Apricot chicken, but not as you know it at this one-of-a-kind suburban time capsule

Rama’s is unlike anywhere else in Australia, drawing diners to its rare blend of cuisines, free BYO and ’90s-era good vibes.

When Mini Gaundar was a child in Fiji, she’d track through the canefields on her way to school with a packed lunch of roti rolled around pumpkin and shredded coconut. The granddaughter of an indentured sugarcane farmer who’d been enticed to Fiji under British colonial rule, Gaundar grew up on a sugarcane plantation with six siblings, and their lunchboxes were typical of many Fijians with South Asian heritage, tasting both of a home adopted and one left behind.

Half a lifetime later, that very dish is on the menu at Rama’s Fiji Indian Restaurant in Pearce, about 15 minutes from Canberra’s CBD. Not every plate here tugs at these threads – there are the same pappadums, samosas, lamb rogenjosh and masala you’ll find at any other suburban Indian restaurant – but then there are dishes typical of the Fiji Indian repertoire: jhinga nariel of prawns in coconut, a curry of goat served on the bone and others made with beef and pork, a broad departure from traditional Indian menus.

Tea. Coffee. Sugar. Spice. These small foodstuffs have reshaped borders, changed history, built empires. There’s a thesis on how the British Empire’s appetite for sweetness led to Gaundar running one of Australia’s most singular restaurants. In fact, I’m sure the guy at the next table, dressed every bit like a 𝄒90s geography teacher, has been working on it since 1991 when Gaundar first took over Rama’s. Everyone else? They’ve just been enjoying themselves.

Glance around the room and longtime regulars are pulling the cork from BYO Penfolds and spilling fiery lime pickle on white tablecloths. By the windows at the entrance, Gaundar is serving a couple of twentysomethings who are letting the head subside on the pet-nat they had rolling around in the back of the car on the drive here.

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Once these tables have scorched their fingers with turmeric-tinted pakoras, and crunched through the bubbly pastry encasing the potato-and pea-filled samosas, odds are they’re sharing the Fijian pork curry. Made with onion, capsicum and a mix of cuts, each bite reveals a different texture: the belly collapsing into sweet fattiness, the shoulder dense and meaty. Extra turmeric and a thwack of fenugreek add warmth and fragrance to a coconut base.

Part of the restaurant’s appeal is that it feels like something of an open secret. Every local knows Rama’s, and it’s hard to find many who don’t speak of it fondly, even