Indian by Nature

"It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn't use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like 'What about lunch?'" Winnie the Pooh

The Pind became my favorite Indian restaurant shortly after it opened in 2010.

I wasn't alone. Many positive reviews and customers followed over the past couple of years. That's no small thing. Prague now has a fair number of respectable Indian restaurants.

One of the constants of a visit to The Pind was one of its owners, Jayant Sarkar. He was a regular and watchful presence in the dining room. He also got to know me as a regular customer.

Not long ago, Sarkar left the The Pind to start his own new restaurant in Karlín. It's called Indian by Nature. Less than a week after it opened, people working in the area told me the lunch buffet was something special. As much as I like The Pind, I wasn't thrilled with their lunch buffet a year earlier, so I had my doubts.

I stopped by one day before noon.

Indian by Nature's airy dining room with its big windows made a good first impression.

Indian music plays lightly over the sound system. This section is non-smoking.

There's a huge downstairs area which Sarkar told me will become a sports bar with lots of video screens that serves Indian food.

They will be showing much more than just cricket, but it's a novel concept.

There are two sections below and it is almost twice the size of the upstairs dining room. Smoking will be allowed down there.

Upstairs is where the lunch buffet is laid out. It's all-you-can-eat. I ate everything.

First, I tried the Chicken Tikka Masala on the right.

The tomato gravy had small bursts of fresh ginger. It was impressively spicy and tangy. The small pieces of chicken were tasty and tender. It's a classic dish, properly done.

On the left was kadai chicken. A kadai or karahi is a deep pot similar to a wok. I really loved this. Onions made it slightly sweeter than the chicken tikka masala. There was also capiscum and the clear flavor of coriander (cilantro). Overall, it had a richer flavor.

In the next tray, there was aloo gobi. The potatoes and cauliflower get their color and also pleasing flavor from tumeric.

On the other side was "Bombay noodles." Sarkar called this an experiment and not really an Indian dish. It was glass noodles with chicken, green beans, and coriander. It tasted mostly like salty noodles. For my taste, I'd say the experiment didn't work so well.

Under the third lid were vegetarian options. On the left was chana masala, made according the style found in northern India. The tomato gravy is a thinner, simpler version of what you'll find on the chicken tikka masala. But it is still quite flavorful, with hints of ginger.

Along with that is the sukhi cabbage, which is flavored with cumin seeds. It's quite light. I was told it's cooked with very little oil or ghee.

There is jeer pulao rice with cumin seeds, and garlic naan.

It's good to get the bread when it first comes out. It's not as nice if it sits around too long.

That's it for the heating trays, but the buffet continues. There are bowls filled with chopped salad and a nice, tangy raita.

You can choose three different condiments to go with your meal. They have mint sauce, tamarind sauce, and mango chutney.

They are similar to what was served at The Pind, and I like them all.

Finally, there is a tray of Indian rice pudding. This dessert is quite simple and only lightly sweet.

Browned flour is mixed with rice, a touch of milk, and almonds. When it hardens, it's sliced into small pieces.

The quantity and quality of this lunch amazed me.

I was told that it will not be the same every day. The different daily lunch offerings will be listed on the website.

My only serious complaint is that some dishes like the kadai chicken came out of the kitchen hot, temperature-wise, but others like the chicken tikka masala and aloo gobi were just barely warm. Perhaps the flames under the trays would change that in about 30 minutes.

When I saw the bill for this spread, I could hardly believe it. The price for all that food, as much as I wanted, was just 109 CZK. I asked if that was just an introductory price and was told that there are no plans to change it.

For my money, this lunch has to be the best value in the city. Let's hope the quality and the quantity stay at this level.

I came back for dinner the following week. I started off with a half-liter of Pilsner Urquell (40 CZK).

It was fine. Pay no attention to the Staropramen logos on the awning and taps. Those belonged to the previous restaurant.

The menu has starters that many will find familiar, like vegetable samosas, but some are less common. I wanted something new and different, so I ordered the batata vada (70 CZK).

