The White Elephant On Barkly

4.5. The White Elephant is a 15 minute walk from West Footscray station and the Whitten Oval. It is nestled among some Indian restaurants and grocery stores and not far from some trendy, wine bars and eateries. It stands out because it is authentic and serves freshly prepared Sr Lanka cuisine. The decor and setting is clean and understated with quiet background music playing. It’s a real family business, with Mum, the chef and two daughters in front of house. My partner and I had coconut prawns as an entree which was beautifully presented on a board, sprinkled with coconut and accompanied by an interesting, smooth, mayonnaise based sauce. The prawns were perfectly cooked in their shell. Onto the mains. The lamb curry infused with exotic spices and coconut milk melted in your mouth. It went very well with the yellow rice dish, cooked with saffron, coconut milk and many subtle spices, interspersed with cashews. Their recommended vegetable dish was the eggplant moju; a twice cooked eggplant sauteed in a blend of spices, cinnamon and chilli pieces, thoughtfully allowing those like us who prefer a mild chilli to separate out the chilli pieces. 'Mum' cooks fish every night and so she brought out a lovely fish dish we had not ordered. Again, perfectly cooked and with really interesting, subtle spices. We also enjoyed the lentil curry, as an accompaniment. Arriving hungry was a bonus. A couple could order less than all this and have a really interesting, balanced meal for around $50 only. It’s worth noting there are some really good choices for vegetarians here. For many , good food deserves good wine. There are various beers and liquor available but there is not yet a wine list on the menu. When this is soon finalised, it will allow those who want to enjoy an accompanying wine with such interesting food to complement the food. This small, family, authentic Sri Lankan restaurant is well worth seeking out and will continue to improve after only nine months since opening. The White Elephant is strongly recommended. Our thanks to the restaurant for their kind invitation to dine here.

One of the best places for kottu roti. Large portion, spicy and full of flavour. All around a superbly made dish. 5/5 The fried rice was good but it was pricey. Not much ingredients in it for a $16 price tag. 3/5 The pork curry wasn’t to my liking and I feel was quite pricey with the size of the portion. 2/5 Would probably return to have the kottu roti again and maybe some other menu items.

Great family run Sri Lankan restaurant - judging from the other comments we received our food at about the average time of 45-50mins. We had the crab curry which was very flavourful and the goat curry was very tender. Not shown in pics but definitely worth a try is the coconut variety of the roti...was thicker than usual roti and was very tasty and good to soak up all the yummy sauces on our table. My vegetarian guest had the 3 curries and rice plate. All the food was lactose and peanut free.

This is a restaurant not only worth trying but also worthy of being amongst the best you can find in the West of Melbourne. If you haven't tried hen you need to give this a go, the food is sensational. I ended up in this restaurant as Aangan couldn't fit a table with space for a pram so we decided to try this as my wife is very fond of Sri Lankan cuisine. What a fortune that was! What you will find here is an entire family working on this project with the mother being the main cook. She cooks everything to order, ingredients are fresh and the service is excellent. It's a family restaurant so everyone serving has skin in the game. It is disappointing that a dissatisfied group of people went on a review revenge rampage trying to discredit this place.

This place is fantastic! The staff were really lovely and helpful, and the food was amazing! The lentil curry was one of the best lentil dishes I can recall having anywhere and my wife beat me to eating all of the devilled prawns. Everything seemed like it was lovingly and painstakingly prepared, without taking the shortcuts which compromise the quality of a dish. We will absolutely be returning :D

Have found a lot of Indian restaurants to be very same same and generally enjoy my own curries more. Freshness does make a difference and this I picked up on at White Elephant. Booked a big table of 12 which comprised a mix of Aussie curry eaters, Sri Lankan pals and timid spicy eaters. The staff were very accommodating. I am guessing the lovely young women serving are family members which is a nice touch. Meat curries are generally on the bone which is how I like them because it gives the gravy way more flavour. The vege sides are very interesting too, cashew, eggplant. Hoppers were approved of by experts. Cant wait to go back for the vibrant flavours. If you want to read an informative dish by dish review go to Consider The Sauce Blog by Kenny a well established local reviewer.