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Reviews
We, at Bijolias, aim for customer satisfaction and strive to serve fine innovative Indian food in an upmarket, friendly and professional environment
Ajay and Neeta Mathur are the driving forces behind Bijolias who have over 25 years experience in this industry and pride themselves on delivering complete customer satisfaction. We treat all our customers as royalty, each dish is created with flair and presented with style.
Further Information
If you would like to book a table, function or order takeaway, please phone us on
02 9949 3641
Bijolias - A touch of class - Indian Link
SO YOU'RE BORED with the regular fare at Sydney's Indian restaurants - butter chicken, rogan josh, four types of naans... same old, same old.
Well, here's one restaurant that's refreshingly different: Bijolias Indian at Seaforth.
One word to describe it all, whether for decor or its food - elegant.
The immediate feel is warm and welcoming.
The trademark red that flows through is rich, even regal and the elegance in the decor is so subtly stated that the touch of class is instantly apparent. Some beautiful pieces of Rajisthani art such as framed antique jewellery, and classy modern paintings, add to the refined ambience. No mirror worked Taj Mahal tapestries or sidewalk of elephant parades for this restaurant.
When the food comes out, you're pretty much decided that you will be revisiting. The owner-chef Ajay takes great pride in the presentation of his fare. Gleaming white plates hold neatly stacked high piles of your food entered in the middle in elegant displays. You can see the man himself at work in his state-of-the-art kitchen, as he peers out now and then, keeping an eye on what's happening. But he knows his capable wife Neeta is out there, fully in control.
You tuck into food, knowing that this is refreshingly different from the last Indian restaurant you dined at.
An innovative item on the Bijolias menu is Chicken Khurchan, shredded chicken with sprouts, spring onions, lemon and coriander. This chat/salad is a must try - perfectly refreshing in the summer, it could be just as comforting on a wintry night.
Try the Barramundi Tawa Kabab to see how Ajay applies the Indian treatment to some wonderful Australian produce: the Indian marinade combines effectively with mango and coriander in this gourmet presentation. The Bijolias Daal, on the other hand, reminds me of meals I had during summer holidays at my grandmother's - a good old fashioned, wholesome, truly traditional kind of preparation. With the eggplant (Khatte Baingan), the chef shows off his skills again with fusion food, blending styles this time round from the east and south of India.
With the naans too, Ajay is inventive. You could stick to the well-trodden path of garlic or kheema naans, or you could try the exotic garlic-mint combination, but my vote goes to the chilli, paneer and coriander mix.
For dessert, perhaps approximately, a selection of both Indian and western items are on offer.
Ajay and Neeta Mathur arrived in Australia in 1988. Both had by then accumulated many years experience in the hospitality industry, having worked in some of India's leading hotels such as Taj Group and Maurya Sheraton in New Delhi and Banjara in Hyderabad. In Sydney, Ajay worked with the Manly Pacific as well as extensively at the Sydney Cricket Ground and the Sydney Football Stadium. Neeta moved to customer relations (the skills she acquired are being put to good use at Bijolias, you realise as you watch her flitting around the busy restaurant).
A long-cherished dream of starting their own restaurant finally came to fruition nearly three months ago. Coming from a closely-knit family with its roots in Rajisthan, it is hardly surprising that the Mathurs picked a Rajisthani name for the restaurant - Bijolia is the name of the village Ajay's grandmother hails from.
"I know Indian restaurants have mushroomed all over the city" Ajay says. “But I wanted to create a different ambience - with fresher and more flavorsome food. As well, I’ve gained great experience working in modern Australian cuisine, and I have devised ways of incorporating that experience to present Indian food differently".
He seems to be doing that with a flair, too.
By Rajni Anand Luthra
Indian Link
Celebrating a year of fine dining - Peninsula Living, November 2005
Bijolias Indian restaurant at Seaforth celebrates its first anniversary this month. To mark the occasion, new innovative dishes will be introduced to their already delectable menu.