These are potato fritters with crunchy shells. Inside with the steaming mashed potato are chili flakes, mustard seeds, and curry leaves. There are also partially cooked red lentils that give it a crunch.

It's a deliciously spicy combination. It's even nicer when combined with the tamarind sauce on the side. The fritters are served inside a papadum that you can break up and dip in the sauce.

Another new option I didn't try but would like to someday is the masala mogo. That's fried casava or yucca chips mixed with masala tomato sauce, julienned ginger, tamarind and garlic.

I wanted to sample as much as I could from their tandoor, so I had the IBN Platter (220 CZK). There's a lot on top of that iron, with its sizzling onions.

In the upper left is the adraki chicken tikka. It has more of a ginger flavor than The Pind version, which is made with pickle. Two of the pieces had more char and flavor from the oven, but one piece was blander.

In the middle top and bottom was the lamb seekh kabab. The ground meat, mixed with ginger, garlic, and coriander, was very salty, but dipping it in the sweet tamarind or the mint sauce balanced it out.

Chicken malai tikka sat on the lower left side. It was marinated in cream and cheese before being cooked in the tandoor. The tender meat tasted of fenugreek and cardamom. It was interesting and not something I'd tried before, but not my favorite.

What surprised me was the ajwani fish tikka on the right side of the platter. I loved that the most. The platter normally comes with butter fish. I don't eat that, so they substituted talapia instead. It was fresh, delicate, with the flavor of carom seeds and an incredibly smoky flavor from the tandoor.

Next, I had the lamb pasanda (205 CZK).

The creamy almond and cashew sauce had a very mild sweetness. Some of the lamb was very flavorful and tender. But at least one piece was tougher and somewhat dried out.

To go with this, I had the lemon rice (85 CZK).

It was my favorite rice at The Pind, and this one was equally good. Along with mustard seeds and curry leaves, it also has a subtle smokiness.

Finally, I tried the lamb biryani (220 CZK).

This lamb is cooked differently than that in the pasanda. It's boiled with ginger, bay leaves, and cloves.

It's served mixed with pulao rice in a clay pot. This was a great combination of flavors by itself, with ginger, mint, cardamom, and sweet fried bits of onion. The lamb also varied from tender to not so tender.

It comes with raita on the side. When it's all mixed together on the plate, it's a great dish.

I ate this meal for two (or maybe three) by myself. Well, not really. I took about two-thirds of it home and enjoyed it the next day. And the day after that.

The bill for the evening came to 880 CZK. I checked the prices and many comparable dishes at IBN are around 30 CZK cheaper than The Pind. I actually live closer to The Pind, so I'm sure I'll still be eating there, too.

But if you're in the mood for a curry lunch during the week, Indian by Nature is an easy choice that's hard to beat.

Indian by Nature
Pernerova 478/1
Prague 8 - Karlin
Tel. +420 601 200 198

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Krystal Mozaika Bistro

"I'm a real defensive person, because if you were sensitive in my neighborhood, you were something to eat." Richard Pryor

There was a time when Karlin was a total blank to me. For the first years I lived in Prague, I never set foot in that neighborhood.

In the last few years, I've been stopping by occasionally at the Expats.cz office in Karlin. In the beginning, the dining options in the area seemed pretty dire. Ristorante Porto was one I thought was decent.

More recently, I heard about the opening of Krystal Mozaika Bistro, and I heard good things. This restaurant is connected to the Vinohrady restaurant, Mozaika, which I used to like but haven't been to in a few years. So I when I was in Karlin, I dropped by for my first solo visit.

It's right next to the cute and quirky Polévkárna on Sokolovská.This was back when outdoor dining was still a regular option.

Inside, the looks are smart and modern.There's a chalk board in the front with a variety of changing specials.The back room keeps up the same design theme.It has a long window to the kitchen and you can watch the chefs at work. I always enjoy that.

