The Weekly Eater
KNOW IT'S still hot outside and everyone's thirsty, but thirsty for lassi? At India Cafe, everybody's been asking for the smooth yogurt drink, preferably with mango thrown into the blender. One guy was so determined to have his lassi, he even brought in a recipe. Never mind that the lassi is from Northern India and the families Prmaniam, Segaran and Sadagopan that run the little restaurant have roots in Southern India and Malaysia. This means you'll find marsala and penang curries side by side, and the juxtaposition works splendidly. India Cafe’s
dishes burst with spicy,
sweet temptation
It's a perfect marriage of yin and yang -- the lamb marsala tempestuous and fiery, the chicken penang milder and sweet, with the silky texture of coconut milk. They complement each other well, and that's a good thing because there are only a handful of items on this menu. As with the lassi, this will be a disappointment for those who were hoping for vindaloos, biriyanis, tikkas or tandoori dishes, but in a town that could use a few more Indian restaurants, I, for one, welcome any little bit of diversity.
INDIA CAFE
Food 1/2
Service Ambience Value Address: Kilohana Square, 2851 Kihei Place
Phone: 737-4600
Hours: 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays, and 4 to 10 p.m. Sundays
Cost: Less than $10 per person
So it's back to the curries, which can be ordered together on Raja's Curry Plate ($9), and like everything else are served in Styrofoam boxes. The lamb is cut into nice bite-size pieces, while the chicken dish comprises two whole thighs.
You have the option of ordering as one of your two entrées the vegetable sambar, a sort of mild vegetarian curry, but it's a weak choice. If it's vegetarian cuisine you want, then ask for the vegetarian marsala dosai ($7). The dosai, or Indian rice pancake, is something new to Honolulu menus. White rice is steamed, then stirred with ground, uncooked rice (for crunch) into a frothy batter that's spread in a circle on a griddle. As it bubbles and fries, a helping of margarine is rubbed onto its surface, and it's finally sprinkled with a pinch of spices, including cinnamon. Its crispness off the griddle is a nice counterpoint to the squishy blend of potatoes, sliced green beans and carrots it's wrapped around.
You could order the lamb marsala this way also, but the curry is liquidy and saturates the wrapper quickly, making it more doughy and floppy. In this condition it could be compared to a Chinese rice cake dessert.
The restaurant offers the dosai with eggs for breakfast at all hours, and those fearful of anything new can have the eggs with buttermilk pancakes and turkey bacon ($3.25).
They're also toying with the idea of India wraps for dinner, trying first to perfect a recipe of tofu and turkey stuffing.
The decor reflects a mixture of Hinduism and secondhand chic, and 10 percent of the profits go to a children's foundation in the families' hometown of Madhurai.
The indie, D.I.Y. spirit of the place reflects contributions of nephew Shree Sadagopan, a musician with the band Quadraphonix. He knows how difficult it is for his friends to scrape up $5 or $10, so prices here are low and likely to attract a university crowd. Shree's friends also descend on the place after making the club rounds Friday and Saturday nights, and beginning 6:30 p.m. Sunday afternoons for improvisational music jams and open-mic poetry sessions. Check it out.
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Nadine Kam's restaurant reviews run on Thursdays. Reviews are conducted anonymously and paid for by the Star-Bulletin. Star ratings are based on comparisons of similar restaurants:
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excellent; very good, exceeds expectations; average; below average.
