Dining Out: the 'bunny chow' curry at Street is an utter triumph
Street by Sunil Weekend Restaurant review Leslie Williams
- Street Restaurant by Sunil
- 1A Bird Avenue, Dublin 14.
- Online Orders via: streetrestaurant.ie
- Tel: 01-5570111
A generous takeout meal for three will cost as little as €50 — I spent €82 and had more than half left over.
Most people have goals in life, maybe to own a Ferrari or visit the Taj Mahal. Mine are simpler but much more attainable and tend to involve food and drink. I’ve achieved a few of these — Po’Boy and Muffuletta sandwiches in New Orleans, Pierre Gagnaire’s restaurant in Paris and Tripes à la mode de Caen in Caen — but there are many goals left.
Here are just three: I want to drink a glass of Manzanilla Sherry on the beach at Sanlucar de Barrameda where the wine is made — the sea air should match the ozone and citrus aromas in my glass (with luck there will be a lemon tree nearby). I want to visit Palermo to try the famed Pani Ca Meusa sandwich made with fried Spleen and Lung slices and Caciocavallo Cheese. And I want to go to Durban for a proper Bunny Chow.
The Bunny Chow was created by the Indian community in Durban and is quite simple — a half a loaf of bread hollowed out and filled with curry (lamb, chicken or vegetarian). This is Durban’s equivalent of a late-night Kebab or Curry Chips. So imagine my delight to discover it on the menu at Street by Sunil which opened just a few months ago. Don’t get me wrong I still want to go to Durban but I’m already steeling myself for disappointment as Sunil Ghai’s version (€14) is an utter triumph.
A round sourdough bread had been half hollowed out and filled with a rich chicken curry laced with black pepper, fresh ginger, coriander, coconut and turmeric. To prevent sogginess on the journey home a tub of rich tomato-based curry sauce is provided to pour on top. What we loved I think was the bread soaking up the curry while the spikes of chilli and meaty chicken pieces added extra textures. Doctors should prescribe this for anyone with lockdown blues.
Sunil Ghai is, of course, the driving force behind Pickle Indian Restaurant on Camden Street which I reviewed very favourably when it opened in 2016. It has only gotten better since as attested by my colleague, Joe McNamee, who raved about it in 2019.
Street is Sunil and his wife Leena’s second takeout restaurant as they also opened Tiffin in Greystones in 2018. And due to Covid-19 there is no dine-in for now so the only option is to order online and collect. Demand is high so plan ahead.
Besides the Bunny Chow I ordered poppadoms, pickles, two kinds of naan bread, raita, three starters and a lamb curry.
It is impossible to beat a garlic coriander naan just seconds out of the tandoor as you would experience in Pickle so these suffered a tiny bit on the journey home. Thirty seconds in the toaster however crisped them up nicely and we dug into the poppodoms and pickles which are also a highlight of any visit to Pickle (there’s a reason for the name).
Andhra chilli prawns had lovely deep round flavours thanks to ginger juice and Kashmiri curry flavours — they were so good they disappeared first, on their own and wrapped around naan with pungent pickle added for extra excitement. I’m ordering two portions next time.
Kerala Street Food is in fact ‘Chicken 65’ — the Kerala curry equivalent of Bunny Chow. Tamarind adds a slightly sour note, curry leaves and fennel add roundness and spicing is light. Punjabi Lamb Curry is lamb curry like Sunil’s Mam used to make: lamb potatoes, tomatoes and a rich spice mix with good heat from the chilli rounded out by aromatic cumin and coriander.
Dessert is less common in Indian cuisine as you probably know, but I had to try the Gulab Jamun — the classic dessert cake made from milk solids mixed with flour, almonds and cashews which Sunil fries in ghee (clarified butter) and then allows it to soak in a sugar syrup enriched with cardamom and saffron. Aromatic cardamom was the key scent and the rich nutty cake was a fine finish to a meal that felt like a feast.
Street is a wonderful addition to Dublin and I will be back for Bunny Chow (and the Andhra Prawns) regularly. Next Sunil will have to tackle Cape Town’s Gatsby sandwich (also on my list) — a sort of breakfast roll typically filled with chips, sausage and Achaar pickle.
