What is your favorite Indian Restaurant. When I first moved to Austin we were excited when the first Indian Restaurant opened–Passage to India. Now there are too many to name. Madras Pavillion seems to be a favorite for South Indian. I like Swad mostly because it reminds me of the street food in Bombay (but the atmosphere and service turn some off). Bombay Bistro is one of the newest. Taj Palance one of the most venerable. I started eating at Sarovar when I visited Silicon Valley…and was excited when they first moved here. Masala Wok? Reviewed that a few weeks ago. Leave comments & trackbacks. Let me know.
By the way our favorite hamburger poll was the most popular post on the site!
I love Bombay Bistro, the Clay Pit and Star of India
The most authentic and most delicious, vegetarian South Indian food in Austin is Madras Pavilion. I prefer the lunch buffet for variety. While it isn’t MTR in Bangalore, it’s quite good for Austin, Texas. I agree with your comments about Swad. However, they have a better masala dosa than MP and better sambhar, so you have to know what you want to order before you pick your restaurant. The best Samosas I have ever had (anywhere, including Crawford Market in Mumbai) used to be from the counter at MGM grocery, but I have heard they have changed samosa vendor recently. I plan to investigate further. Sarovar and Taj Palace aren’t totally bad, but they are incredibly bland to appease unsophisticated palates that have never experienced cardamom, cumin, chilis and the like. I don’t patronize those restaurants because of it (there are too many good restaurants to bother). If you want to have a hearty, spicy Mughul style meal, I recommend Shalimar, (Indian-Pakistani food). However, most folks I know don’t like Shalimar. I think it’s more because because of Indo-Pak relations and vegetarianism (as they serve lots of meat, including beef) than the actual food. I like it because I can watch Zee TV or old Amitabh Bachchan films while having lunch (unless some Desi from Dell comes in and demands to watch CNN) They have good mango lassis and very good veggie samosas. Finally, I just tried Bombay Bistro for dinner. It is quite expensive, but I enjoyed the vindaloo. I wouldn’t consider it authentic at all, but more of a high-end bistro, with a nice atmosphere (unlike most Indian restaurants in Austin!), Indian inspired food, an extensive wine list and a full bar. Bombay Bistro is a good place to take a date.
Passage to India wasn’t the first, although it was probably the longest lasting. The first was at Capital Plaza, way back when there was a movie theater there also. The restaurant was owned by a young couple, as I recall, and the decorations were Indian bedspreads. The food, by the way, was very good. It was frequented mostly by students, because it was also inexpensive.
The samosas that used to be at MGM also used to be found at Kash-Karry/FreshPlus and a few other places. They were Kala’s Cuisine, and she’s not making them these days. Word is that she got married or something. People have tried to locate her to get her recipes, but no luck.
Taj Palace is getting better again, with much more variety in the vegetables, although the soups don’t seem to change these days. There may be a new chef or something.
No contest. The Clay Pit is our favorite! Great half-price appetizers during happy hour and authentic Indian food.
Another vote for Bombay Bistro. The breads are the best I’ve every eaten. Excellent buffet, although it’s starting to get busy during peak lunch hours. As to the person who said it was expensive, I haven’t been there for dinner, but the lunch is a bargain.
I’ll definitely have to try Bombay Bistro for lunch. The dinner was about $60 for two of us (but we did take home a lot of left-overs!)
We had a business meeting at Bombay Bistro, the waiter dropped 5 glasses of Mango Lassi on my work clothes, of course, it was an accident, the manager, Raj and the owner Jyothi were very apologitic verbally and promised to get my clothes cleaned, that was it!! No follow up phone calls to complete the promised recourse to make the customer come back again!! It has been 3 weeks, followed by an email, and so far no response!!
A New restaurant, a bad start! This should not be a lesson to be learnt by the owner Jyothi, a veteran in resturant business, who used to own Taj Palace!!
I don’t get the fuss about Madras Pavilion. Honestly even Sarovar offers better Sambar, coconut chutney, and tomato chutney. Sarovar does tend to underspice by default…all you have to do is ask for it to be spiced and they accomodate. The service at both Sarovar and Madras Pavilion isn’t the greatest. Best Nans so far have been at Bombay Bistro.
I visited Swad last week. They overcharged my credit card by $15. Those of you who pay by credit card at this restaurant be aware and save your receipt.