Trunk Road

Address 163 Crown Street, Darlinghurst
Web trunkroad.com.au
Opening hours Daily, noon-10pm
Pro tip The paper napkin dispensers don't do much to battle the tidal wave of fluorescent sauce from the butter chicken roady. Consider BYO Wet Ones.
Try this The paneer roady is the one to bet on for veggos and non-veggos alike
Bottom line Roadies ($9-$10); curry fries ($7); iced tea ($4)
Like this? Try Ghostboy Cantina for more cross-cultural wrap-ups. Dixon House Food Court; Little Hay Street, Haymarket.

In my circle of friends, a very important question is circulated every few years. And it's this: "what is your worst hangover, and is it behind you?" Now, I can say with some accuracy, that I've experienced mine in all its mistimed-pain-killer-at-an-out-of-the-way-regional-airport glory. For all those souls still waiting for that fateful day, I salute you. Because when it comes, you'll need the succour only an Indian kebab can provide.

So here's Trunk Road, offering that very thing. Started by Nicholas Gurney and Tapos Singha from Bang, that casual mod-Bangladeshi diner that stirred up Surry Hills last year, this newbie is up the Darlinghurst end of Crown Street offering a very simple menu in a very lavish setting.

A split-level terrace of marble table tops, studded leather banquettes and lots and lots of vintage photographs (the showgirl posing with a gigantic yawning hippo is a personal favourite). There's no table service or menus on offer here – the idea is you walk downstairs, order off the pinboard advertising a short menu of "roadies", and pay at the counter.

Those "roadies" translate as a large Indian flatbread served open and topped with, say, thin slices of steak and puffy onion rings, butter chicken (the king of late-night Indian kebabs) or fresh cheese.

The good thing here is that everything's made a la minute, which is a far cry from the glorious hot-box specials of late evenings past. Seconds after ordering, the kitchen is threading pieces of chicken onto long metal swords. Here, that grilled chook covered in that infamous lurid mild curry sauce buddies up with sliced cucumber, tomato and yoghurt. It's all wrapped in a soft, buttery roti. To drink, there's Kingfisher beer (pride of Bangalore) or iced tea, served mixed with condensed milk, just in case you didn't feel you were getting your daily calorie intake with that butter chicken roti.

And hey vegetarians, you're taken care of too. There's the paneer roady, which has the fresh Indian cheese lightly grilled and topped with fried shallot, grated cheese and a mountain of coriander. Curried fries also fall into the all important "food without a face" category.

"It's pretty much your entire night, mapped out in chips," says my dining pal, picking up a crisp potato covered in grated cheese and curry sauce. "See, this is the beginning of the evening. Perfectly formed and full of promise. And then," she continues, digging to the bottom of the bowl to reveal a well-soaked clump of curry and potato, "this is the result of staying up too late."

It definitely puts credence to the tried-and-true saying, "nothing good ever happens after 2am". You have been warned.