I had booked accommodation in the central area of Geelong. What I didn't realise before this was that most of the cafes and restaurants seem to be in West Geelong and I was too lazy to drive.
After a walk to Eastern beach and along the harbour side, I had two options for dinner. One was Jack & Jill whose mini-course mains sound great but unfortunately they were fully booked this Valentine's Day. My fallback option was There There however I didn't realise until going in that they stopped serving meal food and are now a bar with snacks only (albeit decent sounding ones like wings, bao and sliders).
The lack of other reputed options in the area lead to a zomato search which showed up Shiraaz nearby. I must admit it's an odd name for an Indian restaurant especially one where the menu seems quite standard in terms of offerings. If a place was "innovative" I would expect something similar to Varq (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/varq-delhi-01-2015).
The inside was filled with reddy-pink Helium balloons and tables adorned with roses for the occasion. I like how the menus state approximately how hot the dishes are, to prevent unexpected lack or over heat. Mango lassi was sweet but not syrupy which was great - next time I'll probably ask for less sugar or to at least withhold the rose syrup that is added.
- Veg Mix Platter $18.5 - 2 very green but fresh-tasting paneer tikka, an outstanding extra crispy piping hot samosa with chunky spiced potato filling, a reasonably tasty aloo tikki potato patty and 2 extra juicy mushrooms coated in Tandoori paste;
- Garlic Naan $3.5 each - nice and chewy, reasonable size and some chunks of garlic. I'd prefer extra extra garlic personally;
- Okra Bhindi Masala $14 - a dry dish with some heat and savoury spice;
- Prawn Curry $18.5 - a delicious tomato based spiced curry which by its appearance I expected to be sweet but pleasantly surprised that it wasn't. 6 quality prawns were found;
- Lamb Biryani $15 - the rice was tasty but very mildly spiced. The lamb was very tender and didn't seem spiced at all. It was nice but I prefer heavier flavour (maybe that's just my memories from Needoo).
Although the menu didn't seem particularly different, the dishes were all good and cooked very well. It was definitely some of the better versions of classic Indian food that I've had and satisfying. The prices are reasonable also. There's other naan, icecreams, handi lamb and bhutwaa beef for me to try next time.