My daughter an I love to try different ethnic foods. Indian is one of our favorites, and until tonight, if you asked me, I would say India Oven is my favorite in town with Sher-e Punjab as a close second. Tonight we tried Spice Garden Indian Cuisine, and it has moved to the head of the pack. The restaurant was quiet when we arrived (3 tables) but had a steady flow of take-out orders while we were there. We had Jess as our sever, very nice young man, well informed and attentive. He made sure the appetizers came out first and we had time with them before the mains came to the table. They serve all curry entrees with rice. Our preference is to order a wide selection and bring leftovers home. We started with the veggie pakora (sorry we had a couple before I took the picture) and mixed samosas. The pakora were served as balls, which I was not used to, but they were crunchy on the outside, soft and well spiced inside and not at all greasy. We tried the potato, cauliflower and the pea filled samosas. All three had a flaky crust and tasty filling, I preferred the heat of the peas filled samosa, while my daughter liked the spice mixture in the cauliflower samosa best. The potato samosa was very good as well. For entree's we tried the chicken tikka masala at spice level 5/10, the shrimp vindaloo at 5/10 and the lamb kadai at a 7/10. The tikka was very creamy with enough heat to let you know it was there, and very tender chicken, it was sweeter than I am used to, but well balanced. The vindaloo had less vinegar than I am used to, but great flavor, giant shrimp and the perfect touch of spice, sweetness and tomato. My favorite was the kadia, and if I was alone I would have gone 10/10 on the spice. The 7 has good heat, but I am the type who likes to sweat when I eat spice. The kadia had rich flavor, still crunchy peppers and fork tender lamb. I suggest getting more than one order of naan, and at $3.50-4.50 per order it is worth it. We found the mango lassi to be well seasoned. I know some have complained it had too much cardamon, we found it to a perfect balance of mango and spices. Since we moved to Marana a few months ago we have been exploring and this spot will make the rotation for parent kid date nights, take-out when we are lazy or even family night out.
Spice Garden Indian Cuisine
Excerpts
My daughter an I love to try different ethnic foods. Indian is one of our favorites, and until tonight, if you asked me, I would say India Oven is my favorite in town with Sher-e Punjab as a close second. Tonight we tried Spice Garden Indian Cuisine, and it has moved to the head of the pack. The restaurant was quiet when we arrived (3 tables) but had a steady flow of take-out orders while we were there. We had Jess as our sever, very nice young man, well informed and attentive. He made sure the appetizers came out first and we had time with them before the mains came to the table. They serve all curry entrees with rice. Our preference is to order a wide selection and bring leftovers home. We started with the veggie pakora (sorry we had a couple before I took the picture) and mixed samosas. The pakora were served as balls, which I was not used to, but they were crunchy on the outside, soft and well spiced inside and not at all greasy. We tried the potato, cauliflower and the pea filled samosas. All three had a flaky crust and tasty filling, I preferred the heat of the peas filled samosa, while my daughter liked the spice mixture in the cauliflower samosa best. The potato samosa was very good as well. For entree's we tried the chicken tikka masala at spice level 5/10, the shrimp vindaloo at 5/10 and the lamb kadai at a 7/10. The tikka was very creamy with enough heat to let you know it was there, and very tender chicken, it was sweeter than I am used to, but well balanced. The vindaloo had less vinegar than I am used to, but great flavor, giant shrimp and the perfect touch of spice, sweetness and tomato. My favorite was the kadia, and if I was alone I would have gone 10/10 on the spice. The 7 has good heat, but I am the type who likes to sweat when I eat spice. The kadia had rich flavor, still crunchy peppers and fork tender lamb. I suggest getting more than one order of naan, and at $3.50-4.50 per order it is worth it. We found the mango lassi to be well seasoned. I know some have complained it had too much cardamon, we found it to a perfect balance of mango and spices. Since we moved to Marana a few months ago we have been exploring and this spot will make the rotation for parent kid date nights, take-out when we are lazy or even family night out.
This place was recommended to us by a couple of friends, so we were excited to try it. The restaurant was not busy on a Saturday, we got seated right away. The table in the back right corner was wobbling back and forth which made our whole experience a bit uncomfortable, we had to be careful not to spill our drinks. Food wise, the samosas were half cold, though very tasty. The garlic naan was great, but the chicken tikka masala was too sweet for my liking. Service was rather slow with nice waitresses, but we had to ask for extra silverware as there was only one set at our table. I wouldn’t consider these little things a major problem alone, but altogether it made our experience a bit uncomfortable. At the end of the day, I’m still glad we tried Spice Garden, and I wish them the best.
This place was recommended to us by a couple of friends, so we were excited to try it. The restaurant was not busy on a Saturday, we got seated right away. The table in the back right corner was wobbling back and forth which made our whole experience a bit uncomfortable, we had to be careful not to spill our drinks. Food wise, the samosas were half cold, though very tasty. The garlic naan was great, but the chicken tikka masala was too sweet for my liking. Service was rather slow with nice waitresses, but we had to ask for extra silverware as there was only one set at our table. I wouldn’t consider these little things a major problem alone, but altogether it made our experience a bit uncomfortable. At the end of the day, I’m still glad we tried Spice Garden, and I wish them the best.
Delicious meal. We ordered the lunch combos to try the various dishes they offered. All were delicious. Service was excellent. Definitely recommend.