Eighteen Years of Punjabi Cooking in Port Adelaide
There's a reason Spice n Ice has become part of the Port Adelaide dining landscape. When brothers Ranjeet and Jagpal opened the restaurant back in July 2007, they weren't following a trend — they were simply cooking what they knew. Dishes picked up from their own family kitchen back in Punjab, the region of India famous for its deep agricultural traditions, its communal spirit of langar, and — naturally — its love of food.
What's stayed consistent all these years is the approach. Freshest ingredients, spice levels tailored to you (mild, medium, or hot — and they mean it), and a tandoor clay oven that gets used the way it was always meant to be. The menu spans classic North Indian territory — butter chicken, seekh kebab, dal makhni — alongside some signatures that are entirely Spice n Ice's own.
It's the kind of place where the food does the talking. And on St Vincent Street in Port Adelaide, it's been talking for a long time.
Our North Indian Specialities
Punjabi Curries & Classics
From Butter Chicken to Saag Gosht, the heart of the menu is Punjabi home cooking done properly.
Tandoor Grills & Kebabs
Seekh Kebab, Chicken Tikka, Lamb Cutlets — all finished in the clay oven at high heat.
Indian Thali Experience
Four courses, multiple dishes, one plate. The full picture of what North Indian dining can be.
North Indian Cuisine in Port Adelaide — What You'll Find on the Menu
Is Punjabi cuisine the same as North Indian food?
Broadly, yes — though Punjabi cooking is really its own thing within that broader category, and it's what Spice n Ice does best. Punjab sits in the north-west of India, and its food reflects that geography: rich, hearty, built around wheat breads, dairy (butter, cream, paneer), and a tandoor tradition that goes back thousands of years. It's the origin of butter chicken. Of dal makhni. Of the naan you probably grew up thinking of as just "Indian bread."
Ranjeet and Jagpal grew up in this culinary tradition — not as chefs trained in a hotel kitchen, but as brothers who learned to cook at home. That background shapes everything here. The gravies have depth without being heavy-handed. The spices are layered, not dumped in. And the overall experience is closer to being fed by someone's family than being served by a restaurant — which is, honestly, the highest compliment you can give a North Indian kitchen.
It's a regional cuisine with real character, and at Spice n Ice, it's cooked by people who actually come from there.
What makes the Butter Chicken here different?
Fair question — because butter chicken is everywhere, and most versions range from decent to deeply forgettable. Here's what separates a good one from a great one: the tomato-cream base needs to be built slowly, the chicken needs to have been cooked first in the tandoor (not just poached in sauce), and the fenugreek finish has to be present but not overpowering.
Spice n Ice's Butter Chicken ticks all three. Boneless chicken, tandoor-cooked, finished in a sauce that's genuinely rich without being stodgy. It's listed on the menu as suitable for all age groups — which sounds simple, but actually says something about how it's balanced. Mild enough for kids, flavourful enough for people who actually know butter chicken. There's also a kids-sized version if you're dining with family.
It's one of the restaurant's most consistently ordered dishes, and after 18 years, that's not an accident. The recipe hasn't changed much — because it didn't need to.
What comes out of the tandoor clay oven?
More than most people realise. The tandoor at Spice n Ice isn't just a novelty — it's central to the menu in a way that shapes both flavour and texture across multiple dishes. Temperatures in a tandoor can reach up to 480°C, and that extreme, dry heat does something to food that no grill, oven, or stovetop can replicate. The outside chars just slightly. The inside stays juicy. The smokiness is real, not added.
From the protein side, you're looking at Seekh Kebab (spiced minced lamb on skewers), Chicken Tikka (a traditional Punjabi speciality — boneless, mild-spiced, yoghurt-marinated), Lamb Cutlets (mustard-yoghurt marinade), and the classic Tandoori Chicken — free range, on the bone, overnight-seasoned. The Tandoori Platter is a good way to try several at once, especially for two people sharing.
Then there are the breads — every single one of them finished in the clay oven. That's not a given elsewhere. Here it's non-negotiable, and you'll taste the difference the moment the naan arrives at the table.
Dal Makhni — why does it taste so different here?