I sat in front and started off with a beer. I had a half-liter of the Bernard 10 degree (27 CZK).It was a little flat, so I didn't enjoy it much.

Then I had the 150 gram Krystal beef burger (169 CZK).There is also a 300 gram version (289 CZK). The one I had was plenty big. It's hard to imagine consuming the bigger beast.

The burger is made with homemade onion bread, bacon, onion, pickle, lettuce and home-made mayonnaise with mustard seed. It was excellent.The patty was made with high-quality, juicy beef. It was cooked to medium. I liked the bread. The bacon was plentiful and American-style crispy.

I found the burger superior to the one I had at Mozaika years ago. My main quibbles are that there was too much mayo, and it was hard eat and to hold the big burger together. By the last bites, it was a total mess.

The fries are extra (39 CZK).They were hot and crisp, very McDonald's-like. They were fine for that style, but nothing special.

For dessert, I had the crème brûlée (59 CZK).It was well-executed, with a hot, freshly-torched caramelized sugar top and a cool, sweet, eggy cream underneath. The dish was shallow and the portion not large, but still I thought it nice for the price.

The bill for this meal was 294 CZK.

For my next visit, I was tempted by the flank steak. I'd seen a picture of it on my Foodspotting iPhone app.

Instead, I ordered a daily special, the veal entrecote (255 CZK).The meat was very good quality and it sat on a savory, peppery demiglace.

My big regret, which I realized as I cut into it, was that I didn't say how I wanted it cooked. It was delivered cooked all the way through, which made the veal tougher than it should have been.

The buttery mashed potatoes were mixed with sun-dried tomatoes. It was an excellent side for this dish.

For dessert, I had their carrot cake (55 CZK).The modest slice was not as fancy as one you'll see at a place like Bakeshop Praha. It was moist and chock full of walnuts -- almost too many. The creamy icing was delicious. It was simple, but I'd get it again.

This time around, I paid 343 CZK.

For my last visit, I sat in the back with a friend.My friend had vegetable soup (65 CZK). I'm not a big fan of this type of soup, but I thought it was very tasty.The broth had a lot of flavor. The carrots, broccoli, and celery were cooked aldente, not too hard, not too soft. There were small, soft pieces of beef and potato in there, too, so it was not for vegetarians.

Then, my friend had the goat cheese salad (165 CZK). This was the least successful of all the dishes I tried.There was a nice mix of greens, but cheese came in cool, rubbery cubes. The waitress said the dressing was something special, but we found it was a rather weak raspberry vinaigrette. There were some crunchy croutons, but that was about it. It didn't feel like a good value.

I went for the Beef Bourguignon (199 CZK). This I liked.The beef had been slow-cooked and was relatively tender. But it still required slicing with a knife and there was some gristle.

The cooked veggies with it were great. The carrot, pearl onion, and mushroom, mixed with some pork, maintained their crunch.

The sauce was both sweet and source with the clear flavor of wine. But aside from that, there was not much complexity to it. While I enjoyed this dish and would get it again, it was not as good as the very tender and flavorful version at Brasserie La Gare.

This dinner for two, which included a big bottle of mineral water, a glass of wine, dessert, and coffee came to 619 CZK. Service was good the first two visits, but occasionally absent too long on the last visit.

In the big picture, I enjoyed both the atmosphere and the food at this restaurant. I'll return, for sure.

Karlin is turning into a nice neighborhood with more and more good places for sensitive people like me. And right now, Krystal Mozaika Bistro is at the top of my list of places to get something to eat in the area.

Restaurant Krystal Mozaika Bistro
Sokolovská 99/101
Prague 8 - Karlín
Tel. (+420) 222 318 152

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Curry House

"This curry was like a performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony that I'd once heard... especially the last movement, with everything screaming and banging 'Joy.' It stunned, it made one fear great art. My father could say nothing after the meal." Anthony Burgess

Yeah, Curry House has gotten good reviews by others and received a lot of positive comments on this website.

