Honest review for someone trying Indian food for the first time:
In my entire 28 years of existence, I've only tried naan once in the past, which was over a decade ago. I do not remember how it tasted, honestly.
My partner of 5 years loves to try new food and cuisine. After being with him, we went on a journey to eat out at different restaurants, multiples occasions a week to eat food made by different restaurants and cultures (some includes: German, Greek, Italian, Mexican, Spain, Peruvian, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Various Chinese, Japanese... *there are probably more cuisine that we've tried that I couldn't think of at the moment*) Before dating him, I sticked to my usual Chinese health foods that my mother would cook every night and a bit of American cuisine that was introduced in school & university. I rarely went out to eat at restaurants. The times when I did eat out, was on very special occasions (which was probably 2-3 times a year).
I've been very open in trying all the restaurants that my boyfriend wanted to try for the past 5 years. I said yes to everything for a chance to gain new experience and diversity.
Years later, I started to develop a sense of what I liked and disliked regarding to the taste of foods, after all, I've been eating similar but different foods from different restaurants and cuisine for over 5 years. One cuisine that I have never tried with him was Indian food. My partner suggested we should order it for dinner, tonight. I always had the perception that it would be too heavy of a flavoring than what I was normally used to. I decided to have an open approach to trying it out again, today (over 10 years later).
Food:
Chicken Tikka Biryani - The rice was a bit spicy according to my partner. Since I was raised in a family who usually eat white rice accompanied by other dishes that consists of mostly vegetables seafood, light on meat, which didn't have much salt and sugar, besides the soy sauce my mom used in fish, tofu, & cucumber, this rice dish was way too salty to my liking. I still ate most of it, but I wouldn't order again.
Vegetable Samosa - This reminds me of empanadas which I've tried in the past. It was filling and after being microwaved, I can say it was pretty comforting to eat.
Lamb Spring Roll - The size of the rolls was bigger than expected. When eaten alone, the 2 pieces of lamb spring roll can be a whole meal. I'm not a big fan of the texture of ground lamb inside of a big roll, maybe because my family don't really eat ground lamb. I still finished it all, though. It was interesting to say the least.
Garlic Seasoned Naan - This was probably my favorite food out of all of what we've ordered. It was not too flavorful and it can be dipped to however much sauce/korma to your liking.
Lamb Korma - Again, very flavorful, but comforting? I guess.
Mango Lassi - It was a sweet treat after a very salty/savory meal. It neutralized the salty flavoring in my mouth for a few minutes (it lasted only a few minutes though). I only finished half of it and saved the rest.
In conclusion, this meal left my mouth feeling extra salty, even 2 hours later. Do I regret trying? No, I've gained a little bit of experience in trying another culture's cuisine. Would I try it again? No, definitely not my cup of tea. If you have never tried Seva Indian Cuisine (or Indian cuisine) before, it is definitely a worth to try to see whether you like it or not. read more