Gurkhas known to be the most popular. We had an opportunity to try Nepalese food at Gurkhas through an all you can eat Groupon that appeared. We had a meal for 6, with unlimited top ups.”

The Gurkhas Express branch, on the King St end of Flinders St has an assuming shop front and we really weren't sure what to expect when we walked in. The interior is decorated with Nepalese Buddhist prayer flags, photos of the Buddhist eyes symbol which you see on their stupas, and the soft hum of Nepalese music fills the room. I felt like I was back in Kathmandu and I was instantly at ease.

Came here because we saw the $20 all you can eat signs spread all over the footpath. <br/><br/>Immediately before ordering we asked the waitress what was included in the all you can eat deal, to which she replied.. entrees mains desserts etc. Great. We then ordered. <br/><br/>Once we had finished mains, I asked to see the menu to choose a dessert. There was a 'Misunderstanding' apparently, the all you can eat was a different menu. Relucantly agreed to charge us the all you can eat price. We only ordered 2 entrees and 2 mains anyway. <br/><br/>Felt tricked here. Clearly we came in for the all you can eat. I'm assuming all their patrons did, considering how widely it was publicised. We even mentioned the deal directly, immediately before ordering.<br/><br/>Food was very average.<br/><br/>Dodgy. Avoid.

Dry, flavourless food and poor service<br/><br/>All but one of the dishes were dry and flavourless. Besides for the chicken wings which were quite nice, the beef curry was dry, the rice bland, and the chicken is the noodles tasted very odd. We were only one of three couples in the restaurant, yet kept on having to call for the waitress to bring the food out. Was very disappointed, will not be returning.

Since we were the first in the restaurant at 6pm, our food came rather quickly instead of what the other reviews stated about having their food served really slowly. This isn't a huge establishment (seems like family owned to me) so I think people should understand that there is only one waitress and probably only one person cooking, therefore it would take some time for the food to come. We had an enjoyable dinner and everything was plentiful, we were so full after the entrees and mains that there was simply no room for dessert at all. Was a pity since I really wanted to try it out.

Worst curry and Kheema roti. Worst experience in the restaurant. Ordered naan, chicken entree and curry within 5 minutes of getting seated. The entree came after 10-15 mins. The remaining came after half hour with repeated follow ups.<br/>The chicken, which was Nepalese special was very bad. The kheema roti was the worst that I've had EVER. It was burnt on one side!!!!<br/>I would not recommend this to anyone. I left almost half of the food in the plates.<br/><br/>Warm Regards,<br/>Bharath<br/>0423159315

Dont bother.. Entree of chicken wings, uncooked. Got them to replace the dish. Side Salad on Entree looked very old and dry, Rice was very dry, like it had been left out, not refrigerated.<br/>2 x entree & 2 x main all tasted very similar. I had stir fry chicken with ginger and mushrooms and it tasted the same as the entree, which was supposed to have a peanut sauce. Wont be going back.

One not to miss. Excellent food, excellent service and a pleasant atmosphere. A really enjoyable experience.

Praising food. I Have eaten foods,at lot of places. But food served at your place was mouth watering, you beat all of them. Will like to eat, lots of time. how I missed it before. dont know. Cheap, affordable and best. No comparison.wow. Anil sood & lily sood.

Horrible Food, Awful Service, worst bang for your buck. I recently visited this restaurant with my wife and parents, who were visiting from India. In fact I was craving for some authentic momo's so I thought I would try this place since we were in the area. <br/><br/>The Food: We ordered 2 non veg momo entree, a veg momo entree, a chow mein dish (11.50) for my mother and a veg thali ($15.60) (a combo main dish containing small portions of Dal,Vegetables and bread or rice) for my father. They charged 7.50 per entree and each had 4 tiny pieces of Momos, very disappointing, and the taste was not authentic at all. I think they used pre-made wrappers and the filling was at best, Average. How do I know? I grew up eating Momo's and my wife is Gurkahli. The chow mien was edible, ok, but on the sweeter side. For my dad's Thali, we asked them if they could substitute the vegetable with an eggplant dish (that they have as a vegetable dish on their menu) as the description of the Thali in the menu did not say what exactly they offered in the Thali. To our request the waitress first said yes but then returned with a "no we can't". She said the Thali would come with mix vegetables only. We said ok. Once served, the Thali (15.60) came with a dal, an uncooked mix vegetable (raw vegetables (cauliflower, peas, etc) quick tossed in a tomatoes sauce; highly inappropriate in Indian or Nepalese cuisine) and a chick peas and potato serving like the , Chana masala. Calling this uncooked would be an understatement. It seemed like they opened up a can of chick peas, tossed them in the same tomato based sauce and served them on the Thali. The taste was awful. In totality very disappointing. <br/><br/>The Service: It took them a long time to take the order (It was not busy, only one more table besides us). In fact after about 15 min I had to signal the waitress to come take our order. After she took the order she brought out some papadums. Then she disappeared for the next 25 min or so. We were still waiting for our food so I asked her if she could bring out some more papadums while we wait. To which she replied " Sorry the Papadums are finished". She apparently served the last papadum to us..lol...highly unlikely. Anyways, she never smiled or made any effort to make us feel welcomed. It was almost as if she was miffed about the fact that we didn't order more (We spent 50 bucks). Frankly me and my wife were there just for the Momo's and didn't have much of an appetite for other things. She didn't even fill the water again...extremely rude in south east Asian culture, so we had to resort to our own bottle which we were carrying while walking around the CBD.<br/><br/>The value for food combined with the service was NIL.<br/><br/>Never ever going back again!

