Review Thali Time - Melbourne

Went to Flemington for dinner on a Saturday night and everything was really busy, except for this place. Didn't expect the small curries to be so flavoursome and filling. I really like the naan and the thumbs up cola

My experience with this restaurant was special. I have tried most of indian restaurants in west melbourne and in CBD But Curry Cafe Canteen stands on top for me. I always missed good quality home made food in melbourne until the day I was introduced to THALI (in 2019). Since then my dinner and lunch was fixed here. It has been 3 years but still I can not have enough of Thalis even though I was having it 5 to 6 times in a week. Sadly I can not have it anymore as I am moving out. One time I ordered thali from uber eats one hour prior to closing but there was no uber eats driver to delivery my order and restaurant was about to close, rather than cancelling my uber eats order, Chef came to my apartment to deliver that order. I mean who does that. Service 5/5, Food quality and quantity 5/5, Huygen wise 5/5 (kitchen looks cleaner than most of other Indian restaurants), Kitchen and front staff 5/5.

Have been coming to this local for the past year or so, for their curries and samosa chaat. Curries are fresh and not at all oily (I'm surprised by other negative reviews), very spicy more than your average Indian joint. Cash only unless you order online.

I've been coming here since it opened, always loved the food. Last night I ordered a butter chicken and eggplant curry - and it just didn't taste the same. Lacked the usual flavour. Hopefully this is a temporarily slip, and not a change in the quality of ingredients or the kitchen staff.

Cash only really ruins this place. We live locally and would regularly visit as the food is truly delicious but who in this day and age carries cash? While we were in here, multiple people who (like most people in the 2020s don’t carry cash) had to use bank transfer to pay for their meal. I couldn’t believe it! Infrastructure is no excuse, you can pay by card at farmers markets in the middle of nowhere. This isn’t 1994. Surely the customers you lose through this antiquated and stubborn insistence on cash is not worth it. It’s a good way to drive away local walk in business.

Grabbed some takeaway while on the run. I tried ringing in advance but the phone rang out so dropped in. Order taken quickly by staff and meal was prepared in under 10 minutes. Although the cafe is average looking on the outside it’s clean inside. Delicious meal, chicken very tender and sauce fabulous. Curry was very good and was extra happy with the portion size. Thank you.

Very nice place, my new favourite Indian in Flemington. Food is fantastic and servings are generous. We had 1 entree, 2 mains, 1 nan and 1 rice, and we ended up bringing home some. Good selection of vegetarian dishes as well as chicken and lamb, but no beef, with craft beers in cans as a bonus amd very reasonably priced. The place is pretty small, worth calling ahead just to be sure. Staff is very friendly. Only mildly negative side, cash only payment. Finally, a word of caution, careful with spicy food. I asked for a hot madras and almost melted off the chair, go for medium. Well worth trying.

While I’ve ordered from them before via Uber Eats they got my order wrong, when I rang the owner was SO ABUSIVE and didn’t want to hear anything from a client at all. He was SO AGGRESSIVE that I’ve decided to never order from them again. I’m a local and a regular so it’s fair to expect some common mature conversation but this man was just ABUSIVE so I’d say don’t order or invest with this type of disturbing business owner.

The best fish vindaloo and saag paneer ever. I wonder why they are under 4stars. This place deserve to be rated higher. Good price compare to quality of food. I like modern atmosphere and good selection of drinks too.

The taste was ok but the serving size was shocking! A small takeaway container. When there are other good options around I wouldn’t be ordering from here again.

Great spot on racecourse road & a good fallback option if you don’t feel like laksa king. Always had good experiences. 4 stars as the serving size isn’t very big so you need a few things to fill you up

Really good curries and naan bread! The restaurant is pretty cute, dimly lit and well set out. The prices were on point, super cheap costing just $34 for two people! in terms of service it was slightly lacking but easily overlooked for the quality food!!

Grabbed some takeaway while on the run. I tried ringing in advance but the phone rang out so dropped in. Order taken quickly by staff and meal was prepared in under 10 minutes. Although the cafe is average looking on the outside it’s clean inside. Delicious meal, chicken very tender and sauce fabulous. Curry was very good and was extra happy with the portion size. Thank you.

Never again. Just ordered Chicken Tikka and Lamb Rogan Josh. Nothing but vegetables in both orders. Where's the bloody meat! Very small portions. Not worth the $27 total for TWO small servings (this is without rice, breads or sides). Take your money elsewhere - better value at other establishments.

Just had home delivery - so sad:<br/>Chicken tikka was undercooked.<br/>The lamb vindaloo was not lamb rather old mutton which was evident both in taste and texture. The vindaloo was also extremely salty so now have to the throw out as I cannot eat. Highlight of my $40 order was the garlic naan.<br/>I love Indian food - but greatly disappointed 😞

Delicious food. Ordered the chicken vindaloo thali at spice level no4. No regrets. Decided to sneak in a cheeky side of garlic naan for good measure. Yummos. Great hospitality and service from the owner. Can't ask for more from your local joints! :)

This is our go to place whenever my wife and I crave Indian food. Great tasting food, good spice and good portion size. Service is friendly as well. Definitely a must try if you want to go for Indian food

The food was delicious, great value for money, staff was friendly and attentive. Great addition to the neighborhood and highly recommended =)

