The experience

So I’ve been seeing this place off the highway since as long as I can remember. My parents really never ate Indian food, so there was good reason we never went as a kid. I can’t say why I haven’t tried it since then. But since we started this, I’ve been talking about going to try this place. Tonight would finally be the night. Grace would meet us at Kebab n’ Kurry in Richardson. Open since 1982!

Kebab n' Curry

Grace was driving from Dallas so we beat her by a good bit.  We picked a table which I failed to notice was too close to the door.  Grace would not be pleased. Then I reviewed the menu.  The had Rogan Josh, a Kasmiri curry that is Grace’s favorite Indian dish. You don’t see it many places and, once upon a time, Grace had me search high and low for a restaurant that served it.  She always liked the one she got in Nashville the best.  It’s loaded up with cilantro, Grace’s favorite herb.  I sent her a text message. She send one back for me to go ahead and order that but I didn’t notice so she didn’t have her food when she got there.

While we waited in Mommy, I got Mina and Benji a strawberry lassi to share.  I had to sample it as I had never had a strawberry one. It was really good.  They brought some of the crips with the tamarind and mint dip and Benji proceeded to crush it all over the table.  Mina, meanwhile, was reenacting the Cat and The Fiddle.  The dish was running away with the spoon.

The Dish Ran Away With The Spoon

Mina then spotted some extra chairs sitting next to us and had to have me take a picture of her posing in them.

Take my picture Papa

Grace arrived about then and we quickly ordered as Benji was already getting antsy.  We mainly focused on keeping Benji quiet for the other patron’s sake. He wasn’t in a very good mood.  Fortunately, the kid’s food was pretty quick to arrive.  I cut up some for Benji and Mina.  Mina was immediately put off by the red color of the tandoori chicken.  On top of that I had given her some vegetable curry.  Benji wasn’t doing so well either.  He was already claiming he was done before our food even came out.

Once the naan arrived, Benji was happy to have some of that for a few more minutes.  The he changed his mind and wanted me to just take pictures of him playing with it rather than eating it.

Take a picture Papa

Our food wasn’t far behind and since Grace had to go back to the hospital, she was eating almost as fast as me tonight.  That was good since Benji was already done with the naan and was busy screaming and whining.  I did my best to keep him quite but the main goal was eating quickly.  The only one slowing us down was Mina.  Grace already left before she was done with her veggies.  I forced her to take the last couple bites and we paid the bill and headed out to give the rest of the guests some peace.

The food

Chicken Anarkali and Vegetable CurryI decided to go with something different tonight as they had a lot of dishes you don’t find elsewhere.  I had never heard of Anarkali, a curry dating back to the time of the Moghuls.  The waiter said it was excellent.  I’d have to agree.  Rich tomato flavor with a ton of exotic spice.  The chicken was tender and flavorful. My combo dish came with vegetable curry that was also excellent.  And of course basmati rice.  You can choose you spice level.  I asked for extra spicy and they definitely gave it to me.

Rogan JoshGrace, of course, went for the Rogan Josh.  It was loaded with tender lamb and the sauce had a lot of cilantro and curry flavor.  This sauce has a hint of sweetness that is unlike any other Indian curry you have tried.  I thought it was excellent.  Grace was also very excited.  There was enough lamb to share as we left some behind even with me eating some of it.

Kid's PlateThe kids had the tandoori chicken with vegetable curry.  Their vegetable curry is really good and is not spicy when ordered that way.  The tandoori had an excellent grilled flavor.  Mina claimed it was spicy but she was just having a bad attitude.  I tried it and it was not spicy at all.  Very juicy.  I would order the tandoori here.

NaanWe also got some naan.  One garlic and one plain.  The naan was very good.  Fresh, hot and fluffy.  The garlic one had just the right amount of garlic flavor and the plain one took some good pictures.

Was it worth the 26 year wait?  Hard to say but I was very impressed with the food.  I may have a new favorite Indian restaurant.  Grace, too.

They offer a lunch buffet for $6.95.  $7.95 on the weekend.  Check this place out if you’ve never been.  Don’t wait 26 years!

The service

The service was really good.  The staff worked the entire restaurant together which ensured we had drinks and our table cleared.  They were also very friendly with the kids and the manager/owner checked on us to make sure we were enjoying everything.  A+

The kids

The kids are limited to a tandoori chicken dinner with vegetables and rice but I am sure you could share any of the other dishes as they are quite healthy portions.  The tandoori chicken was quite good and should suit most kids.  Beyond that and the lassis and dessert, its traditional Indian that your kids may or may not enjoy.  Still, having a bit more healthy meal than chicken nuggets is a step up from most Indian restaurants.

The rest

So Grace and her love affair with cilantro is a strange story.  I like cilantro as much as an other person who eats a ton of Mexican food.  When I first started dating Grace, she HATED cilantro with a passion.  The flavor gave her a headache.  She went out of her way to not eat it.  I don’t really even remember when she decided to give it a chance.  I know I prodded her about it.  So now her hatred of cilantro has become a love affair.  I have never seen someone use so much cilantro in their food.  We’ll go to Genghis Grill and she will add a ridiculous amount of the stuff and still say it doesn’t have enough cilantro flavor when it clearly tastes mostly like cilantro.  Go figure.

Total Cost: $59.91

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