So, for up market Indian dining with an emphasis on authentic cuisine and all-fresh ingredients, there's no better time to try Bijolias if you are not already a regular visitor.
The first authentic Indian restaurant in Seaworth, owners Ajay and Neeta are proud of the genuine customer rapport built over a busy year of trading. Bijolia's professional staffs are experts at putting themselves in the customer's shoes to ensure a memorable dining experience.
The smart casual atmosphere, with a staff dress code and inviting interior decor makes any evening feel like an important occasion, while the mood is warm and friendly. each dish is created with flair and presented with style.
Specialities are Chicken Khurchan, Barramundi Tawa Kabab and Butter Chicken, among many more. You'll be back to try them all.
Overall Rating 8.2
(Highly Recommended based on 6 votes)
Food - 8.8
Ambience - 7.5
Service - 8.3
Value - 8.0
Comment 1 - Gerko - 31 March 2006
Excellent quality Indian food. A variety of different offerings well cooked and at fair prices.
Overall - Recommended (Food - 8, Ambience - 7, Service - 7, Value - 8)
Comment 2 - James - 14 March 2006
This is a restaurant that departs from the standard Indian fare one gets in Australia. Interesting flavours and tasty dishes together with good and friendly service all make this a worthwhile experience. One of the best Indian restaurants in Sydney and very reasonably priced.
Overall - Recommended (Food - 8, Ambience - 8, Service - 8, Value - 8)
Comment 3 - Creet - 09 February 2006
Unusual fare - not the usual Indian. Great flavours and excellent serve. Small but comfortable surrondings with BYO option. Been back 4 times and all meals have been appealing and hearty. Nan breads fluffy and light, Butter Chicken creamy and flavorsome. Great new addition to the northern beachs.
Overall - Highly Recommended (Food - 9, Ambience - 8, Service - 9, Value - 8)
Comment 4 - Rockdoves - 20 January 2006
Small restaurant with a wonderful modern yet warm vibe. The service is teriffic- caring and prompt. I agree with Brian, I was impressed by the variety in the menu. The food was tantalising and we couldn't get enough of it. The servings are a little small but fine if you want to share. We will be making return visits.
Overall - Highly Recommended (Food - 9, Ambience - 8, Service - 8, Value - 8)
Comment 5 - Sydney Taylors - 27 December 2005
The best Indian food we've tasted in Sydney. Friendly host. Consistent quality over the past two years.
Overall - Highly Recommended (Food - 10, Ambience - 7, Service - 10, Value - 8)
Comment 6 - Brianc - 08 December 2005
Definitely well above average Indian - regional cuisine makes it a little different menu from the usual madras/korma/tandoori fare that becomes standard at most Indian eaterys - its only a small place so book early if its a Friday or Saturday. Well worth a repeat visit
Overall - Recommended (Food - 9, Ambience - 7, Service - 8, Value - 8)
Bijoilas - Fine Indian Dining - Weekender
Ajay and Neeta Mathur are the faces behind Bijolias. For almost one year they have been creating fine and delicately flavoured dishes to satisfy the most discerning customer.
To celebrate their anniversary in November they will bring you a new revised menu with more innovative choices.
Ajay and Neeta aim for customer satisfaction and strive to serve fine Indian food in an up-market friendly environment.
"We put ourselves in our customers shoes and treat them as we would wish to be served when dining out."
Ajay graduated from Hotel School in New Delhi and has 20 years experience working as a senior chef in premium hotels including the Taj and Sheraton Group and the Manly Pacific. Neeta also graduated from Hotel School and has vast experience in customer service and hospitality. For a dining experience with a difference reserve your table today.
When it comes to eating Indian, chef Ajay Mathur and wife Neeta's jam-packed Seaforth restaurant is quite an eye-opener. Or should that be palate-pleaser?