THE WORST SERVICE EVER! McDonald's or any of those rubbish take away shops provide better service to a customer then this restaurant. Extremely unforgiving staff, yet to try the food because quite simply, it's been 2 and a half hours for a home delivery. They brought the incorrect food and then had to go back and now still waiting for them to get such a simple order correct. Such a disappointment! Disgusted to think that a restaurant would treat a customer this way.

Average food nt impressed. Went there with a ourdeal all you can eat voucher. Was not impressed with taste of food- quite bland. Food seems pricey/just average from menu for what you get.

Not a fan. I heard really great things about Gurkhas but I don't understand why. The service was good but I found the curry I had too salty and some of the entrées greasy. I have promised a friend that I wouls return to him to give it another go, but until then I can't say I'm a fan

Pretty decent. Take-away was good value for money, tasty and arrived hot and on time. The calamari dish is delicious! WIll order from here again.

Excellent food

Such a bad experience. I ordered delivery from here. Took 1.5 hours for the food to arrive. When the food finally arrived, I had been given an incorrect item. I called up to request either a refund for this item, or the correct item to be delivered. I was told I would get a call back within 5 mins. 10 mins later, I call back and am informed they can't contact the driver, and will call me back in 5 mins. 20 mins later, I have to call back yet again. Talk to a completely different person and had to go through the whole story again. The food that was delivered was either completely bland mush (the vegetarian dumplings) or extremely salty (the pumpkin dish). I used to order from the Chapel St restaurant and was always impressed, but I will never go near the city one again.

Love Gurkhas... My favourite Gurkhas...have enjoyed my meals there every time! Especially love the Momos...Nepalese dumpings.

Excellent ....

Nepalese items are better than their Chinese stuff. I've been seeing various Gurkhas around Melbourne and surrounds, so I've been wanting to try one. Thank the Avatar that this place is open late on Sunday nights. Sunday is a bit of a food desert in Melbourne. I saw the "Express" neon in the window and thought it would be a small takeaway joint. But it's big inside (check out the interesting atrium on your way to the washroom) and full of warrior iconography, as you'd expect from that fierce Himalayan culture. Service was slacklustre, but I came for feeding, not fawning.<br/><br/>Two entrees go a longer way than one of the $17+ mains, so I got a fried rice dish and roti. The rice was one of those "everything except the kitchen sink" varieties. It was heavy on the chicken, had a lot of zucchini, some cauliflower, onions, a smidgen of curry flavour and a smack of MSG. It wasn't that different to a hundred Chinese fried rices I've had in my lifetime. The roti was better, worth buying again the next time I'm at a Gurkha's. The bread was freshly fried and hot. No MSG that I could taste. It was stuffed with a schmeer of beef mince mixed with potatoes and other mildly spiced veg. The bready bit is the star here, not the filling, and it was all good. It would have been even better with some raita or another dip, which is how I'll try it next time.

Love this place and get the goat curry. Been many times over the years, service can vary with the staff, but the food is consistently good. Would recommend the Flinders street restaurant over the others though!

A let down! Only two other tables last night and the waitress was not attentive to me, she was attentive to her Samsung Galaxy. I am also sure a microwave was involved in the food preparation, is that a tradition in Nepal?

Excellent meal!! As a person who has been to Nepal recently this is very authentic Nepalese food!!! Loved the momo and Dahl Baht!!

Goat Curry Yum!. Service is always friendly and accommodating.<br/>Went on the week night and the place was almost booked out. Chose the duck curry, pumpkin curry with a side of Keema Naan bread.<br/>A great combination of salty n sweet! Yum!

Regular Asian cuisine not Nepalese cuisine. Heard a lot about the place so went to check it out ...disappointed.. Either it just wasn't my day or the food didn't meet my expectations...overcooked Momos and got Chinese cuisine instead of Nepalese food...Menu had all Nepalese dishes names however when it came on my table it looked like what I would get in a Chinese restaurant...nasty trick to hoodwink people into believing that they are experiencing Nepalese cuisine when it is infact an assortment of various Asian cuisine put together...btw I know my Nepalese food very well

Kinda surprising. Entree's done and mains on the way, we've both been surprised by our dishes, each presenting new flavours. Recommend the Ghurka special entree. Wicked!

