Gallery: Access Readers’ Dinner at Bibi Ji

This July, Broadsheet Access took our community to a Readers’ Dinner at Bibi Ji, in celebration of the popular Indian restaurant’s first birthday. And it was unlike anything we’ve hosted before.

The Carlton diner is from restaurateur Amarjeet Singh – the brains behind venues like Horn Please , Daughter in Law , Pinky Ji , and Dhaba at the Mill. Guests were welcomed at the door, receiving a bindi from staff dressed in traditional garments. After that, the feast began: a one-off set menu of Indian dishes and bottomless drinks. There were small plates including “balls of happiness” – crispy puffed semolina balls filled with tamarind, mint and yoghurt – and corn ribs, followed by larger curries such as balti chicken, saag burrata and shahi paneer. Dessert was gajar halwa, a traditional north Indian pudding cooked with grated carrot, cardamom and ghee.

It was dinner and a show, with a line-up of traditional performances throughout the evening. There was a live belly dancer twirling with candles and shimmering fabric, a dhol (traditional drumming) performer who roamed between the tables and even a henna station. By the end of the night, guests were out of their seats, turning the room into a dance floor.

Readers’ Dinners are one of the best-loved offerings at Access. Our members are regularly invited to Broadsheet-approved restaurants in Melbourne and Sydney – from longstanding classics to the hottest new openings. And this dinner at Bibi Ji was one for the books.

To score your seat at the next Readers’ Dinner or Editor’s Preview, join Access today. You’ll get your money’s worth – annual membership is just $12 a month.