Balti Indian Restaurant review: April Ooi visits Perth stalwart on St Georges Terrace

Amidst the lull of St Georges Terrace at night, there is a joint that has chattering groups piling in from all parts of town. You’d think it was a hip bar or some TikTok-famous eatery, but it’s actually a classic Indian restaurant by the name of Balti. At first glance, there’s nothing particularly striking about the restaurant, with its clean shiny floors and a mid-2000s industrial look with neon purple lighting throughout. But it’s been around since I’ve been learning my times tables (since 2008, to be exact) and more notably, it’s home to one of the best chicken biryanis I have ever tasted. On this evening we ordered the lamb rogan josh ($28), which should come with both a temperature and a spice-level warning. As I ate more of the curry, the different spices unveiled themselves like fragrance notes in a perfume. For our second curry, we chose the prawn jalfrezi ($36). It had a lovely tomato base, chunky peppers, and big fleshy prawns. I liked mixing the curry into the saffron jeera pulao ($5 per serving), the cumin and light aniseed flavour creating the perfect sweet and savoury balance in the rice. The grains were cooked perfectly, separated and not sticky yet not overly dry either. Whilst I could go on forever about the rice, I found the garlic naan ($5.80) a little dry, with not enough buttery garlic goodness to go around. It was quite large though, so at least the serving was generous. I feel like it’d be a crime to visit an Indian restaurant without getting onion bhajji ($11) and the ones at Balti are a lot more elevated than I’m used to. There is plenty of onion, weaving over each other in a tumbleweed formation. There’s less batter than usual, so instead of a big oily mound each bite tasted light and delicious. Good food and good energy are key to Balti’s steady success. The kitchen has north and south Indian flavours covered and the service is warm (evident in the popularity of owner Ashley Notani, who is greeted by regulars with a palpable fondness). It’s easy to see why a business that maintains a standard continues to thrive, even more than a decade down the line. Balti Indian Restaurant 3/2 St Georges Terrace, Perth OPEN Daily 11.30am-2.30pm, 5.30-10.30pm CONTACT 9221 3306, balti.com.au BOOKINGS Yes THE VERDICT A reliable Indian restaurant that teeters on the fancier side. They have a large menu, but manage to execute it well every time. 16/20