Manjit’s at the Wharf is one of the longest running Indian restaurants in the country, and the first Indian establishment at King Street Wharf.
From Balmain in 1984
The Garuval family opened their first restaurant in Balmain in 1984, and Manjit’s is considered one of Australia’s earliest Indian eateries. That was a different Sydney: a multicultural city still in the early stages of growing into the food culture it has now.
Australian dining has matured a great deal since. Suburban corner pubs traded sticky carpet for slick interiors and classic pub food for something more ambitious. The interesting question is how a restaurant that arrived before all of that stayed at the front of it.
The chef’s answer
Varun Garuval is a third generation culinary expert and head chef at Manjit’s on the Wharf. He thinks the era of stiff, white gloved fine dining is “done and dusted. We are witnessing a casualisation of fine dining.”
With Indian food, he says, the pressure runs the other way. “Making Indian food cool is a challenge. Japanese, French cuisine all lend themselves to being upmarket.”
His answer has been to mix modern and authentic dishes rather than choose between them. He spent eight years as a chef de partie at Altitude Restaurant in the Shangri-La, which he credits with pushing his technique. “The eight years as a Chef de Partie really challenged my culinary skills as well as my creativity with what we can do with fresh ingredients, the natural elements and plating.”
That shows up in dishes like Banging Takata, where an eggplant and pea salad arrives trapped under a bell jar smoked with apple wood and cardamom, so the smell of the dish reaches you before the food does.
Consistency over hats
The theatrical plates are not really the point. Varun puts the restaurant’s longevity down to not compromising on ingredients, quoting his father: “if you need to spend more to get the right flavour, spend more.”
He is equally clear about where the ceiling is. “We wish to remain accessible and have no desire to make Manjit’s a hatted restaurant.” The restaurant’s own line puts it more bluntly: “We knew what we were doing back then, and we know what we’re doing now.”
The menu
The range runs across regional Indian cooking, from Bombay and Delhi street fare and home style cooking through to more elaborate dishes of the kind once served to royal households. There is a wine list, and the dining room takes everything from a long lunch with friends to a family celebration to a quieter dinner for two. Booking ahead is sensible.
Visiting
See the Manjit’s at the Wharf listing for the address, contact details and map. The wharves guide covers the rest of the promenade, and the getting here guide covers transport and walking routes.
Related reading
For another King Street Wharf food story, read Dim Sum vs Dim Sim: what is the difference, on how one Cantonese dish became an Australian takeaway staple.