I love Indian food, but apparently I am not having great luck with it in South Austin. Last fall I went to Asiana (see my post here) and was completely uninspired by the offerings (not to mention the decor), but have come to find out several foodie friends of mine like the place AND it made the Austin Chronicle's "First Plates" critic's picks list. Then last month, I tried Royal India, in the old Estancia Churrascaria location on the westbound Hwy. 290 access road, just before Brodie Lane in Sunset Valley. My friend and I met for an early Saturday evening dinner, and got there at 5:30 when they opened.
I ordered an iced chai tea which then took about 20 minutes to come. And when it did come, it was warm, and didn't have much flavor to it -- very little of the cardamom that I love about a hot or cold chai. So I told the waiter that. He said Indians don't drink it iced, only hot. And I understand his point completely (and no, there was not an iced option on the menu), but don't you think from the hospitality/customer service standpoint, that perhaps he should have said when I ordered it that it would essentially be a watered-down hot chai drink? Basically, we argued over the chai. He took it to the back and returned with more ice in it, but that didn't exactly help either. Fortunately, he did take it off the bill.
And on to the food. We shared an order of the vegetarian samosas, which I found to be bland. No cumin or coriander (or really any spice or salt) could be detected in the mashed potato interior. Ironically, their online menu describes these as "well-seasoned."
My friend had the Aloo Gobi, a cauliflower and potato dish, which was fairly spicy; this was the best dish we ordered.
I had the lamb (kakori) kabobs from the Royal Tandoor portion of the menu. The ground meat was over-worked, and hence dried out. Tough meat is not very good meat in my book. I think the flavor was okay, though not memorable, but the execution was not.
I really wish I had better things to report. If you have been to Royal India and liked it, please tell me what you ate! I would love to have better things to write about.
Here are a few places I have been to in the past couple of weeks!
A friend and I checked out a couple of food trailers on a recent Sunday. We met at Lucky's Puccias, which is adjacent to the Tiniest Bar in Texas on West 5th and Bowie. What's a puccia, you ask? Well, it's a regional bread from the southern Italian region of Taranto (think: the heel of the Italian boot), that I would say is a cross between a pita and focaccia. Lucky's makes their own bread in a wood-fired oven, and they have a variety of sandwich options.
We got the original Lucky's, with tomatoes, arugula, fresh mozzarella, and prosciutto, and it was delicious! There's also a touch of chipotle aioli on it, which provides just enough kick. The bread is tender and soft, but didn't break apart when eating. They post their daily specials on their Facebook page, and I've seen pictures of some really yummy looking pizzas, which would be great with a beer.
We then went over to the trailer park on South Congress, large to dispel a rumor that I had heard that the lot had already been shut down for hotel development. Nope, it's still alive and well, though I imagine that day will come soon. After walking the block and seeing what our various options were, we decided on The Original New Orleans Po-Boy and Gumbo Shop.
We split the crawfish po-boy (though I really coulda sworn I ordered catfish) and a side of rice and beans. The po-boy was okay, though the bread totally fell apart. Wish there had been more remoulade or sauce or something other than under ripe tomatoes. The rice and beans though was not good. WAAAAY too salty, and if I am saying that, then it's too salty. Some of the rice at the bottom was also undercooked. We each took about two bites and that was it. I hope others have had better experiences here!
Last week, I had dinner with another friend at Asiana. "Great, Asian food!" you're probably thinking! Yeah, so was I when I first heard the name, but it's actually Indian food, located at IH-35 and William Cannon. I had never heard of Asiana until a couple weeks ago, when the Statesman released their Top 50 restaurants, this was listed at number 50, so I figured it ought to be good. Weeeellllll..... it wasn't bad, but it wasn't really what I was expecting, though it's entirely possible I didn't order their best dishes.
I started with an order of samosas, which turned out to be four smaller-sized ones. Well-fried, and/or they were fried a while ago and were keeping warm, they were your average potato and pea samosa. I was disappointed in the tamarind sauce that accompanied them; it was too thin and not twangy enough to satisfy my normal love of a good tamarind dish.
I was very excited to see the southern Indian specialty of dosas on the menu. Dosas are the Indian version of a crepe, made typically from rice and lentil flour. I thought I had ordered #20, the Mysore Masala Dosa, which was a crepe stuffed with potatoes and onions. What I received was #19, the Mysore Dosa, just the crepe with some chutnies. (Hope this isn't some sort of pattern. Am I saying the right dish, and just receiving the wrong ones???) Kind of like the tamarind, these sauces did not excite me. I did like just the plain crepe, but would have been a bit happier with the "burrito" version. I had also ordered the #45, the keema nan bread, which is described as being stuffed with a spiced ground lamb. The keema looked identical to my friend's garlic nan, so we didn't even realize at first that mine had been delivered to the table. But the lamb was ground so fine you could barely make out the specs, and sadly, there was practically no flavor to it, much less any kind of spices. Realizing that my meal was not what I had expected it to be, and also that I was in need of some protein, I quickly scanned the menu and ordered the chicken korma.
Meanwhile, my friend ordered the tandoori mixed grill, which had chicken, shrimp, and sheeh kababs (seasoned ground lamb patties). The chicken was tasty, the lamb a bit dry. Very red!
My korma arrived, and I forgot to take a picture, though it wouldn't have been very photogenic anyway. It too, was just okay. Once again, it's the sauce I had the most problem with. Not really rich, creamy, and nutty like kormas I have had before. Thinner, and I wouldn't say there was a distinct flavor to it, though it was more yellow (turmeric) than what I feel like I typically see. Just kind of uninteresting. Oh, and I should say a word about the decor at Asiana. WHAT decor?!? There's almost nothing up on the walls, except a few ill-fitting photographs that look like they were left over from a 1990s travel business. There was the Denver skyline and the London bridge, as well as a covered wagon. These alone left me scratching my head.
I would go back to Lucky's Puccia's in a heartbeat! The other two.... I am in no hurry to return to, unfortunately. Thanks also to Foodie is the New Forty for the Lucky's recommendation!
