COPPER CHIMNEY, South Fremantle
by JENNY D’ANGER:
Word was out that Copper Chimney has a new menu, so it was time to revisit this very good Indian.
I was taking friends—who’d asked for my recommendation—and I was hoping it was as good as I remembered. It was even better.
This South Fremantle eatery, in the old Arnotts Mills & Ware building at the corner of South Terrace and Jenkin Street, had already lifted the bar for Indian cuisine and now the chef has racheted it up even further with an amazing menu, and food cooked to perfection.
With some difficulty we’d narrowed an extensive starter menu to honey and ginger paneer ($14.50), lobhiya tikki ($12), Kurkuri white bait ($15) and bharah (goat) kebab ($16.50).
Usually loquacious Les was rendered speechless by the tender kid that had been marinated overnight with spices, malt vinegar and yoghurt: he could only nod and dreamily wave a fork when asked if it was good.
His wife Robbie was more articulate about her honey and ginger cheese, which she continued to rave about the rest of the night.
Its spicy sweetness was perfect, with a very pleasant texture to the cheese and a delightful oiliness to the whole dish, she reported.
My black-eyed bean kebab (lobhiya) was magnificent, firm and tasty with a great ginger, curry leaf and mint zing.
D’Angerous Dave’s white bait was also a success, and even those of us who don’t normally like the tiny fish were impressed with the sweet, salty crunchiness.
Could all this be surpassed, we wondered, and I’m happy to report it could.
The table was soon groaning under the weight of beef madras ($20.50), aloo methi ($16.50), tandoori salmon ($21.50), garlic naan ($4), pappadums ($2.50) and the biggest masala dosa ($14) I have ever seen. The prices are ridiculously low for the quality.
What can I say, every dish was superb, and the naan some of the best I’ve ever tasted, crunchy on the outside, soft inside and wonderfully oily.
The salmon was firm but tender, its flavour subtle and the aloo, a potato curry, was rich and tomatoey.
Loquacious was still having trouble getting his tongue around words instead of food, but he gave the beef a thumbs up.
The chef had timed cooking the dosa to perfection, it arrived as the last dish, and the ultra-thin rice and lentil flour pancake was wonderfully crisp–while the spicy potato masala filling was just wonderful.
We really shouldn’t have but my mates hadn’t experienced the joy of Indian dessert: we shared a pistachio and a mango kulfi ($7.50 and $7) and gulab jamun ($4). The jamun balls in rose water syrup were warm and sweet as baby’s smile and the ice cream creamy, smooth and beautifully flavoured.
We rolled out of the Copper Chimney replete in every sense of the word.
Copper Chimney
330 South Terrace, South Fremantle
9336 4414
open breakfast Sat & Sun,
lunch Tues–Sun
dinner 7 days from 5.30pm