Because most restaurants don't do it properly. Dal Makhni — whole black lentils in a creamy sauce finished with butter and fenugreek — is one of those dishes that sounds straightforward until you understand what it actually takes. The traditional method involves slow cooking overnight. Not for a few hours. Overnight. The lentils break down gradually, the sauce thickens naturally, and the result is something with a texture and depth that a two-hour shortcut simply can't produce.
At Spice n Ice, it's done the right way. The menu description is plain about it: "overnight slow cooked lentils in rich creamy sauce finished with fenugreek leaves." That fenugreek finish — slightly bitter, slightly nutty — is what lifts it out of generic territory. It's gluten-free, too, though honestly that's almost beside the point. It's just a very good dal.
If you're the kind of person who judges an Indian restaurant by its dal makhni (and you should be), this one holds up. Pair it with a Garlic Naan or the Lachha Paratha and that's a meal in itself.
What curry specialities should you actually try?
Beyond the butter chicken — which, yes, is worth ordering — the menu carries a range of North Indian curries that don't always get the attention they deserve. The Goat Curry is listed as a Spice n Ice signature dish, and for good reason: goat cooked in a traditional medium-spiced sauce is richer and more complex than lamb, and it's not something every restaurant bothers to do well. The Saag Chicken and Saag Gosht (lamb with mustard leaves, spinach and ginger) are genuinely Punjabi in character — earthy, warming, a bit different from the tomato-cream profiles that dominate most Indian menus.
For something more indulgent, the Chicken Korma and Lamb Korma are slow-cooked in a cashew sauce with cream — mild, rich, and deeply satisfying. Spice levels across the board can be adjusted: mild, medium, or hot. The kitchen takes that seriously, so if you have a preference, say so.
The Chicken Tikka Masala — described on the menu with good humour as "the national dish of Great Britain" — is another crowd favourite, and it's done with the same care as everything else.
The naan and breads — is there more to them than garlic butter?
Considerably more. Every bread at Spice n Ice is cooked in the clay oven — that's stated clearly on the menu — and the range goes well beyond the standard garlic naan. There's Cheese Naan (mozzarella stuffed), Chilli Cheese Naan, Kashmiri Naan with dried fruits and nuts, Keema Naan stuffed with spiced minced meat, and the Chicken Tikka Naan — tikka pieces and chopped onions, all inside the bread.
Two stand out as particularly Spice n Ice: the Vindaloo Naan (a house speciality, and exactly as interesting as it sounds) and the Lachha Paratha — a multi-layered whole wheat bread that's Chef Jagpal's own speciality. If you haven't had a proper Lachha Paratha, it's worth ordering alongside a curry rather than naan — the layers pull apart differently, it's slightly denser, and it absorbs gravy in a way that's genuinely satisfying.
The Bread Basket and Cheese Basket options are great for tables that want variety without committing to one. Good for groups, good for indecisive people — which, at an Indian restaurant, is most of us.
Why Choose Spice n Ice for North Indian Food in Port Adelaide
The short answer: the food is cooked by people who grew up eating it. That's rarer than it should be.
Ranjeet and Jagpal have been running this kitchen since 2007 — that's nearly two decades of refining the same dishes, learning the Port Adelaide crowd, and cooking with a consistency that only comes from genuinely caring about what goes on the plate. They're from Punjab. The recipes are from their own family kitchen. The tandoor is used properly, not occasionally. And the spice levels are genuinely adjustable — mild through to hot — because the kitchen understands not everyone has the same tolerance, and that's fine.
The service is attentive without hovering. The setting is relaxed. There's an extensive imported beer list and a wine list chosen to work with the food. Online ordering is available if you'd rather eat at home, and the catering and functions side means large groups are handled just as well as a quiet dinner for two. For North Indian cooking in Adelaide's west, it's hard to find a better kitchen — or a more honest one.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes — and it's not just a description on the menu. Head Chef Ranjeet and Chef Jagpal are brothers originally from Punjab, the region where dishes like Butter Chicken, Dal Makhni, and Tandoori Chicken originated. The recipes draw directly from their family cooking background, which is reflected in the depth of flavour and the way dishes are prepared. This is Punjabi food cooked by people from Punjab.