Jai Jalaram Khaman - Sandringham

Amazing vegetarian dishes! authentic and tasty, highly recommend the dahi puris with yoghurt yum yum

This place is awesome, with respectful staff and amazing food. The Sev Khaman is the favorite of all. It is very inexpensive to eat at this place. If you want to eat traditional Gujrati food, this is your place !!

the ambiance is g8, veg guju food is good too! We ordered Pizza, Hakka Noodles and was so spicy and did mention  no spice,  oh god, what a disaster! Never order out of the way in a new place,  

Delicious vegetarian indian food that is oh so cheap!

Come here if you would like to taste authentic indian vegetarian food. Don’t expect flash decor but expect good quality food. The pav Bhaji is delicious and so is the dabeli roti. They also make packets of Indian snacks. It’s also not very expensive expect to pay about $20-$25 two people

Thanks to some well written, informative and fairly accurate reviews on the Localist, we went to Jai Jalaram Khaman knowing exactly what to expect. The food was indeed tasty and filling, the service and decor were basic at best, but we knew that already and it all felt like a bit of an adventure. There were photos on the wall and reasonably good descriptions of the dishes in the menu - but we still weren't quite sure what we were going to get.

I dislike going to a restaurant and being fattened up to fatigue on fatty rubbish as you get in many 'Indian' restaurants both here in New Zealand and throughout Europe.  There are a number of dishes dubbed 'Indian' that have never existed on the subcontinent.  Fortunately for me (and for all of those who know what good Indian food tastes like), there are a few places in Auckland where you can get excellent, healthy and delightful Indian food without straining your pocket too Much.  Jai Jalaram is one of these places.  Charming in its' minimal decor, comfort and service, solely due to the fact that the food is amazing.

Jai Jalaram doesn't serve your standard Indian food- there is no naan, butter chicken or tikka masala- everything is vegetarian, and none of it cream based. It is pretty distinctive in Sandringham, perched on a corner of Sandringham Rd with high visibility, you can't miss the peachy-pink restaurant- which is the same colour inside.  The décor is very basic, with most of the tables arranged for groups of 6+ diners, we chose to sit at the front window in the sunlight. Each table has (plastic) glasses and a jug of water for diners,  no tablecloths. They have photos of some of the dishes on the wall, so you can get some idea of what you are ordering. We went at lunchtime, and it was quite busy, everyone seemed to be enjoying their food. There was no music, but the other patrons were having enthusiastic conversations, which drowned out the noise of the traffic outside. We were completely clueless as to what most of the dishes were!  We ordered a plate of Dahi Puri, small hollow fried balls, filled with mashed potatoes and yoghurt, with coriander, mint and tamarind chutney on top, sprinkled with sev (crunchy noodles made from chickpeas). They were delicious, if not slightly messy! For mains, I ordered Bahji Puri- which came in a metal tray- consisting of a bright yellow potato curry with mustard seeds, fried cabbage and capsicum with seeds, 5 puri (unleavened fried bread), mint chutney, salty mango pickle, a small dish of a coriander yoghurt sauce, and a large poppadom on top.  My partner ordered Masala Khichdi - Kadhi, a lentil and rice curry, fried cabbage, the same chutneys, 2 VERY hot green chillis, a dish of spicy yoghurt sauce, thickened with chickpeas, and a large papadom, on a similar metal tray. His sweet Lassi (a yoghurt based drink) was a great palate cleanser and ended the meal nicely. They had a few different Indian sweets on the menu for dessert, but neither of us were hungry after our large meals. The food is basic, but delicious and very authentic. It would be great for a lazy weeknight dinner, but potentially not such a great place for a first date (unless you're an adventurous eater)!

Really nice Indian vegetarian restaurant with a great range. However, they're always understaffed and it can often feel like a bit unpleasant eating there, like your business is a massive inconvenience for them. If the environment was just a bit more enjoyable I'm sure this would be a regular for me.