"So what place do you want to go for lunch?"
"That Curry Place is pretty good, I've heard."
"No, like, what's the actual name?"
Yup, it's actually called the Curry Place, located next to a Peking Palace. Say it out loud and it sounds like something out of an ethnic Hansel and Gretel. It looks like it'll be quite disappointing, considering it's literally the size of an extended bathroom at Bloomingdale's. I dragged my boyfriend here since I'd heard good things about this spot, as well as noting the favorable reviews on yelp. Note to any people who think that Indo-Chinese cuisine means Indonesian-Chinese cuisine: don't be like me. It doesn't mean that. This is Indian food.
So the night before, determined not to be an ignorant dweeb, I'd gone through the menu and studied everything on it so I could pretend to be well traveled and cool. However, when we arrived at 1 PM, it was actually lunch buffet only. Seems like they might only serve actual food for dinner. But no complaints, because the lunch buffet is a great way to figure out what exactly you like without having to commit and bemoan the fact you just paid twelve dollars for what looks like a plate of goat intestines bathed in squid ink. It's only ten bucks a person on weekends. so for the price of an entree, you can eat...well, any entrees you want.
I'm usually not a fan of indian food at all, especially after some nasty incidents with kabobs that looked like turds. However, this place definitely has rekindled my culinary curiosity. Their lunch buffet might look a bit disconcertingly small at first, but let me say it is definitely enough. Everything seems extremely well-made, without drops of grease the size of your eyeball or heavy doses of msg that make you scramble to drink from the nearest fire hydrant.
Their samosas were very good. My favorites from the lunch buffet were their chili chicken and the fried flour puffs with chickpea stew, kind of like a chat papri. Samosas are always a classic with me, and their vegetarian ones were very good. The first one I got, however, had a huge chunk of what looked like Mr. Potato Head's nose - basically, a huge chunk of potato. This makes me believe that they actually make everything themselves, but I could be wrong. Tandoori chicken was also great, although don't be like me and confuse the green peppers for green beans. Those things burn. You absolutely must try the Goan fish curry - my boyfriend is a natural enemy to all coconuts and even he liked the coconutty, rich, subtly-curried taste of the fish. Did I mention that the buffet comes with a generous serving of homemade naan bread? And that the desserts - mango custard and gulab jamun - were quite good? The gulab jamun is very, VERY sweet, though. I mistook the gulab for meatballs and put it in my chicken. Not recommended.
Servers were great, constantly were around to fill up waters without being annoying. Owner was friendly and cheerful. One thing that could be improved was the fact that they don't seem to replenish the food, and I had to literally dig around the curry like I was fishing in order to get a piece of meat. I'll definitely come back for the actual menu items next time! read more