So, last Friday, 7/16/10, my friend Freja and I decided to grab some Indian food. Let me start off by saying that I love this place. I am a huge fan of Indian food, and this place does me right every time. It opens at 5:30 p.m. for dinner and we rolled in at exactly 5:30 and we weren't the first ones in there. I have been to this restaurant many times, at different times of the night and as I have only ever eaten from the buffet, I must say that the food has always been fresh. Never once have I seen any dried up, cracky food that a buffet can easily turn into. Another plus about this restaurant is the staff is unbelievably friendly,( now I am not a huge stickler on the personalities of servers and long as you aren't being a total jerk and are relatively paying attention I will tip you) but these people are on top of it. They are always silently filling your water without being asked and clearing away plates. Even the management is super friendly, making sure everything is satisfactory and that your visit is pleasant.
Like I mentioned before, I have only eaten the buffet, but if you are scared of buffets ( and you are probably thinking about the Golden Corral ) they offer a full and extensive menu. However if you are down with the buffet ( and I don't mean the Golden Corral ), let me tell you a little about what they offer...
Naan: Leavened white bread baked in the tandoor. For those of you who have never had naan, it's sort of like if pita bread had a baby with a tortilla. If you love bread, you'll love naan. It's magical and perfect for dipping.
Samosa: Crisp shell stuffed with seasoned potatoes and green peas. The only Samosa I have ever had were made with vegetables. They are little perfect triangles of mash-potatoey goodness. Samosas are delicious and perfect at anytime. Try it once and you'll be hooked.
Saag Paneer: Tender chunks of homemade cheese in creamed seasoned spinach. Now, if I had an Indian comfort food, this teamed up with naan would be it. I love spinach in any form and this is perfectly smooth, creamed spinach with smallish cubes of paneer that look like cubed tofu. Paneer does not have a strong flavor, so don't be scared. It's very delicate and mild. It's a non-melting cheese and does not involve rennet in making it.
Long grain rice with mixed vegetables: White rice steamed with carrots, peas, and green beans. As with most Asian dishes, this is used as a base for meats and sauces. It was moist and the vegetables were fresh.
Chicken Pakora: Fried marinated pieces of chicken. These are battered and fried. Not really crispy or soggy and I thought they were pretty good. They remind me of tempura battered vegetables but with chicken.
Chicken Jalferzi: Chicken marinated with fresh ground spices and sauteed with tomatoes, onions and bell peppers. I thought this dish was excellent. The pieces of vegetables were good sized and it all had a lot of flavor. They used white meat chicken, and it was not over-cooked or weird. I am pretty skeptical about eating meat at restaurants sometimes, and the meat here was thoroughly cooked and good quality.
Mixed vegetables in curry sauce: Fresh vegetables cooked in curry sauce. This dish is so simple and ones of my favorites. The vegetables were tender and it consisted of chunks of carrots, potatoes, onions and peas. They were perfectly seasoned and the sauce was on the thicker side. Perfect for scooping with naan!
By the end of my meal I was definitely too stuffed for desserts. They do offer many more dishes on the buffet than I tried. They had lamb meatballs, tandoori chicken, they offered a yellow lentils dish, madras soup, a cucumber salad, fruit salad, yogurt for dipping sauce and many more items. For dessert they offered kheer badami ( a traditional rice pudding, which I have had homemade and is very good ) and gulab jamun ( which is sweet pastry balls ( think do-nuts) swimming in a honey flavored syrup). There are other things like mango pudding and ice cream, but like I said I was too stuffed.
Nothing in the food is very spicy at all and everything seems to be spiced with garlic, ginger, coriander and curries.
The price is affordable, My total before tip was $11.90.
This restaurant is cute but nothing fancy and dimly lit at night. I really have no complaints. Check out the Star of India if you get a chance, I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
Star of India
2900 W. Anderson ln. Ste. 12D
Austin, Texas 78757
p.s. I borrowed that one photo from the internet. I was too fatty-style to remember to take a picture of the sign.
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