Everything chef Sunil Ghai touches turns to gold, says our critic, as she visited his restaurant and takeaway in Greystones Back, from left: Eat in dishes of Saag paneer, limbu jhinga curry, Old Delhi-style chicken tikka masala. Front: Prawn and calamari pakora, and Guptaji’s vegetable samosas. Photo: Lucinda O’Sullivan With posh parquet flooring, soft-lit glass cabinets, a table with flowers, chefs working visibly through a panoramic open, and a white marble reception desk, I wondered for a second if I was in the lobby of an expensive boutique hotel rather than an Indian takeaway.
But then everything Sunil Ghai and his wife Leena have brought to the table over the past 24 years in Ireland has always been top of the range, including his cookery book Spice Box published last year, so it should come as no surprise that their Tiffin takeaway in Greystones is top drawer. Ghai is a charismatic character, a chef of extraordinary dedication and talent, recognised as such by his peers far and wide. Born in Gwalior in North West India, he credits his mother for the skills imbued in him having helped her from the age of 10 in creating food for a large family circle – in a simple traditional space where food is cooked over the fire with cold floors keeping the food cool.
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