Chakra Restaurant - Inglewood

As comfortable as going to a friend's house for dinner, but with dedicated and genuine service, our first meal at Chakra was pitch perfect.

How lovely to walk into this beautifully decorated restaurant, to experience the genuine warmth of the staff and to indulge in the amazing food. Without any doubt such a restaurant is sorely needed in Perth and we had a wonderful evening.

We went last night for our daughters 19th birthday and were treated like royalty.From the moment you walk to the entrance door the atmosphere is already set by the lamp hanging on the outside tree. The hosts and owners made you feel like they were welcoming you to their home.More importantly the food matched the service, full of fragrant taste with a sophistication of modern indian cuisine. Our waitress was lovely and attentive.Will be coming back for sure.

My love affair with Indian cuisine has been longstanding and if the spark ever needed to be rekindled then it certainly flamed when we went along to new kid on the burgeoning Inglewood block, Chakra. Lady FWO, the erstwhile @winesandbooks, was invited along to sample the menu and she obligingly allowed me to accompany her to this enchanting family-run restaurant this weekend.Sonia and Kumar, the owners, morph – from a science teacher by day in her case, a hotel exec in his – in the evening into charming and gracious hosts. From the street tree outside wrapped in fairy lights and festooned with Indian lanterns, to the plush, but not overdone décor in reds, golds, dazzling chandeliers, and Indian metal objet d’art this restaurant spells welcome.We arrived early evening and very soon the place was buzzing – in the nine weeks it has opened, Chakra seems to have become a local favourite – and not just that – we were told some had travelled from Byford to enjoy the food – taking culinary dedication to new heights – and from the food we tried, no wonder.The menu is in two parts – Signature dishes which are re-imaginings of classic Indian dishes – and Traditional, where you will find korma, butter chicken, vindaloo, rojan josh and the like – but even here with twists that put them out of the mainstream – whole spices rather than ground are employed, giving a rich, delicate flavour to the dishes while mild green chilli allows a pleasant slow burn, but not so harsh as to detract from the beautifully integrated and fragrant spices.We had looked at the menu on-line before we came along and were attracted to the Signature range, and even more so after being taken through the various dishes and cooking philosophy by Sonia and Kumar.Beef cones (or paneer for those of a vegetarian bent) are a re-interpretation of samosa – the pastry, flavoured with carom seeds which imparts a mild aniseed flavour, has been shaped into something like an ice cream cone and filled with delicately spiced meat (or paneer) and served with tamarind and date chutney – the cones come in a glass, propped up in puffed lentils and it would be a mistake not to try these intensely addictive crunchy pops – apparently, so Kumar informed us, a popular accompaniment to Indian whiskey.Grilled scallops – lightly seared and dusted in spice, are plump, succulent and accompanied by mildly spiced roasted capsicum and tomato chutney – lovely.Soft shelled crab – looking like an alien crawling across the serving plate – has a light tempura batter pimped up with a little vodka, crisply protecting the juicy, crabby interior – mango chutney, paprika sauce, fresh green salad and a scatter of nigella seeds completes this lovely dish.Finally what have become one of the most popular dishes since the opening – onion and spinach fritters, a modern take on onion bhaji – not a hint of heavy, greasy batter, these are light and fresh with a somewhat colourful hue from the inclusion of spinach and kale.Served in small hollowed out log which has been filled with fresh, crisp English spinach – these are as eye-catching as they are tasty. Brilliant.Now to the mains – and first cab off the rank, chicken biryani – served in a clay pot – layered with rice, fried onions, nuts and vegetables, and of course meltingly tender chicken. The pot is sealed with a pastry topping which when opened releases the heady fragrances of cardamom, cloves, nutmeg, coriander, ginger and more – served with creamy pink beetroot yoghurt this is another stunningly good dish.Barramundi, moist and flaking, comes with Madras curry sauce – cumin, coriander, turmeric, ginger, black pepper notable flavours – lemon rice, and puffed fox nuts – the seeds of the water lily – finishes the dish.And pulled beef empiler – another favourite of the customers – a rice stack, topped with kachumber salad, exceptionally tender, delicately spiced, pulled beef and a good scatter of those wonderful puffed lentils concluded our mains.While the desserts were tempting, they will have wait for another visit – the generosity of the entrées and mains defeated us.It would be remiss to overlook the amuse bouche served before our starters and again between those and the mains – first panipuri, the hollow, crisply fried puri filled with mint chutney –and the second a small triangle of paneer, dusted in besan flour and fried, sandwiching a filling of mint. Both, but the latter, especially, something to come back for!Chakra is licenced with the smallish wine list currently undergoing a revamp, and from it we enjoyed a bottle of Vasse Felix’s excellent Filius Cabernet Sauvignon.As winter has arrived at last Chakra is also adding a few winter specials over the next week or so – with some game dishes appearing – venison, duck – as well as an intoxicating mulled wine which we also tried – rich, sweet red infused with lemon and orange peel, star anise, cinnamon – just the thing for chilling out and warming up on these wintry nights!A final note – instead of the ubiquitous “reserved” sign on tables, guests are welcomed with a small sign stating “Chakra welcomes Anne and Peter, or Claire and Joe or whatever” a personal touch, and another point of difference – a sign of the friendly, family nature of the place.Chakra in the short time it has been open seems to have carved out a niche among its near neighbours, and deserves a wide following – the ambience is spot on, the food very good and wonderfully presented, the service friendly, welcoming and convivial. We loved it.Disclaimer: We were the guests of Chakra.

Great place for a different kind of taste, to Indian food. Had a nice hot chilli beef vindaloo, yum. Nice decor and felt very welcome. Try the Lassi drink , u would not stop with one. Service between entree and main was a bit slow, but if that's my only complaint. I will be going back .