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India House
2776 E Bidwell St, Suite 300
(916) 817-4356
India House is the latest entrant in
Folsom’s Indian dining
scene. They opened in late January in the Broadstone Marketplace, at
the intersection of East Bidwell and Broadstone Pkwy (a few blocks
northwest of Hwy 50). They offer buffets daily for lunch ($7.99) and
– a first for Folsom Indian restaurants – dinner ($9.99). Both
buffets include soda fountain drinks in the price. Also available
are a typical selection of menu entrées. The entr ée selections
include vegetarian ($8.95), chicken ($9.95), and lamb ($10.95)
selections, as well as a few special items ($9.95 - $14.95). Entrees
may be ordered a la carte, or as a dinner (includes rice and Naan
for $3.00 more). Price-wise India House is in the mid-range for
Folsom Indian eateries; it seems to be slightly more expensive than
Taj India, and slightly less expensive than Priya.
My wife and I recently enjoyed a lunch buffet, just a few weeks
after they opened. There were only a few tables occupied when we
arrived shortly after they opened at 11:30, but by the time we left
most of the tables were in use.
The restaurant was brightly lit from both the overhead lights and a
wall of windows. The table and chairs were utilitarian – comfortable
and pleasant. The room was sparsely decorated – take down a few
Indian paintings from the walls and it could be any non-descript
restaurant in town. One bothersome point was the noise from the
kitchen door. Whenever it swung, there was a loud squeak, followed
by the noise from a fan in the kitchen that can only be described as
“jet-like”. We were told that it was not supposed to be that loud,
and they are definitely working on quieting it. Hopefully they’ll
fix that squeak, too.
The service was friendly and efficient, with a few minor glitches
(to be expected in a restaurant this new). Dishes were bussed from
our table within moments of our emptying them. When we were seated,
we were told to expect fresh Naan at our table soon. We asked if we
could have it “dry” (without the butter or oil that is typically
applied). The Naan was not brought to our table until we had almost
finished our first “round” – and it was heavily “oiled”. We
re-iterated our request for “dry” Naan, and a few moments later a
huge piece of delicious “dry” Naan was served.
But what about the food?! Buffet food often doesn’t truly reflect a
restaurant’s true culinary abilities. You cannot get it prepared to
suit your personal taste, and it sits out there for possibly too
long, cooling down, and/or changing its fresh-from-the-kitchen
taste. So take this as a review of the buffet, not the restaurant’s
full menu selections. (We were told that some of the items on the
buffet are not on the menu, and some of the items on the menu will
never be in the buffet.) The cuisine is primarily North Indian,
although on the day we were there the buffet included umpa (a South
Indian rice mixture somewhat reminiscent of mashed potatoes). We’ve
had umpa only a few times before, and we didn’t care for it. But
India House’s umpa was delicious. We covered it with green dal (a
type of mildly spiced, but tasty, lentil soup), but it was even good
by itself. In addition to umpa and green dal, the other non-entrée
buffet items were basmati rice, mixed salad, mango chutney,
pineapple yogurt sauce, and kheer (a warm rice pudding).
There were 5 entrees on the buffet. Saag/palak paneer, which
contains spinach and home made cheese squares in a delicious cream
sauce. Too often this dish is far too salty for my taste, but this
rendition was perfectly spiced (though I would have preferred a bit
more kick). The cheese was especially noteworthy with a fresh,
clean, cheesy flavor. Another entrée was named “butter chicken”, but
I believe it to be more commonly known as makhani chicken. It had
small pieces of boneless white meat chicken in a delicious, creamy
tomato sauce. A third entrée had no name card identifying it. It
seemed to be steamed or stewed zucchini in a very mild, delicate,
non-descript sauce. Although the spices were subdued, I found the
dish tasty due to the zucchini flavor. There was also kadhi pakora,
which consisted of battered & fried balls of chick pea flour in a
yellow curry sauce. I found the sauce a bit sour for my tastes, but
it was one of my wife’s favorite dishes. The last entrée was
tandoori chicken, which is probably well known to anyone who has
ever eaten North Indian food. On the plus side, the chicken was
perfectly cooked. No spots of red meat that I find too often in many
restaurants, but very tender and moist. However, there was virtually
no tandoori taste detectable. It was perhaps the most disappointing
tandoori I have ever eaten. Perhaps it was simply a poorly made
batch, but prepare to be disappointed in case it’s typical.
In summary, we both found the food to be exceptionally fresh-tasting
(an unusual thing to say for a buffet), with more authentic Indian
flavoring than most other restaurants. However, we also found most
of the sauces to be a bit too buttery and/or creamy (perhaps that,
too, is authentic Indian). We would both have preferred a hotter
(spicier) flavor, but that is often a problem when eating Indian
buffet food. The ambiance was acceptable, and the service was very
good.
Price: $8-15 a person
Style: Cultural Cuisine (Indian)
Rating: 3.5 (out of 5)
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It’s been about 2 months since my visit to India House. Today I
returned, and I’m pleased to say that many of the things I disliked
have changed. Service was even better than during our first visit.
The squeaky kitchen door is now silent, and the “jet-like” kitchen
fan is now suitably muffled. And last, but not least, the Tandoori
Chicken now has some Tandoori flavor, although there’s still much
room for improvement, in my opinion.
There were several dishes in the buffet that weren’t there during my
first visit. I don’t recall the names of all of them, but 3 of them
were: Potato Pakora (it tasted similar to other Pakora I’ve had, but
it looked quite different), Chicken Vindaloo (a bit disappointing,
as it wasn’t fiery hot, nor was it even tomato-based as I’m used to
having), and Chili Paneer, which I’ve never had before, but was one
of the best Indian dishes I’ve ever eaten in a buffet. I’d return
just to eat.
I noticed 4 separate Indian parties present during my lunch there,
which cannot be a bad sign. Based on this experience, I must upgrade
my rating of India House:
Rating: 4.0 (out of 5)
Reviewed By kanda
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