Kickin’ it at Curry-N-Kabab

by Intern Hannah Alkadi

A variety of tasty foods from Curry-N-Kabab

Often with unfamiliar ethnic food, we tend to eat just one dish on the menu and ignore everything else. We’ll slurp pho and only pho at Vietnamese restaurants. We’ll crunch on tacos and only tacos at Mexican places. As for Indian food, we’ll scoop up curry, often forgetting the bountiful treasure lurking on the menu.

Sydney and I didn’t have a single plate of curry at Curry-N-Kabab (or kababs, now that you mention it) — throwing caution to the wind and trying out whatever sample of deliciousness the buffet provided to us.

Curry-N-Kabab has a very passionate following on Yelp, Foursquare, and Facebook. Many loyal customers have been going for years and are enthusiastic guests. Raking the reviews, you can find many recommendations and tips around the menu.

One common source of praise is how flexible the chefs are. Not only do they have a gluten-free buffet, but they offer vegetarian and vegan options by substituting dairy ingredients for coconut milk or oil. And if you want to get really crazy, the staff can spice up ori spice down the food to your liking.

Immediately upon walking in, we were greeted warmly by the waitress and told we could sit wherever we liked. We dove for the table next to the window, obviously, because that’s where the best lighting was at.

The restaurant is small but cozy. The buffet at the left was small but simmering with colorful dishes. The wall decor was humble, with a blessing written in Arabic above the beverages counter. Light poured in from the windows; not so much above. Yet dining in slight darkness wasn’t an issue. Though we were provided the menu, we were told that the buffet gave us the option of unlimited sesame or garlic naan in addition to dessert. It was a deal we couldn’t pass up.

Sydney loaded her plate with nearly everything on the buffet. Allow me to give you a tour around the ring of perfection: mounted majestically on top of the rice is chicken tikka masala, chicken that’s been marinated in spices and creamy yogurt. Sydney also opted for chili and tandoori chickens, but also went to the vegetarian side. There she found delight in panak paneer, a cheese and spinach dish, along with cauliflower in a spicy sauce and a garbanzo bean medley.

As for me, I chose my favorites of the buffet: the tikka masala, tandoori, paneer, and ordering the poori and butter chicken off of the a la carte menu.

Everything was flavorful and creamy; not dripping of sauce or too dry. The meat was tenderly cooked. The breads were baked fresh when they came out, flaking off with ease when we peeled the pieces off. Cleanup was relatively simple: the puddle of sauces on our plates were wiped clean and promptly devoured. Well, except for the butter chicken I ate while finishing this blog post.

Curry-N-Kabab is located on 11904 Coursey Blvd. You can like their page on Facebook to see any upcoming discounts or specials. You can call for a reservation or text your order at 225-372-5002.