Advertising itself as a subcontinental restaurant, Cha Adda offers separate menus of Indian staples and Bangladeshi food. But it’s a move of modesty, disguising the fact this is one of the few restaurants in Melbourne serving Bangladeshi cuisine.

The cheerful owner will happily chat about her recommended dishes. Slow-cooked beef is infused with tamarind and cardamom for khichdi, which fuses long grain rice and toor dal. Delicately perfumed polao, the rice studded with juicy sultanas and sweet spices, buddies up with roast chicken Maryland in a gravy laced with toasted coconut.

Kids (and kids at heart) will love the handson fun of fuchka: fried semolina shells filled with split peas, ready to receive a dash of tamarind chutney before being devoured whole. Weekend breakfast buffets showcase even more range.