We're allium-free vegetarians and had been meaning to try more Indian restaurants but the sheer amount of "pure veg" Indian restaurants within the same square mile was both awesome and daunting. We're still looking around for our go-to Indian restaurant in the area as our kids love saag/palak paneer and we used to go at least once a month where we moved from. But we finally made it!
We came here on a Monday that also fell on a holiday so they had a steady amount of customers. We were the only non-Indian customers, which appears to be normal. They're located in a small strip along with 2 or 3 other businesses. Shared parking is behind the building so most people entered through the back door. It was about half full when we got there so I can see it filling up fast during crowded times.
Walk through because no one is at the back but there is a small clothing rack to hang coats; the counter is at the front by the front door. We made ourselves known and were promptly seated.
They serve vegetarian food and many are Swaminarayan-friendly (allium-free, which appears to be their default mode), certain can be made Jain as well! They do use alliums but overall, they seem to be able to make most of the dishes without alliums.
We ordered the following, Swaminarayan-style and mild because one of my kids can do but mild food:
DAHI PURI: I usually get pani puri but decided to try it out since it's been a while since I had this. It came out first as the appetizer, was a thing of beauty, and there are A LOT of flavors in there. The sweet-leaning yogurt, sev with its textural differences, the freshness of the cilantro, the spiced potatoes, the tart pomegranate seeds... My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
PALAK PANEER: This was ordered for my kids. Green gravy with tender paneer. They liked it! The curry got a little too spicy but it didn't hit them until later. My kid with the food allergies ate all the paneer when the gravy grew too spicy for him.
MALAI KOFTA: This is different from the malai kofta I've had before but not in a bad way. I definitely think they use cashew "cream" in this. It's lightly sweet in a way that reminds me of cashews. The kofta are soft and I'm pretty sure are paneer based. This is probably the most mild curry we ordered, both in terms of spice and spices. This was my pick because I usually can't order malai kofta at Indian restaurants so I was pleased I could hear.
MATAR METHI MALAI: I love how Indian curries are so straightforward when it comes to names. I'm not sure what to expect with this but my husband didn't know what to get so I nudged him towards this. He wanted MATAR PANEER but it's not on the menu. This is essentially fenugreek pea curry in a milky gravy. It has very interesting spices and flavor. A little more bland than the others, yet not at the same time. Must be that fenugreek! For some odd reason, it reminded me of coconut chutney I've had before.
We also got ROTI for one of my kids who prefers bread over rice. All curries come with white basmati.
For drinks, we got MANGO LASSI, SPRITE, and CHAAS (buttermilk). The buttermilk was different! Much more spiced than I expected. I also swear at one point I tasted a raw onion bit but it only happened once so who knows if it was mistaken blended in or it was all in my head. I do remember it was STRONG though.
Overall, we were pleasantly surprised at the sheer amount of choices we had. Our bill totaled to around $90 (curries are around $20, Dahi puri was $12) and we brought home some leftovers. They seem to be family run and are fairly nice and helpful. We would likely go back again to try more things, but the palak paneer isn't completely up our kids' alley to become their favorite.
If you have food allergies, let them know. My youngest has multiple food allergies including to nuts and wheat. Most of their curries contains nuts EXCEPT for the palak paneer and their bhindi (okra) dish. Luckily for my kid. Despite how nuts are a common ingredient in the kitchen, my kid was completely fine during and after eating.
Note: their menu says they charge gratuity for parties of 4 people or more. My husband says he didn't see it on the bill when it was time to pay. Not sure if that statement is now outdated or it only counts if there are 4+ ADULTS. read more
