. "2018-05-17T00:00:00"^^ . . "4"^^ . "5"^^ . . "0"^^ . "After eight months of hearing my colleagues rave about this place (as travellers, they literally go here every week), I was finally able to try Avani during a team dinner! I came in with high expectations, and surprisingly left quite pleased.\n\nWe were a massive group of 15, but despite our size, we were offered sufficient service and care. Although the ordering process took a while in terms of noting down everyone's drinks, appetizers, and entrees, we were served quite quickly. The entire meal took less than two hours!\n\nI ordered a virgin pina colada (the only virgin drink on the table) and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was nice and tropical with the coconut cream and pineapple juice. Although I found it a little sweet at first, it became a great drink to sip on in-between the spicy curry dishes!\n\nThe entire table ordered to share among small groups of four. My group got the following to share as appetizers:\n\nTandoori Rack of Lamb:\nThis came on a sizzling hot plate; the four lamb racks were artistically placed and adorned with a ring of pickled onions. They were well marinated and extremely flavourful!\n\nChili Chicken:\nMmmm this is a dish to get! I found it a little sweet and sour (likely only because the lamb was so much spicier) but it was nice and crispy. Stir fried with a generous coating of sauce, it was definitely quite addicting.\n\nI was also able to sample other appetizers, such as the Garlic Chili Prawns:\nI adored the flavour profile of this dish - however, the prawns were far from being \"lightly dusted\" in batter. My piece had more batter than anything else; in fact, it was near impossible to discern the shrimp amongst the batter. That said, the chili peppers, scallions, and ginger gave it a comforting profile of Chinese food.\n\nFor mains, we ordered the following. \nButter Chicken:\nThis dish didn't quite stand out among the others. I found it quite forgettable and so there's nothing to really say.\n\nShrimp Vindaloo:\nAgain, this dish fell flat. The shrimp curry was on the sweet side and simply failed to deliver. Needless to say, the dish went pretty much untouched.\n\nJackfruit and Kale Masala:\nThis was surprisingly a show stealer! It was amazingly good. Despite it being a vegetarian dish, the flavours were very complex and rich. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Interestingly, the jackfruit highly resembled artichokes / bamboo shoots in looks.\n\nI also was able to try the following dishes from the table beside me.\nCoconut Cream Chicken:\nThis was a refreshing, creamy, coconuty dish! It was surprisingly light and had a nice accent to it. I quite enjoyed it.\n\nLamb Vindaloo:\nOne of my absolute favourites of the night! The red curry was fiery hot and really packed a punch, and perfectly complimented the gamey taste of lamb. Delicious!! Many of my colleagues sweated upon eating this, and one definitely needs more naan for this dish.\n\nI really enjoyed the roti that we ordered with the curry - even more so than the garlic naan, which I felt could be more fragrant and rich in flavour. A very enjoyable meal, and we were particularly surprised when they brought out two coconut fried ice creams for the birthdays of two teammates!"^^ . "2"^^ .