India Garden: Worth it at half-price time
India Garden has long been one of Josh’s favorite lunch buffets in town. Neither one of us has ever ordered entrees, and tempted by the half-price menu (entrees between 4-6pm and 10pm-1am), we had an early Saturday dinner on Atwood.
The interior has a schizophrenic mix of traditional and contemporary, Indian and Western. Dark paneling, stained-glass chandeliers, and traditional paintings adorn the walls, juxtaposed with three televisions showing a Bollywood music video with western-dressed twenty-somethings gyrating in unison. While amusing, the TVs are transfixing to the point of distraction.
Yellow Tail wine is promoted prominently, in contrast to its status at Spice Island across the street, where the staff refuse to uncork it.
When asked which vegetarian dishes the restaurant does well, our waiter pointed immediately to the Shahi Korma ($10) and the Vegetable Jaffrezi Masala ($10). We ordered the former, the Sarson de Saag (made from spinach and mustard greens), ($9), an appetizer of Samosa Chat ($5), and Special Tea (cardamom and cloves) ($2).
The meal started with complimentary papadum, mint chutney, and tamarind sauce. Neither sauce was spicy, even for us wusses, who never foray beyond 5 on a 1-10 spice scale. The samosa chat was outstanding — a single softened samosa covered in a pile of mildly spicy chana masala, tomatoes, and onions. We wish there were more samosa, though.
Now for the korma. Oh, the korma. It consisted of tender carrots, cauliflower, and green beans in a rich, sweet cream sauce. Moira found the sauce comforting, with a full flavor hard to attain at home, while Josh thought it was so rich that more than a few bites were not enjoyable.
The saag was inedibly salty — hopefully just a kitchen mistake. Neither one of us has ever sent a dish back (ever!), but we returned the saag. The waiter was hesitant, but agreed to replace it with the Jaffrezi Masala, which was a tasty mix of bell pepper, zucchini, carrots, and lima beans. Unfortunately, there were also potent, undercooked onion slices and a thick layer of oil in the bottom of the bowl. So, not a great dish. And they never brought our tea.
We both have fond memories of the lunch buffet, and hope that this dinner was just a fluke. Overall, the food is a great deal during half-price time (our entire meal was $20 with tip), but not dependably good.
[ 3 veggies ]
veggieburgh » Spice Island Tea House said,
November 9, 2006 @ 10:55 am
[...] For vegetarian entrees, our waitress recommended the Curry Trio or Monsoon of Vegetables. We took the Curry Trio ($7.95) with tofu (+$0.50) and ventured the Fresh Bean Sprout with Basil ($6.95) with tofu (+$.0.50). Each dish came with a small mound of white rice topped with fried onion and white beans. The rice was not quite enough to acompany the spicy curry and we could have done without the beans. However, both the curry and the beansprouts had excellent flavor. The beansprouts, in their delicate basil sauce, had just the right amount of crunch, although acompanying onions were severly undercooked (seemingly a common problem on Atwood St). The curry, in contrast, had a strong, rich, spicy sauce, and was very filling. [...]
Pat Gunn said,
April 18, 2008 @ 8:19 am
If you ever go back for entrees, I particularly recommend the Paneer Tikka Makhni and the Saag Paneer. Their Aloo Ghobi is also quite good.