Sofia Levin reviews: Elchi — ‘word hasn’t leaked out quite yet’
In a sentence: Creative, modern Indian in the old Press Club space
The damage: starters $6-$20, mains $22-32, desserts $6-$20
Top tip: splurge and order the Amritsari fish (and eat the head)!
Quench your thirst: Indian-inspired cocktails, local beer, international wines & spirits
If you like this try: Mukka Indian (St Kilda & Fitzroy), Tonka (CBD), Atta (Port Melbourne)
Elchi opened in the former Press Club space a few weeks ago, bringing modern Indian food to what was previously George Calombaris’ fine diner (and later Elektra). The slick fit out remains, and why wouldn’t it when someone else has dropped a fortune on circular camel leather booths and sculptural gold ceiling lights?
Word hasn’t leaked out about Elchi quite yet; there was only one other table dining when we walked into the 60-seater restaurant last Thursday evening. Eating here was a last minute decision, perhaps unconsciously spurred by people running around in brightly coloured Holi powder.
Elchi, which means “talented”, is the third restaurant for chef Manpreet Sekhon, who is also behind Masti in Fitzroy and Eastern Spice in Geelong. It’s sophisticated without being overpriced, a reminder that Indian food is often so much more than people’s preconceptions of takeaway butter chicken.
Manpreet is inspired by family recipes, considers seasonality of produce and executes dishes with the kind of mastery of technique that comes from 20 years in the biz.
We started with golgappa, also known as panipuri. These round, hollow snacks are traditionally filled with potato, chickpea and onion. You pour flavoured tamarind or chilli water over the top and “shot” your golgappa in a single bite. At Elchi, they take the shot component literally, offering golgappa filled with avocado and splashed with spiced tequila, or with pickled beets and vodka paani (water).
This was also the first time I’d seen chilli paneer served in a smoked-filled glass cloche, or chicken tikka daubed with tomato-chilli caramel. The signature chicken mussalam, a Mughlai dish marinated in ginger, garlic, cardamom and cloves in thick, creamy gravy, was garnished with delicate flakes of 24-carrot gold leaf instead of the usual boiled eggs.
One of the tastiest mains we ate was the lamb shank. It arrived collapsing off the bone, propped up on hand-cut potato wedges in a dark, rich gravy that reminded me of chocolate-spiked Mexican mole. The colour and smoky flavour is courtesy of stone flower, known in India as dagar phool, which is an edible lichen.
Elchi’s classic southern fish curry with coconut and tamarind is the kind of dish I’d order weekly, but the crisp Amritsari fish, a nod to Manpreet’s birthplace in Punjab, is the stuff of special occasions. The $85 (MP) whole snapper was wrapped around itself, the crumbed, deep-fried skeleton hugging its own golden nuggets. Once we devoured them, we attacked the carcass, which still had so much meat between the bones, in the head and the prized cheeks.
Only two of the four desserts were available when we visited, so we ordered them both: thin, deep-fried circles of apple coated in sugar and spices (apple jalebi) and syrup-soaked gulab jamun (Indian dough balls).
To drink, I thoroughly enjoyed my boozy, coconut rum-spiked mango lassi, but the Masti Martini promised olives four ways and delivered an average martini garnished with a toothpick of store-bought pimento-stuffed olives. Beers are local; there are a dozen each of reds and whites from around the world; and a surprising number of rums, tequilas and whiskeys for an Indian restaurant. Next time I’ll try the Rampur Double Cask Single Malt from the Himalayas.
72 Flinders Street, Melbourne
elchirestaurant.com.au
Open Wednesday to Sunday for lunch and dinner