For our first Nepalese experience it was amazing. The food came out hot and full of flavour, and a decent portion size. Was just amazing. The staff were friendly, the food came out quickly. Didn't break the bank. Can't fault it.

Mmm... no.. We had been to Gurkhas in Richmond many years ago and it was great, so I bought a Living Social voucher, a banquet for four, thinking 'score!' This Gurkhas, 500 Flinders St., was a real disappointment. It was a Sunday night, early and few customers, but the service (a lone hostess/server) was so inattentive and lacklustre, and the food was very ordinary with the exception of the chilli chicken. It didn't feel like a deal, at half the ordinary price.

This used to be one of our favourites but unfortunately last time we were there the prawns were under cooked and had a really fishy smell. Put us off the rest of our meal.

Loved it!. I ordered online for delivery which was very easy, I was told it would be ready for delivery in 40mins but the guy knocked on my door 20mins later...great first impression! My meal was fresh and tasty - I ordered the entree Chhoila, Dal Bhat Masu and the Baigun Ra Aloo. It included 1x meat curry, 2x vege curries, a yummy dry beef curry with salad, soup, rice, papadoms and flaky bread. Plenty of food for me to use for lunch tomorrow and all I can think since I've finished dinner is ...that was amazing!

Just alright.. My first try of Nepalese food. Not impressed as it just taste like combination of Chinese and Indian cuisine. They shall have something really impressive but haven't been discovered by me.

Ghurkhas City. Knew I made a mistake choosing this place as soon as a took a first bite of an entree which tasted stale. I had one of their few meat choices as a main and I simply could not eat it - the meat was almost impossible to chew. At least they did not charge me for the main.

Excellent value and taste. We went to Gurkahs Flinders Street having had an excellent meal at the Prahran restaurant.<br/><br/>This was just as good, if not better in some ways. It was certainly good value.<br/><br/>The entre was a lentil serving similar in concept to a san choy bow only it was served in a crisp poppadom. The flavour and texture of crunchiness of the poppadom and the lentils was excellent... I would love it again.<br/><br/>The meal had a variety of curries from a set menu and was excellent. We would certainly go back.

Dodgy Beer but good food!. Went here with a mate, we're both visiting from interstate. Came across this place by chance and thought we'd give it a go. Glad we did!<br/>The entrees were tasty and mains were too. Not too spicy though and we were after something with a bit of heat.<br/>The 'Nepalese' beer wasn't from Nepal, it's from Victoria and tasted like Carlton Draught... dodge!<br/>Service was ok, don't expect a fine dining experience - the place is resonably priced.<br/>I'll go back and recommend it for sure.

Came here using a spreets voucher, great taste, friendly service! love the flavour! Will definitely come back again!

Great food, kooky decor.. I've been visiting this place for close to 10 years now (before the Flinders St one opened I went to the Lygon St branch) and if you order right they have some of the best ethnic food in Melbourne.<br/>The decor isn't flash and the place looks like a cave pegged with ethnic ornaments but who cares? The service is a bit of a hit and miss - sometimes good, sometimes pretty sullen.<br/>I'm not very big on their starters as they could be better but try their Curry Puff or Momos.<br/><br/>Their Masala roti is to die for, fat potato stuffed rotis powdered with chat masala. Their saffron rice is also pretty good, I love the sprinkling of chopped pistachios and spring onions on top. <br/><br/>For mains I reckon their Kukhura Ma Krim (Chicken curry finished with cream) is absolutely divine and best served together with the Eggplant (Potato & Eggplant stir fry). You can also order the entree sized version for about 1/2 the price.<br/>Wash down with their Mango Mohi, Nepalese version of the Mango Lassi. <br/><br/>Garlic prawns with roti isn't bad too.<br/><br/>Tried the banquets before they are pretty meh.

Me and friends got delivery. Didnt take long to arrive and I enjoyed the food.

Salty!. It was really salty. Okay, despite the salt it wasn't too bad, but they must have loaded the food with salt.

Delicious!. We were surprised at how busy it was, on a Sunday night on a long weekend, so we were glad we booked. The food was delicious! The goat curry, chili chicken and calamari were our favourites. Service was a little slow, but they were very busy. BYO wine is a plus. $3 per person corkage. Will go again!

The food was alright (but if you like spice make sure you ask for it because otherwise it's quite mild. But the biggest disappointment was the Ghurkas Lager. Sold as an import beer, at import prices, the label clearly states it's brewed and bottled in Sandringham! A very rude and sneaky move. I wont be going back as a result. Besides, there is plenty of better South Asian food around.

Not really Express.... The food was great, but the service really wasn't the 'Express' promised by the sign outside the restaurant. We ordered the 'Simple Feast' Banquet, which came with a 30+ minute wait between the entree and the mains. The desserts in particular were both unexpectedly good.

Momo. You have try it out, really nice.

The red lentil soup on the specials menu was the best soup I've ever had. The food came quickly although the service was a tad slow

Really nice place, tasty food and good service... Would visit again.

This place is gold.