India Princess

May, 2009

San Diego, CA – In the Miramar area again, as I am quite often. I’ve been itching to return to India Princess here across from MCAS Miramar. The plan was to get an order to go so I’d have something for lunch later in the week. Most dishes with curry, as you know, taste even better the next day.

Situated in a mini mall, India Princess is surrounded by other Indian-owned/operated businesses like travel agents, a bank, lawyers, and a couple of markets and restaurants. Some locals refer to the spot as Little India. Having never been to India, I can only imagine if this is what Mumbai might be like in microcosm.

Before you head over here to dine, make note of their hours: Lunch buffet runs from 11 am to 3 pm Monday through Friday. Dinner is 5 pm to 9:30 pm weekdays, ’til 10 pm weekends. There is also a dinner buffet. Sundays they have a champagne brunch. It would be kind of embarrassing if you brought your date/spouse or friends here at 4 o’clock on a Thursday afternoon expecting to have an early dinner only to find the door locked. You can (partially) redeem yourself by taking advantage of the Monday and Tuesday 50% off buffet. Call first or check online.

Inside you’ll find a nicely decorated room. Directly in front of you is the waiter station, from which your very eager wait staff will immediately greet you. Off to your left, you’ll find a small bar sitting in a replica of a houseboat like one you’d find plying the Ganges. Walls are painted in a yellowish color which could, in a way, be described as the color of curry. On these walls hang several tapestries. The tables are decorated with ornate fabric, mostly trimmed in gold, protected by a pane of glass. In the center of the room is a tall tree surrounded by brass (I think) elephants. In the back of the dining area is where you’ll find the buffet.

I called ahead to place my order, intending to pick it up and continue on my way. For an appetizer I ordered Coconut Shrimp pakoras. These are battered and fried shrimp. As the name suggests, it has a taste of coconut. A slight hint of curry was also detected. India Princess is very generous with the shrimp; these are the medium-sized ones and there were about ten of them. Best part is they tasted relatively fresh. The breading did not overpower the taste of the shrimp. Two orange slices garnished the dish.

My heart was set on Lamb Boti Kebab for the entrée but they were out of the ingredients. In a show of excellent customer service, they called me back to inform me of this and apologized. They substituted Lamb Vindaloo instead. Green and red sauces were included in condiment containers. The red sauce is slightly sweet. The green sauce is milder with more of a pickled flavor. As much Indian food as I eat I really should know what these are by now. I’ll have to look it up unless one of you, dear readers, can enlighten me.

When I placed my order, they asked me if I wanted hot or mild spice. Of course I requested hot. Before hanging up they asked if I wanted any naan. Garlic naan, please. (Last time I ordered the mint paratha. I had never heard of such a combination before so I was intrigued. I did like it but… This is probably better to eat by itself, not to sop the curry with like I did.) Most of the dishes come with basmati rice.

Vindaloo is a reddish-brown curry. I have been accustomed to having potatoes in anything I have ordered with the name vindaloo. I recently learned that aloo means “potato” in Hindi, which is probably how I had come to associate that style of Vindaloo. But the traditional Vindaloo, which this type is, does not have potatoes. Nice little gastronomic tidbit, that.

The only thing missing was dal. While waiting for my meal to be prepared, I stopped in at one of the markets and got an education in dal. I had no idea there were so many different kinds. Looking to try my hand at some home-cooked Indian dishes, I picked up four different kinds. To make sure I didn’t mess anything up, I got the ready-mixed packaged versions. Between the various kinds of naan, roti, and paratha, I selected four; two frozen and two refrigerated. Did you know Pillsbury makes naan? I didn’t buy any of theirs, though.

Well, the lamb has been bathing in the curry now for two days now and I couldn’t wait to dig in. One tender chunk of lamb met my teeth, then my taste buds. Nice and tender, not gamey. Each bite of lamb was followed up by a forkful or two of the basmati rice. Though the curry was thick it did not overpower the lamb. I am not a vegetarian but I could make a meal off the curry alone as long as there was some naan or rice to go with it. That’s how good it was. After several bites, the curry reminded me that I had asked for the hot spice. It kind of snuck up on me. It wasn’t all that hot but it eventually got my attention. So many different spices are mixed in vindaloo that it was hard to identify any single one. One thing is for sure; they played well together. I alternated adding the red and green sauces to bites of the lamb chunks.

At this point I started in on the garlic naan. India Princess cooks theirs in the traditional way; in a Tandoori oven. It was a generous piece liberally sprinkled with fresh minced garlic and a little parsley. Yes, you can really taste the garlic. An after dinner mint would not be out of order, probably even necessary. I ate about a third of it plain, the rest was used to sop the curry. All in all it was a very satisfying meal.

One of these days I’ll have to try their buffet. Several newspapers have given them high marks, one even bestowing the title of “Best Indian Buffet in San Diego” upon them. In a city boasting a population of more than 1.3 million people, that’s saying something.

India Princess – 4.5 forks. Highly recommended. Taste of the food, décor, and customer service were all excellent. Had they included dal with the meal and spiced up the basmati rice, I would have given them my top 5-fork rating.