Salivating in suburbia
India CurryGaleria MokotowUl. Wo3oska 12Hours: 10 a.m.-last guest
Tel. 541-3405/06Reservations and credit cards accepted
In the pre-Christmas shopping frenzy, Warsaw's Galeria Mokotow is evolving as the newest shrine to the retail gods. Every man and his dog are there on the weekends, along with scantily clad, shivering-cold Santa's helpers handing out junk mail.
But even Apostles and those goose-pimpled girls need to eat and Galeria Mokotow offers up the ubiquitous "food-court fare" of fried goodies, along with a couple of restaurant surprises, including India Curry.
What better way to work off the guilt of an over-expensive shopping spree on designer bikinis in the middle of winter than by over-eating rich Indian curries and naan, all washed down with a number of icy-cold Budweisers? I know that worked for me.
Just a stone's throw from "Center Stage" and Galeria Mokotow's own glass elevator, India Curry is kind of like a theme restaurant haven in the middle of a glittering marble palace. The front section for smokers is all tile and bronze elephants. The back section is reminiscent of a tent, with colorful embroidered fabric draped from the ceiling, comfy booths and all sorts of authentic reproduction Indian art. The whole effect is topped off with the waitresses wearing traditional purple shalwar-kamiz.
My friends and I slipped into the padded booth and proceeded to negotiate a menu that went on, and on, and on. The restaurant is a family affair, opened by siblings Rajesh, Manoj and Asha Bojwani. They've already had success with Curry In a Hurry in Wroclaw (and an electronics business) and now they've hit the big time.
"One of the main things we wanted to achieve was to offer cuisine from all over India," explained Rajesh. With five chefs one from the north, west and south, and two from the east they've done just that. By the time I got to the end of the menu, I'd forgotten what was at the beginning! But there were enough surprises to tempt even the most jaded suburban curry epicure.
Nibbling on a pappadum, with a cold Bud in hand (mainly because the wine list is all but non-existent), the service was so efficient we were checked on three times before we'd even opened our menus. Finally, we decided. For starters we chose the paneer tikka; the "pakoras delight," and something with the very un-Indian name of chicken lollipops chicken legs dipped in a marinated sauce and deep-fried. It was all tasty. The paneer cheese was soft, the pakoras crisp, if a little over-battered, but the chicken was a hit: lightly spiced, crisp on the outside, and succulent on the inside.
For the main course, Magda's fish tikka masala was deemed the winner.
"You can always tell a good restaurant by their masala," said Jim, something of an Indian aficionado. And he was right: rich and creamy, it was wonderful like most of the meal.
Jim chose the murgh hyderabadi chicken in a tomato/pepper sauce that was tangy and nicely peppery (but we have no idea where those tomatoes were hiding). And David chose the murgh chettinad chicken in a spicy southern sauce that was richly cinnamon flavored with enough novelty value to appeal to our taste buds.
The only disappointment was my ominously named mutton stew! The few pieces of chewy meat were swimming in a coconut-flavored curry that was sweetly bland and as pale as my winter tan. But there were a few fresh curry leaves floating in there, which is always a good sign of an authentic kitchen.
But with such a big menu, there's always something else to choose ... so I did, dessert.
"You know it's made from carrots," said the waitress as she took my order of gajar hawla. I knew that. After all, it was written on the menu.
What arrived was a silver bowl of gleaming orange goo that had as much resemblance to a carrot as a bowling ball. Heavily flavored with cardamom, topped with flaked almonds, it was oh-so-sweet and yummy.
Dinner for four came to zl. 370 ($84).
From the menu:
Paneer tikka zl.28
Pakoras delight
zl.28
Chicken lollipops
zl.36
Murgh gettinadzl.34
Murgh hyderabadizl.34
Fish tikka masalazl.40
Mutton stewzl.40
Gajar hawlazl.22
