Gandhi

Being a loyal and devoted fan of Seva, it took a Living Social deal to get me to try Gandhi.  For those of you unfamiliar with Astoria let me fill you in. Seva is an Indian restaurant that serves the best Indian food I have ever tasted, has great prices (including an amazing lunch/dinner special), sports an always smiling and attentive wait staff, is always filled with people, has a cool atmosphere, and is considered a pretty trendy spot in and of itself, but also located right next door to wannabe hipster haven Sweet Afton. Gandhi is an Indian restaurant that is located right around the corner from Seva, and is usually empty each time I walk past it, sports bright lights (as my friend metaphorically put it, “if we are 720HD, Gandhi is 1080HD”), and does not have the following Seva garners.

Gandhi in 1080HD

I had been curious about Gandhi, but never enough so to give up a meal at Seva.  A recent Living Social deal (and a subsequent Groupon deal three weeks later) was my opportunity. For $20, I would get one appetizer, two entrees and an order of Nan. The Groupon deal offered the same allowances, except for $19. Why there is a dollar difference, we will never know.

The deal states you need to make a reservation, so I called ahead on a recent Friday night much to the mockery of my dining friend. Yes, the place is always empty but maybe, just maybe, this Friday night will be different. Upon telling the Gandhi employee my desired time, we hung up before I realized I hadn't given him my name or number of people. I figured we were fine.

We arrived at Gandhi to find one duo seated. We were shown to a table that had three condiment cups already out: a tamarind, mint, and onion chutney. All of the tables in the place had the sauces out, a bold move which left me wondering what they do with the sauces that have been sitting out all night on the unused tables.  Seva also serves mint and tamarind chutneys, which are brought out once the diners are seated, a move which makes a whole lot of sense. Our waiter was a bit odd, and I attribute this to overly attentive service due to the lack of patrons. I felt he was trying to get us to order alcohol, and kept showing us the alcohol menu while we were deciding on food, and pointing out the different wines and beers Gandhi offered. After we declined on ordering alcohol, he awkwardly stood by for a few seconds too long as we returned to our food menu. Although a little awkward, he did not try to convince us otherwise after we passed.

Pappadum was brought to our table as we were seated, to be eaten with the chutney. The onion chutney was very tasty and paired well with the fresh Pappadum.

pappadum + chutney

As our appetizer, we ordered the Chicken/meat samosa, which is described as a “minced chicken or meat turnover.” I am not sure what type of minced meat we got in our samosas, but whatever it was tasted good but a little bland. They came on a rather scarce bed of lettuce, and were a bit dry. We used the tamarind and mint chutneys to dress them and add same flavor. I also ordered a Mango Lassi which met my expectations.

chicken/meat samosas

For our entrees, I went with the Chicken Tikka Masala while my friend ordered the Tandoori Chicken. We also had Nan and Basmati rice. The food literally took no longer than five minutes to come out, save for the Nan which took an additional minute. My Chicken Tikka Masala was good but not great. There was nothing wrong with it per say, but I find Seva’s to be tastier and more flavorful. My friend loved his Tandoori Chicken, which was extremely tender and moist and came out on a sizzling iron skillet, accompanied with roasted peppers and onions. Our Nan was soft and fluffy with no burnt char.

chicken tikka masala

basmati rice

tandoori chicken

nan

our meals

For dessert, we went with the Kheer, which came out topped with a raisin and coconut flakes. Being a huge fan of coconut, seeing the added coconut instantly put a plus in my book. Upon tasting it, my initial reaction was confirmed: they have a really great rice pudding. It was creamy and rich with flavor. Seva’s Kheer is great too, but Gandhi’s portion was a little bigger, and a tiny bit better.

kheer

As our meal was winding down, a few more people came in, filling the place up a bit. Being as Gandhi occupies a bigger space than Seva, they are able to spread the tables out a bit more and seat more customers.  All in all, we were satisfied by our meal. While I still prefer Seva over Gandhi, Gandhi’s menu does seem to offer more specialties and variety than Seva’s does. Both places offer lunch, dinner, and weekend buffet specials that are pretty comparable in price and offerings (Seva’s dinner special is $13.50, while Gandhi’s is $12.95 - though Gandhi’s dinner special seems more limited). Walking past a full Seva on our way back from dinner, I was glad I branched out from my go-to Indian spot, but also reminded just how much cooler I could have been.