Two Fat Indians Restaurant

A friend recently had a birthday dinner at an Indian restaurant called 2 Fat Indians, and my partner and I were invited. The entire meal was to be vegan, as she, her partner and at least half of her guests were vegan.

I had never been to this restaurant before though had heard of it. It is situated on Beaufort Street in Mt Lawley, though I hear there is another one in Cottesloe. The decore inside is lovely and being a Saturday night, it was very busy.

Before the food arrived, I asked my friend about how she arranged this dinner, as the restaurant is not exclusively vegan or even vegetarian. She explained to me that she rang ahead and told management that she wanted a vegan banquet for her guests. They then told her to call back a week before the date and they would tell her what they would be serving. I guess the advance warning gave them time to come up with a menu for the event, to accommodate us. Ideally, vegans should be able to walk into such places and order off the menu or have something prepared for our needs. Sadly, this more often that not, is not the case. So ring ahead it is! And the way I look at it - at least they were prepared and able to accommodate us. Some will not even try.

The good thing about Indian cuisine, is that it does lend itself to vegetarian and vegan needs. I guess the main ingredients to look out for are ghee and paneer if you are a vegan.

Our dinner began with some appetizers, including poppadoms. There were three different items, one of which were onion bhajhi which are slices of onion coated in chickpea batter and deep fried. Sadly, due to my aversion to onions, I had to forgo that one. There were also samosas and a kind of patty that I am guessing was lentil based. Apologies for my vagueness, but I am no expert when it comes to Indian food!

Next came the mains along with the naan bread and bowls of saffron rice and plain rice.
I managed to take a photo of the various different curries and dhals we were served.

The dhal was probably the mildest of them all. There was a chickpea curry, and a cauliflower one as well. And it is around this point that my lack of knowledge in Indian cuisine really fails! All I can tell you was that they were all delicious. Some were much hotter than others. Infact, at one point, my mouth was burning! I thought I spotted a green bean but as soon as I bit into it, it turned out to be a slice of green chilli! Oops! 

I cannot comment on dessert at 2 Fat Indians, as we were treated to a raw vegan chocolate cheesecake from The Raw Kitchen, which the staff at 2 Fat Indians were happy to bring out for us.  If you have not tried  out this cake, you simply MUST! It is so creamy, smooth, rich and delicious!

So, all in all, a lovely time was had. Good food and good company. You just have to plan ahead! Visit 2 Fat Indian's website for opening hours, addresses and contact details.