Where Bayleaf has a tapas option, Bijolias has salads and salsas. Whether it's new-age tandoori chicken, shredded and tossed with spiced chickpeas on a bed of spring onions and sprouts, or the village-style dhokla - a fascinating Gujarati snack of steamed semolina served with carrot and peanut salad - this is no standard menu.
Even the gravy-based main courses seem only distantly related to gluggy bain-marie kormas and fluoro-orange mango chicken. Other highlights are the stir-fried kadai macchi - fish fillets in tomato, coriander, ginger and fenugreek - and the khatte baingan - pan-fried eggplant with a tang of tamarind and the sweetness of grilled coconut.
Wind up with real masala chai and a handful of mukwas, aniseedy, floral, sugar-coated seeds designed to sweeten the breath and aid digestion (pictured).
5/540, Sydney Road, Seaforth, 9949 3641.
Every Tuesday morning, to atone for my sins on this page, I visit a benevolent sadist. Others call Damian a personal trainer. At least he has a sense of humour. After checking I'm not about to die when it looks inevitable, he asks how my diet's going. Extremely well, thanks. No shortage there.
Blame Bijolias, a modern Indian restaurant in Seaforth, an area as sparse as the Thar desert when it comes to culinary oases. The most obvious way to explain how much I enjoyed it is a confession that I ate too much. No, not like I always do. I'm talking stomach-bursting full. It wasn't gluttony, honest, just the irresistible temptation of yummy Indian food that rises well above the usual suburban cliches.
In contrast to the more ponderous, oily style of India's northern cuisine, chef Ajay Mathur's food is lighter with a focus on salads, in keeping with our climate.
The spicing sings and dances like a Bollywood extravaganza. Mathur hand-grinds his spices and adds them at the last minute to keep them fresh and lively, a tone he maintains in his distinctly individual approach to contemporary Indian flavours. He gives classics timely, modern interpretations, drawing on influences from across the Subcontinent, especially Rajasthan, the north-western border region of his ancestors. The restaurant's name honours their village.
Mathur's wife Neeta is our host, all smiles and anticipation, keeping the small shopfront (just 32 seats) humming, as well as tending to the steady takeaway traffic. Bijolias also seems popular with groups, so there can be a bit of a din. The decor is muted yet a touch '80s, with bare timber tables plus splashes of red and shiny chrome and a few Rajasthani artworks on the walls.
Papri chutney chaat ($7.50) looks a little like a primary schoolboy's science project. Crisp, deep-fried chapatti wedges form a jagged skyline above a volcanic bed of cumin-spiced boiled potato and chickpea, sprayed with mint yoghurt, tamarind chutney and fresh coriander. It's a showbiz take on a northern Indian fast food snack, ultimately a little too fairground-sweet for my tastes, but certainly a party starter. Mathur is also confident enough to head down roads less travelled, eschewing bhaji for dhokla ($7.50). His innovative take on Gujurati street food is made from steamed semolina and chickpeas, given the twist of a carrot and peanut salad.
I'm a little irritated that the fish special is basa. That's an appealing way of saying farmed Mekong Delta catfish (sometimes loftily and deceptively passed off as "Pacific dory" elsewhere). Why eat questionable Vietnamese seafood on this island continent?
An entree of barramundi tawa kebab ($13.90) is a summery marriage of Aussie ingredients with Indian flourishes. The fillets, scented with a ginger, chilli and turmeric marinade, are pan-fried, presented on a cucumber, mango and tomato salsa and sweetened by a honey dressing.
I'd skip the pepper lamb cutlets ($13.90), based on the heavily battered, deep-fried example on the tandoori sampler ($14.50), preferring the wonderfully spiced lamb malai seekh kebab ($9.90).
The menu's 20-odd mains, though not always pretty, are awash with fragrant yet delicate gravies, costing less than entrees elsewhere.
