Copper Chimney

It's only a short sprint across Hobart Place, over the pedestrian crossing and under the arches of the Melbourne Building. The autumn chill is intense tonight - the weather app says it's about 12C but it apparently feels like 10C and getting out of the car isn't a fun activity. So for this weekday dinner we make a beeline to the Copper Chimney - the idea of warming, creamy curries and mounds of basmati rice sounds perfect right now.

Copper Chimney nestles in next to Thirst on West Row, and it ticks all the standard Indian restaurant boxes. A spacious room filled with white topped tables; twinkling candles; plush chairs; Hindi music coming through softly over the speakers. Though we've tumbled in straight from the cold, we get a friendly welcome and a table for two in the window. It's warm, the air smells of curry spices, we're comfortably seated. Not bad for a Tuesday night.

The menu also ticks a lot of standard boxes - samosas, saag lamb, butter chicken. The wine list is compact - mostly Australian, a couple of standard varieties from South Australian tempranillo to the Mount Majura pinot gris - and the beers and ciders include the usual Kingfishers and Singhas. Palak papdi chaat ($13.90) is the most unusual looking entree on the list and turns out to be a mess of spinach leaves coated in lentil batter and deep fried.

The leaves are crisp like kale chips under their crunchy lentil batter. It's all drenched, like nachos, in yogurt and then drizzled with thick black tamarind sauce and spice. It's very moreish, a pleasing combination of creamy topping and crisp fried leaves, though the yogurt is sweet rather than satisfyingly tart and rich, and there's no trace of the advertised chilli. 

So that's a flying start to the meal - something a little different and really quite pleasant. Mains turn up just as another group of laughing young people come running in out of the cold, clutching a bottle of wine for a birthday dinner. Chicken biryani ($19.90) is a hearty serve - not the golden saffron-infused variety but a big bowl of rice with tender spice-dusted chicken buried like treasure within. To my mind there's a heavy hand with the curry powder and cumin but it's very competent and there's still plenty to like. A goat curry ($20.90) is served properly, wonderfully hot, with lots of chilli powder to get the blood moving.

A basket of mixed naan and rotis ($11.90) is the right accompaniment, warm and soft with a light brush of ghee or butter.  Dhal makni is another warming side, black lentils with tomato, cream and butter. Dhal is one of life's great comfort foods and this one is good without being terrifically outstanding, and gets the job done.

It's nice just to sit in the window, watching people stroll past on their way home from work or out to other restaurants. If you're not into people-watching, you can look out onto the Hobart Place car park and the fenced-off remains of the Canberra Club building, recently demolished to make way for an apartment tower and retail development.  And if you have a bad memory, as we do, you can spend a few minutes racking your brains to remember what it used to look like and which cafes used to live there (oh, Two Before Ten).

Service tonight has been a joy - very friendly, always smiling and with a genuine attention to detail. A request for an extra spoon? It's brought over in a little envelope of paper napkin. Drinks are replenished quickly and without fuss.

We don't have room for desserts - again traditional offerings of gulab jamun, halwa and kulfi - but it's been a solid weeknight dinner with plenty of competent cooking and some very sweet service. This time it's not so much a sprint back to the car as a brisk waddle.