Sherman's Food Adventures: Original Tandoori Kitchen

Original Tandoori Kitchen

My last Indian meal was a buffet (Mehfil) and we all know that buffets are not the best place to look for quality. However, I do realize that it cost me under $10 to get a filling and passable meal. Well, today, I was looking for quality. The Original Tandoori Kitchen has been around for awhile (especially the Vancouver location) and I figured it would be some good eats. Mind you, the Surrey location is in the same plaza as Bombay Se, which happens to be a great Indian restaurant in its own right. I've been meaning to try OTK for awhile now; but I always seem to get sidetracked. It's like my never-ending quest to try Splitz Grill to no avail. Today, I made an effort and finally visited OTK. Since my lunch hour is not really an hour long, I quickly parked the car and zipped into the restaurant. One good thing about going to lunch before noon is that the restaurant is usually empty. This is good for pictures and the food comes out quicker.

I really didn't feel like eating a big meal for lunch; but the dinner combination caught my eye. It included Butter Chicken, Lamb Curry, Tandoori Chicken, Palak Paneer, Dal, Raita, Rice, Naan and Galub Jamun. Yes, it turns out that I was going to eat a big meal for lunch. Great, I was going to be way too full and have bad breath too. Luckily I didn't have to wait long for my meal because there was lots of it and I had to scarf it down quick. The first item I tried was the Butter Chicken and it was pretty good. It was thick and there was not shortage of flavour. It was very similar to the one at Tasty Sweets, except it wasn't as salty. It did have a predominant tomato flavour though. The chicken was both plentiful and very tender. The Lamb Curry was rich in flavour. There was a pronounced ginger flavour with coriander and cloves. This was a nice contrast to the smooth butter chicken. The lamb was tender and delicious. The Palak Paneer was outstanding. There was a generous amount of paneer which were fluffy and soft. The spinach was flavoured generously with garlic, ginger with hints of coriander and cumin.

The Dal was pretty good. The lentils were soft and there was plenty of garlic flavour. But, I'm not much of a lentil fan, so I wasn't too enthused about it. One thing that disappointed me was the Tandoori Chicken. It look and smelled really good; yet it was a bit dry. The fact it was so dry, I really didn't enjoy the flavours as much as if it was tender. It's too bad, since the restaurant is called the Original Tandoori Kitchen! Moreover, the naan was a bit average in my opinion. It was soft, yet a bit doughy. The naan at Desi Junction and Mirch Masala are better.

Regardless of the fact I ate like a madman, as the clock was ticking, I still had time to enjoy the flavours and spices. I think OTK had some really discernable flavours going on in their food. It's just too bad the Tandoori Chicken didn't live up to my expectations. No matter, it's still good Indian food.

The Good:
- Good flavours
- Meats were tender except for the Tandoori Chicken
- Restaurant was clean and spotless

The Bad:
- Tandoori Chicken was dry
- No lunch special = expensive dinner combination

Original Tandoori Kitchen
#2 - 7548 120th Street
Surrey, B.C.
604-592-8900
www.originaltandoori.ca

Original Tandoori Kitchen on Urbanspoon

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