The cumin-earthy and chunky Mangalorean beef bafath ($15.50) has the typically tarter flavours of the south, led by tamarind. A snappy special of zhinga kali mirch ($19.90), tiger prawns in a tomato-based sauce of mustard seeds, curry leaves and cracked pepper, is softened by coconut and delights with its sweet paprika overtones. The house daal ($10.50) using five types of lentils is rustic yet refined, a hint of ginger there, then cumin, and sharpened by fenugreek and asafoetida (a Kashmiri root that, herbalists will know, promises the side-benefit of countering flatulence).
Vegetarians have more reasons to cheer. The khatte baingan ($12) - crisply fried eggplant in a tangle of tamarind, ginger, chilli and fennel, with grated coconut, sesame seeds, fresh coriander and a vividly pungent chaat masala - looks a little messy but tastes superb.
Even going berserk ordering for three, we manage to spend only $133, including a couple of Kingfisher beers ($7) and a pot of masala chai ($3.50). Sure, we're ready to burst and can't finish it all but I have to try the mango and rose kulfi ($6.50). It has the refreshing punch and crunch of cardamom in the not-too-dense mango ice, a drizzle of rose syrup and sprinkling of crushed pistachio nuts on the top. I'm happy.
My only disappointment is that rather that offering mukwas - a sweet aniseed-flavoured spice mix that's both breath freshener and digestive aid - Neeta brings complimentary chocolate mints. I pass. After all, I'm dieting.
The Summary
This isn't your average suburban Indian, preferring lively, light and modern flavours as easy on your stomach as they are on your wallet.
Value : Fabulous.
Chef : Ajay Mathur.
Owners : Ajay and Neeta Mathur.
Service : Efficient and pleasant.
Food : Indian.
Wine : Minimal, cheap and functional; four by the glass ($2 pp corkage).
Vegetarians : Lots of great options.
Child friendly : If they don't mind spice.
Noise : Loud.
Wheelchair access : Yes.
Restaurants to receive star ratings - Chelsea White - Breaking News - The Manly Daily - January 2008
In what could become an Australian first, the star grading will give consumers the power of choice by publishing test results of more than 400 eateries on the internet.
The ratings will be based on the results of a food safety audit of an establishment and their participation in the council's food handling accreditation program.
Manly Council wants all restaurants to meet the high standards of Bijolias Indian at Seaforth, which came out of the council's surveys with exemplary results.
Both the audit and council's accreditation program are already in place but the results of are not yet made public.
The ratings system is designed to be universal and could be applied to areas outside of Manly. The program could then be used sold to other councils.
Manly General Manager Henry Wong said the public had a right to know about levels of hygiene, with some local restaurants currently far from meeting the grade.
``A lot of our restaurants have fantastic food processes and standards, but we do have some outlets who have shortcomings that need to be identified,'' Mr Wong said.
The council's audit has already caught one local restaurant for re-using single-use items such as takeaway containers.
The restaurant would hand wash the containers after a customer's meal before serving food in it to someone else.
The premise was fined and the council have since worked with them to instil a culture of safe food practices.
It is poor practices such as this that demands a rating system, according to Mr Wong.
The general manager makes no apologies for the shaming element of the scheme, saying it will ``ensure that any food safety is not left to chance''.
``Quite frankly if people met their safety standards they have nothing to fear, absolutely nothing to fear,'' he said.
This is why resturants like Bijolias Indian at Seaforth welcomes the move.
Yesterday owner chef Ajay Mathur said the system meant his staff's hard work could be recognised by potential customers - the council rates Bijolias as one of its cleanest.
``I think cleanliness is an important part of being a restaurant,'' Mr Mathur said.
``I'm particularly fussy about our cleanliness and hygiene.''
Mr Mathur believes the system will take the guesswork out of picking a restaurant.
While he has an open kitchen he said other restaurants cook behind closed doors and it can be hard to know how these places prepare the food.
Essentially, the new system will be good for business, Mr Mathur said.
