Malabar South Indian Restaurant

Nice Indian place. Best goat I have ever had. Certainly the best Indian in Crows Nest.
Friendly staff and quick service. Would definitely recommend.

Malabar calls itself South Indian. That’s because they serve dosas. And their dosas are really good. But they also serve meat, which breaks from the South Indian experience that I’ve always had. I came here with a bunch of other dads from my kid’s class, so we had a bunch of good dishes. All pretty typical stuff, but rich flavors nonetheless. Malabar is good and I would go back.

Nice atmosphere, has pictures of elephants on the wall :-) and I enjoyed the food. Spicy but mild to suit western tastes, my Indian friends thought it was too mild and not that ‘authentic’ on the flavour — oh well. Also enjoyed an excellent mango lassi to drink. Maybe a little on the pricey side for a lunch, but would be good value for a dinner meal.

This place is easily the best Indian on the lower north shore! We’ve eaten here many times over the last four years (as well as ordering take away) and both the food and service have always been excellent.
I would highly recommend the butter chicken as well as the lamb sagwala & potato and eggplant curry!

This place was a mixed bag of sorts for us. Some of the dishes were incredibly tasty, while others were just alright. We went for their banquet menu which helped us in tasting a variety of dishes from their menu. The quantity of food was a lot for two people and we hardly finished the three curries and the basmati rice on offer. Their Mini Dosa and sambhar were undoubtedly the best I have had in Sydney, and was reminiscent of the Bangalore style dosas I have eaten. Crisp and delicious with a very tatsy potato filling. I felt like I should have had this for my main rather than an entrée. The Lamb Pepper curry was also delicious with balanced flavours and not too hot. The pepper shown through but did not overwhelm. The butter chicken and veg curry was okay, and a little sweet for my taste. The naan was incredible and the dessert of Pistachio Kulfi was amazing. The kulfi was rich, with a generous sprinkling of nuts and saffron in it. So why the 3stars, heres why, the patti samosa was absolutely flavourless and lacked seasoning. The service was slow and well sort of weird. After the first round of entrée’ we asked for our plates to changed for the dosas, as we had chutney all over it. We were informed by the waiter that they normally keep one plate for the entrees’ and do not change it, and one for the main, but however, he will change it for us as a coursey! I am not a fussy diner, but I felt this was uncalled for. It was just a plate and not and extra dish that we requested! Other than that an overall average experience.

We have driven past a thousand times, I am sure.
Hungry one Sunday lunch time this seemed like a good candidate — the dhosai is reputed to be excellent, and after reading a review from my old mate Sam S, himself from the subcontinent, saying this was his go-​to South Indian restaurant in Sydney, the deal was sealed.
Surprisingly busy for a Sunday lunch, the décor is nice, traditional Indian restaurant fare, but a bit classier than most. Staff are very pleasant and helpful, and the menu is extensive but not too daunting, with familiar and unfamiliar things to choose from.
For lunch we both had a dhosai — she the small and me the regular, and being the typical bloke I also ordered a soupy thing. Along with popadums and various condiments, a pleasant repast looked to be in store.
As usual, my eyes were bigger than my stomach, and the regular dhosai was huuuge! The soup was really unusual and tasty — kinda like Indian Tom Yum — hot! The meal was great, so much so that about a week or so later we went back for dinner, and again we found the food to be wonderful — the curries were flavoursome, the naan is seriously out of this world, possibly the best I have had in Australia, and the service impeccable.
Finally found a good Indian nearby — sure to become a regular here.
Highly recommended.

This restaurant is nice, the staff are friendly, service is good and the food is of good quality. I must say, however, $ 20 for the butter chicken which was barely the size of an entrée was a disappointment. And I do honestly believe the food could have tasted better. The lighting upstairs was also quite poor. I say this myself and on behalf of the woman I noticed using a flashlight on her phone to read the menu.

Service is friendly and the food is fantastic! Especially the Dosai is as Crisp as you would get anywhere in India and the Chicken Biryani was tasty as hell!
This is coming from an Indian who constantly complaints about Indian restaurants not being up to par. So you know it’s good when I say it is.

If you want good south indian food in Sydney then this is the place for you. It is pretty hard to find south indian food in Sydney and over the years this place has been consistently good. I have been here many times and have not had a bad experience. Their masala dosa is excellent and sometimes they serve a traditional Kerela dish called Avial which is my favourite and takes me back to my mothers Kerela cooking.

You know a restaurant is good when it is actually frequented by the people of its nationality– such is the case with Malabar.
The menu is refereshingly small which makes decisions quite a lot easier, and as I was with a big party we decided to order one of everything. The lamb korma was tender and fragrant, but the star of the show was the butter chicken. It was delightfully creamy yet spicy and left me wanting more and more (and more).
I wouldn’t normally think of dessert as an Indian delicacy, but here Malabar once again delivered. We sampled the pistachio and mango kulfi puddings which were as thick as anything and very unusual. I ended up with huge food envy for my companion’s dumpling though, it was like nothing I’ve ever tried before. Something like a doughnut, but with cinnamon and undetectable spices running through it and bathed in a sweet sauce. I just loved its uniqueness!
The restaurant is decorated quite traditionally with white table cloths and regimented tables, but the upstairs has been jazzed up with a huge canvas depicting the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai. A very nice touch!