Sheni's Curries

161 Collins St
Melbourne, 3000

Want a spicy curry? Sheni’s Curries delivers. Too often, when curries promise to be ‘three chillies’, they end up barely tingling my tastebuds. Not Sheni’s. Everything here is burn-your-pants-off spicy unless otherwise specified.  

The principle here is simple. Go up to the counter, choose one of the combos (regular, vegetarian, or one of two daily specials), give them 10 dollars, get your change, and your food will be dished out. Say yes to extra chilli on the side if you enjoy stomach-achingly spicy food, and dig in! The curries change from day to day, so you never know what you’re going to get. 

Small Vegetarian Combo ($7.50)

Today was a ‘vegetarian day’ for me, so naturally, I went for the small vegetarian combo (saffron rice, 2 vegetables, dhal, chutney, raita, and pappadum, $7.50). Now how deliciously wholesome does that look? And there was so much variety! The potato curry and the beans were good, but the cashew curry was the best. Mild and creamy with coriander to give it a lift, it was a lovely respite from the spiciness of everything else.

Small Regular Combo ($9.00)

 

A man has gotta have his meat (or so Chris says), so he chose the small regular combo (saffron rice, one meat of your choice, 2 vegetables, dhal, chutney, raita, and pappadum, $9.00). For the meat he had the chicken curry (the other option was butter chicken, which I immediately vetoed). His plate had everything I had, except instead of that amazing cashew curry, he had 2 pieces of tender flavoursome chicken thigh, still covered in the herbs they were cooked in. But still, how much better does my plate look? Proof that you don’t need meat to have a satisfying meal.

The space Sheni’s occupies is small, but not claustrophobic, and the wall-mirror adds the illusion of space and light. And because the curries here are Sri Lankan, not Indian, the curries are a lot less creamy, and there’s a lot less sauce, but it’s much more in-your face and robust. And even though both our plates looked somewhat small, we could barely finish them, and we were both pretty hungry too.

Rating: 13.5/20 – only if you like chilli