Kohli’s is at least one of my nursing colleagues’ favourite Indian restaurant in Nowra. It is so highly regarded in the local area, that some online reviewers have taken to comparing it to the quality of South Asian food available in the golden 7.5km stretch between Pendle Hill and Harris Park. Keen to fact-check these claims against my hood, I took an unscheduled trip to Kohli’s on one of my last days in town, waiting no less than five minutes at the front of the restaurant in confusion before my existence was acknowledged.
This fish amritsari ($14.50) was not bad. The fish was appropriately soft, tender, and moist, though the batter was grainer than I’m used to. I’m certainly no expert in Indian cuisine though, so perhaps this is just a known normal variant. Not bad.
The cheese-garlic naan ($6.20) was also not bad. What I got matched what was written on the tin, though did not quite reach the dizzying heights of say Mazaidar Foods in Sydney’s subcontinental heartland, with it lacking a certain moistness of freshly tandoored bread.
The butter chicken ($22.90) the dish that Sid and Emma told me I had to try. Imagine their surprise when this review comes out after hanging in the queue for like 2 years in 2024. It was not bad, but again I think it’s probably unfair for me to compare Indian food from regional NSW to a restaurant like Nawaz Flavour of India in Glebe which had one that was exceptional.
OVERALL COMMENTS
I’m sorry that you came to this site for a review of an Indian restaurant in Nowra only to find recommendations for alternate restaurants a 150km detour away. The food at Kohli’s was certainly very normal, I think I am just an extremely picky eater given I grew up in Western Sydney. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Kohli’s if you’re in town and absolutely fanging for a butter chicken, but I also don’t think that it reaches the point where it’s clearly on the top tier of restaurants in and around town. (DTC felt similarly, though we did not eat together)
It might also be worth hiring an extra guy to wait tables around peak periods.
Kohli’s Indian Restaurant Nowra
116 Kinghorne St, Nowra NSW 2541
(02) 4421 0300