Quite hungry while on our quest to find a nice house, we ended -up eating here....and were quite happy by the end of our meal. We are usually skeptical to try Indian food outside because most of the times they have failed to impress us, but Curry Cafe Canteen is the closest a restaurant comes to serving authentic Indian (Punjabi) food. <br/><br/>In the afternoon one can only order a meal from their meal options which is quite sufficiently elaborate. Though, they do serve few things from the A-La-Carte section. Since I wasn't too hungry they made an exception and made Malai Kofta for me. <br/><br/>We chose to order Mango Lassi, Veg Kofta with Garlic Butter Naan and two meals consisting of common items such as papad, Kali Daal, mix Veg Salad, Raita (Indian veggies in savory yogurt), rice<br/><br/>a choice of Veg / Non - Veg dish and we chose Lamb Rogan Josh and Butter Chicken for each meal, One has to pay extra for additional dishes that one needs to order. <br/><br/>Veg Kofta was succulent and creamy and spicy (on request)...exactly how I like it. Garlic Naan was thin and crispy, exactly how I had requested them to make. Butter chicken consisted of a perfectly cooked chicken soaked in a buttery sweet / spicy/ savory gravy. What was more surprising was the Lamb Rogan Josh. Though not authentic, lamb was cooked to perfection and was quite moist. Rogan Josh gravy seemed more like a kadhai gravy but no complains at all. <br/><br/>Mango Lassi was a bit sour for our palate and thus did not like it much. <br/><br/>There other minuses of this place as well. Since they don't have the license to serve liquor or beer inside the restaurant, thus beer are only for takeaways. They don't accept cards as a mode of payment too (which was a bit inconvenient).  <br/><br/>Attendant was very friendly and accommodating.Portions are quite good for the price one pays. What is noteworthy about the menu is the Meal section. A single meal is suffice to feed a single person and is definitely an inexpensive deal.....value for money for sure.<br/> Could have rated them 3.5 due to certain shortcomings but then it's not fair for the food to go unnoticed among all the discomforts.

Amazing curry! We got the butter chicken , lamb rogan josh and the pumpkin masala- all curries were delicious ! A must try for all locals in Kensington and Flemington !! we will be back !

Very decently priced Indian food. Generous servings and packed with flavor! 👍🏼 Would definitely go back again 😊 Note: even for the chilli die hards, go for a “mild” vindaloo as the “hot” vindaloo absolutely blew my head off! Other curries were perfectly spiced when ordered “hot”.

Good food, slightly more westernised than the regular Indian taste. But still a must visit if you are nearby. Quite popular in this locality. The staff is very friendly. Naan is amazingly soft. Very pocket friendly. We tried butter chicken and mixed veg curry. Liked the mixed veg curry more.

A great addition to Racecourse Road serving up delicious hearty curries. We came on a Friday night and tables were full with takeaway and ubereats steadily going out the door. We had the tandoori chicken starter, lamb madras, butter chicken, garlic naan and rice. The fluffy garlic naan was a highlight and perfect for dipping into the creamy curries. Chicken was cooked in a traditional tandoor which you can taste and the lamb was incredibly tender. A very enjoyable meal and friendly staff.<br/>Second visit: service was slow and the garlic naan was dense and cardboard like, nothing compared to the fluffy soft naan we had first time around. Fingers crossed it was just an off night.

My Mum and I had dinner at the Curry Canteen last night. Service was awesome and the atmosphere was friendly and warm. We ordered Kashmiri naan, pumpkin curry, onion baji and chickpea curry. I have got to say the Kashmiri naan and pumpkin curry were total standouts. We have eaten a lot of Indian food (I have lived in Delhi!) and these two dishes rate as among the yummiest I have had. The pumpkin curry was laced with coconut and tasted more like a delicately spiced Sri Lankan cashew curry than the oily north Indian curries that you usually get in Melbourne. The naan was hot off the grill and smelled of pure desi ghee. the outside was toasted and charred to perfection and inside piping hot and deliciously sweet and salty. We both dived in and agreed that we could eat this just on its own. The portion sizes were generous (don't be fooled by the onion baji, it feeds more than 2 people!) and not oily. We ordered medium spice but there was hardly any heat in our dishes, would be accessible for people who are usually put off by overpowering spice. Seating is on bar stools which, while hip, isn't really that comfortable. Other than that, a great experience.  Will definitely be back and wish the owners and staff all the best.

At last an Indian cafe on Racecourse Rd and it seems we have a good one. We started with the samosa (2 in a serve) and they were perfect served with a sweet tamarind sauce. For mains we shared three curries being Chicken Tikka Masala, Lamb Rogan Josh & Pumpkin Masala. We also ordered a naan and a Aloo Paratha and rice. The Chicken Tikka & Pumpkin Masala were excellent and full of flavour and both dishes were completely mopped up with the beautiful bread. The Aloo Paratha is highly recommend! The Chicken in the Tikka had a tandoori taste which added to the dish. However the Rogan Josh was a massive disappointment, lacking in flavour and the lamb had completely fallen apart to the point of almost dissolving into the curry sauce. This place is set up for high turnover due to its small size and stool seating and there is nothing wrong with this model so don't expect to settle in for a long night. UPDATE: Second visit and it’s thali time, sensational and great value for money, the butter chicken to die for, the spices really come through, The cardamon especially and so flavoursome. The raita is the best I’ve ever tasted

A newly opened establishment that serves incredible curries. <br/><br/>My friend and I shared the pumkin curry and vege curry with a side of garlic roti and coconut rice. We could not fault anything! The curries were full of flavour, they were a good portion and very well priced. Even though we got takeaway, service was quick and friendly. We will definitely return.