Second to naan: Which of these Indian breads is best? We put them to the test (2024)

See Also

Vilinda Bowl-Tea & Sushi MünchenMaking the viral Din Tai Fung-inspired cucumber salad (no deli cup necessary)

Melbourne, we have a naan problem. There are two tandoor-cooked breads at the new Southall in Hampton that are so good, and so different, that it’s impossible to decide which one is better. The obvious solution is to have both, but there are so many other compelling dishes at friendly, assured Southall that this is a perilous path, too.

Naan number one is a version of the classic keema naan ($21), which is stuffed with minced lamb. In many restaurants, the meat is a mere sprinkle, a suggestion of protein sandwiched between carbs. Here, the lamb is the hero, a fistful of spiced, gravy-rich meat spread as thick as each layer of bread, making the dish so substantial that it’s on the menu as an entree rather than a side.

It’s slapped into a charcoal-fired tandoor to bring puff and colour and to make the juices run. Given that it’s fragrant and golden and topped with spicy mango chutney, you might declare it unbeatable – until you hear about the other contender.

The Gruyere naan ($22) is a Southall special that owner Ravnish Gandhi knows he can’t stop offering. A paragon bread, blistered, glossy and featherlight, it’s filled with Gruyere, aged cheddar and paneer, touched with fenugreek and chilli and topped with caramelised walnuts and rocket.

Cut into quarters and made for fingers, it finds a happy culinary meeting place between naan and pizza, existing somewhere on the spice road between New Delhi and Napoli.

Both breads tell you a lot about this restaurant. The keema naan suggests generosity and a from-scratch ethic; the cheese naan is a migrant tale about having a foot in at least two cultures.

The Gruyere naan exists somewhere on the spice road between Napoli and New Delhi.

We can start this second story in 1990 when the Gandhi family moved from Mumbai to Melbourne and opened Caulfield restaurant Bombay by Night. At the time, it was one of Melbourne’s first Indian eateries (it’s still going, now in other hands).

Ravnish was a teenager then: he would come home from school, vacuum the dining room, then head upstairs to the family residence to do his homework. As time went on, he became absorbed full-time into the restaurant, which was a favourite with The Age Good Food Guide, lauded for its creativity and lesser-known menu items: “Leave the samosas and try instead the batata wadas – potato croquettes,” encouraged the 2002 Guide.

After the family finally sold the business in 2015, Ravnish Gandhi moved back to India and only then realised how Australian he was. “I got homesick when I heard Cold Chisel and I missed salad sandwiches and good coffee,” he told me.

Back in Melbourne in 2017, he opened the first Southall, named after the London suburb that’s often called Little India. I reviewed that cosy St Kilda 30-seater in 2018, appreciating its mix of northern Indian classics, British backpacker favourites and Gandhi family specials, such as a fun, blue-cheese naan. It was nice, but it was small and a tiny kitchen kept the menu in check.

This Hampton Southall, open since January, is quite an upgrade: 70 seats are spread across two dining levels, plus there’s a courtyard that will kick off in spring. Gandhi’s resonant photos from India line the walls. (It’s worth mentioning that the restaurant that replaced Southall near St Kilda Library is Charlong, a wonderful, charcoal-fired Thai joint.)

Southall’s new kitchen has a little more elbow room, a tandoor oven fired by mallee-root charcoal and an expanded repertoire. The batata wada ($15) from 2002 make an appearance, tinged with turmeric and crunchy inside chickpea-flour batter. There’s sticky, sweet-and-sour cauliflower ($26) that represents a rich tradition of Indo-Chinese cuisine.

Dahl ($28) takes 48 hours to make and each minute seems worth it when you spoon out the buttery, hearty lentils. This dish and many others hark back to the family’s Sikh heritage, centred around the Punjab in India’s north, but there are also dishes from the south.

Prawn ghee roast ($38) is a curry Gandhi fell for in Karnataka, one that’s built around an intense paste of garlic, onion, tamarind, chilli and lemon juice. It’s deeply tasty.

Nalli nihari awadhi ($34) is a lamb shank and bone marrow stew that’s most popular in Mughal communities. It’s tender, giving, warmed by red chilli and one of the most comforting dishes I’ve eaten all winter.

There’s been one constant since 1990: Gandhi’s mum, Arvind, doesn’t trust anyone else to make the kulfi, Indian ice-cream made from condensed milk. Her pista kulfi ($12), green with pistachio and scented with cardamom, is smooth and elegant. It doesn’t look argumentative, but it definitely pleads a strong case for making your naan choices carefully.

This review was originally published in Good Weekend magazine

Continue this edition

The August 17 Edition

Up next

Previous

Restaurant reviews, news and the hottest openings served to your inbox.

Sign up

• More:
• Hampton
• Good Weekend
• Melbourne
• Accepts bookings
• BYO
• Events
• Good for groups
• Licensed
• Private dining room
• Indian
• Reviews
• Southall
• Takeaway