Walking into Monsoon Indian Restaurant, with its spacious, elegant and ordered interior, doesn’t immediately give diners the idea that they are being transported through the beautiful chaos of India. But the feeling you are embarking on a journey is not far off, as knowledgeable staff members run through this Melbourne Street restaurant’s philosophy of presenting authentic tastes from all over the Indian Subcontinent, rather than specialising in one regional cuisine. This task is harder than it sounds, requiring not only access to a range of produce and spices, but an immense knowledge of how to use them, how to balance diverse spices and employ them in the right quantities to enhance rather than cancel out one another. For this reason the dishes at this North Adelaide institution are simple and unornamented, relying on the tried and true methods passed on by Indian mothers through generations, and they are all the more delicious for it.