It is hoped it will be up and running by April.
Once rolled out the food handling courses will be optional but the audits will be compulsory.
The displaying of a restaurant's stars, however, is a contentious point, and may not be compulsory.
Mr Wong said those who score well will obviously want to display their ratings and restaurant and consumer pressure can ensure eateries display them.
Despite this, for the restaurants with poor practices there will be no escape as the council plans to publish their findings on the web.
These results will be regularly updated so restaurants do not rest on their laurels, Mr Wong said.
The (Sydney) Magazine: May 08
Plenty to shout about - Amanda Davey - The Manly Daily - May 2008
BIJOLIAS is the talk of the town right now or at least the northern beaches thanks partly to a steady flow of positive reviews emanating from other media.
So, given the hype, it was time I went to see what all the fuss wasabout.
And the verdict?
For starters, it was immediately very clear Bijolias does not need another review to improve its business.
In fact, this modern Indian restaurant was so busy the night we were there that owners Neeta and Ajay Mathur took the radical step of leaving the phone off the hook for a good half an hour to allow staff to take a deep breath and regroup.
Now, that's not something you see every day.
While this pocket-sized venue seats only 34 and was full quite early on in the evening, it was the frenzied take-away trade that was most astounding.
With regular monotony the locals arrived in droves to collect their Indian banquet, at times having to join the line that snaked through the tables.
Needless to say, our expectations were high.
Now, Bijolias does good Indian food, no doubt about that: but is it that much better than what's available elsewhere?
Well, yes and no.
Bijolias's point of difference is that chef Ajay Mathur has taken a contemporary approach to Indian cuisine, with a large part of the menu comprising an eclectic mix of Mathuresque creations.
Creatures of habit are also well catered for here, so those who like their butter chicken, rogan josh or crispy samosas can rest assured these favourites are well represented on the menu.
Mathur's take on Indian food is rather refreshing, with a concerted move away from the usual copious quantities of cream, oil and ghee that generally constitutes Australian-Indian cuisine.
Instead, he focuses on using freshly ground spices and inventive recipes to please the punters; a strategy that is clearly reaping rewards.
But beyond the northern beaches Bijolias is not particularly outstanding, although it's certainly a step in the right direction and definitely superior to some of the local competition.
Loved the papri chutney chat, a traditional dish made out of potatoes, chic peas, tamarind chutney, mint and yoghurt, highlighted by towering spears of pastry. And we were even more enraptured with the dhokla, a light and healthy steamed semolina and chickpea flour cake, tempered with ginger, mustard seeds and coriander and served with a crunchy carrot-peanut salad.
However, I was not so enamoured of the battered pepper lamb cutlets, which reminded me of a tandoori version of a pluto pup.
Still, the kids thought they were pretty good but then again, they like butter chicken so what would they know?
On to mains, and it was the vegetarian dishes that really stole the show. In particular the khatte baingan (sweet-sliced eggplant enhanced with tamarind and broiled coconut) made a particularly good accompaniment to the meatier dishes, while the Bijolias daal was one of the best I've ever tasted.
Bijolias' nilgiri korma was characterised by beautifully tender lamb and provided us with the first taste of cream for the evening, while zhinga rasedar, a gingery prawn curry, displayed firm-fleshed, sweet tiger prawns in a subtly spiced sauce.
We decided to forgo the four desserts, but all the usual sweet Indian suspects were there if you have the room.
Check it out, enjoy the offerings but don't expect the world.
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Fully Licensed & BYO Wine only
Shop 5/540, Sydney Road
(opposite Commonwealth Bank)
Seaforth, NSW 2092
Orders & Reservations
02 9949 3641
5.00 pm onward
Monday to Saturday
Sunday Closed
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Takeaway available
Want to know what Bijolias has new to offer? Click here to fill your details.
Functions and Parties Contact
ajay@bijolias.com.au
neeta@bijolias.com.au
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