Avial Indian Cuisine - Gold Coast

This was my second visit in about as many months. Came for dinner with a friend. With the exterior open to the outside, even the seating inside was quite cold. You get the impression that this is a place on its way out. The menus had over half the alcohol selections and ALL deserts struck off. We ordered a parrotta dish, saffron rice, one lamb and one paneer. The paneer was bland, tasteless...........and it was halfway through that I realised that it probably lacked salt. The lamb and parotta were ok, but not to die for. Overall, for the pricing, the food was not value for money by any stretch of imagination. With the cold wind creeping indoors, we couldn't wait to leave.On the positive side, the young waiter who also manned the reception, was pleasant and efficient.

Looked to grab a fast lunch in the food fair and as I passed the Indian food stall the aroma dragged me in. Ordered butter chicken and naan bread and it was a good choice. The lady who waited on me was very pleasent and even skipped the charge for credit card use because I required a reciept. I would stop there again if I was in the mall at lunch time.

Have been planning to dine at Aviyal for a while now. Picked a Saturday for dinner with some trepidation about parking. It was quite surprising how quiet the restaurant (and those alongside it) was for a Saturday night. Street parking was plenty and conveniently located alongside the H2O building on Welch Street which houses this restaurant. The ambiance was ok, located very well at a corner spot, across Broadwater Parklands. We had the undivided attention of the solitary staff member, being just one of two tables occupied. Hence the service was good. The mains are priced $15 - 20. We ordered a starter (paneer tikka from the tandoor oven, which was ok), a masala dosa (which was good), a paneer manchurian curry (excellent) and aloo roti (a tad overdone!). Capped it off with a good, strongly flavoured masala chai. Overall, it was a good meal.

We ordered take away and were told the wait was only 30mins. It was an hour (lucky we are local so my husband could drop myself and our baby home so that he could wait around. The medium lamb vindaloo was incredibly spicy with what tasted like tobasco sauce - awful. The mixed vegetable kurma was full of a frozen bean/broccoli and cauliflower mix. Very mushy. It was such a disappointment and not worth the money at all.

In addition to the typical Indian dishes, Avial serves fantastic South Indian cuisine. Be sure to try their dosas and apams as a delicious alternative to the usual naans and parathas. This is our favorite Indian restaurant on the Gold Coast.