Strip mall food. The bane of existence here on Long Island and likely everywhere I suppose. You know what I mean: cookie cutter pizza/Italian food that tastes just like what's being offered down the street, two towns west and the next county over, bland similarly undifferentiated Chinese food and delicatessens without clue one on how to make a proper sandwich.
In a way, it's sad. It means we neglect many places because they're in a strip mall, often right next to the cookie cutter Italian place, the bland Chinese outlet and the forlorn deli. So we drive...on...past.
So, if you happen to be driving down Route 112, heading North from Sunset Highway or South from the LIE, keep your eyes peeled for the Curry Kebob House, 585 Medford Road, Patchogue. It's worth stopping at this strip mall.
The menus and their website tout, "The best Indian cuisine in Long Island." That could be mere boast, it could (possibly) be the truth, what I will say is that it's the most authentic Indian cuisine I've had on Long Island. I've made a trip to the lunch buffet and one dinner which we ordered from the menu:
1. The bread, naan and garlic naan in this case, were perfect. Light, airy with a great char from the Tandoor. They were a great as a starter and, later as a sauce capturing complement to our entrees,
2. Given our personal bent, we ordered lamb (Karahi and Achari at dinner) and goat curries (Karahi at the buffet,) and voila! they actually served lamb and goat, still on the bone, slow cooked and exceedingly tender with that unmistakable strong, meaty flavor. Too often when I order these dishes at many Indian restaurants, the "lamb and goat" are uniformly square, large, mildly flavored chunks of something other than lamb and goat. In other words: beef. Because here's the deal, given the size of the average goat or lamb there just are not Rubik's cube size pieces of this type of meat. Yes, you have to tease the meat off the bone which can be a pain in the ass. But the reward, o sweet reward, is in the flavor!
3. If you ask for spicy, you get SPICY, not some Nancy version of heat. They turned my lamb Achari into a lid off kettle explosion. It was sublime.
4. They dedicate as much time to cooking their vegetables and sides as they spend cooking their entrees, both the vegetable biryani (fried rice) and chana masala (chick peas) were excellent. And in the case of chana masala, transcendentally spicy as requested.
Agnes and I are counting the days until we can head back for another sampling. Special thanks to JK, for saying, "Hey man, let's have Indian. I know a good place."
In a way, it's sad. It means we neglect many places because they're in a strip mall, often right next to the cookie cutter Italian place, the bland Chinese outlet and the forlorn deli. So we drive...on...past.
So, if you happen to be driving down Route 112, heading North from Sunset Highway or South from the LIE, keep your eyes peeled for the Curry Kebob House, 585 Medford Road, Patchogue. It's worth stopping at this strip mall.
The menus and their website tout, "The best Indian cuisine in Long Island." That could be mere boast, it could (possibly) be the truth, what I will say is that it's the most authentic Indian cuisine I've had on Long Island. I've made a trip to the lunch buffet and one dinner which we ordered from the menu:
1. The bread, naan and garlic naan in this case, were perfect. Light, airy with a great char from the Tandoor. They were a great as a starter and, later as a sauce capturing complement to our entrees,
2. Given our personal bent, we ordered lamb (Karahi and Achari at dinner) and goat curries (Karahi at the buffet,) and voila! they actually served lamb and goat, still on the bone, slow cooked and exceedingly tender with that unmistakable strong, meaty flavor. Too often when I order these dishes at many Indian restaurants, the "lamb and goat" are uniformly square, large, mildly flavored chunks of something other than lamb and goat. In other words: beef. Because here's the deal, given the size of the average goat or lamb there just are not Rubik's cube size pieces of this type of meat. Yes, you have to tease the meat off the bone which can be a pain in the ass. But the reward, o sweet reward, is in the flavor!
3. If you ask for spicy, you get SPICY, not some Nancy version of heat. They turned my lamb Achari into a lid off kettle explosion. It was sublime.
4. They dedicate as much time to cooking their vegetables and sides as they spend cooking their entrees, both the vegetable biryani (fried rice) and chana masala (chick peas) were excellent. And in the case of chana masala, transcendentally spicy as requested.
Agnes and I are counting the days until we can head back for another sampling. Special thanks to JK, for saying, "Hey man, let's have Indian. I know a good place."