But what I wanted to know was this: What would I think? Is this Indian and Bangladeshi restaurant really, as one person said, up there with the best Britain has to offer? Is it "awesome?" Is it "excellent?" I had to find out.

I got familiar with the area during my many visits to Palmovka to review ThaiOishi, which is right next door. I got even more familiar after I went three times to Curry House.As many have said before, the interior isn't much to look at.There's a small front room for smokers, and a slightly larger room in back for nonsmokers. Paint is peeling off the walls in some places.On two visits, it wasn't completely full, but I was wise to book ahead, because on the third visit, I would have been shut out.

I met with V for a talk on my first visit. I wanted to try a bunch of starters, so we ordered the vegetarian thali (165 CZK).Recommended for two, this platter includes three small onion bhajees, two vegetable samosas, and vegetable pakora. In the middle was raita, seasoned yogurt sauce.

I loved the small, crispy, slightly greasy bhajees. The onions fried with lentil and chickpea flour were bursting with flavor. However, the samosas were mostly potato and mostly bland.The pakora, a wide variety of batter-fried vegetables, were limp and boring and needed generous spoonfuls of the raita.

For a main course. V got the lamb tikka masala (235 CZK), which was our favorite at the now defunct Taj Mahal ten years ago when its prices were still reasonable.She also got an order of pulao rice (50 CZK).The sauce was of the creamy coconut style rather than the tomato-based variety found at Masala. The waiter asked if V wanted the sauce sweet or savory, since many customers prefer it salty. She chose sweet, like Taj Mahal used to do.

The thick sauce was nice, but V said it had more flavor on a previous visit. I remarked that the tandoor-cooked lamb tasted very good and was relatively tender. V said that the lamb was actually better on this visit than her last. So consistency is an issue.

I had the rogan josh (225 CZK). The long-cooked lamb was fork tender.The gravy, which can include cardamom, cinnamon, clove, ginger, cumin, and red chillies, among many other spices, was delicious. It was sprinkled with cilantro leaves, which added to the pleasure.

On the side, and also as a sort of dessert, we had Peshwari nan (60 CZK).The round bread was fluffy and hot, filled with coconut and sugar. I really like sweet-salty combinations, and it contrasted well with the rogan josh. But V also liked dipping it into the quite similar sauce of the lamb tikka masala.

I had a couple of half-liters of Gambrinus (32 CZK each).V had an Indian tea (35 CZK) and a bottle of Mattoni (25 CZK). The total bill was 859 CZK before tip. Not too bad.

A few days later, I found myself with no dinner plan and ended up back at Curry House by myself.On this visit, I started off with the meat samosas (75 CZK).I thought it might need something to complement it. I ordered the "green chutney" to go with it, something I'd never tried before.

Inside the samosa, the spiced ground beef with a few peas was a little dry, but more tasty and interesting than the veggie version.However, the chutney was not a good match. The intensely salty sauce did not go well with the salty samosa. The menu said it was fresh mint and coriander leaf with bangladeshi spices. I tasted the mint, but coriander element was missing.

For a main course, I tried the butter chicken (185 CZK) with pulao rice (50 CZK).Some have complained of small portions, but I counted 15 chunks of chicken in the pan. That said, you do get far fewer pieces when you order a lamb dish.

I really enjoyed it. The red gravy looked similar to the tikka masala sauce, but it was salty, buttery, and creamy. In a word, richer. Some oil did pool around the sides.

There was a hint of cilantro and it brought a pleasant, slow-building burn. That's how I like it, but if you like it spicier, it shouldn't be a problem. Many have complimented Curry House for making things seriously hot upon request.

The bill for this solo trip was 382 CZK before tip.For my last visit, I took along a British friend, Misty Potts, who knows a little something about Indian food. Her parents were born in India. When I invited her, Misty told me that, in her opinion, Curry House has the best tandoori in the city.

So we went straight to it and ordered the tandoori thali (330 CZK), a platter of various meats cooked in their tandoor. Later, the waiter walked in at a quick pace carrying a sizzling iron plate.Cooking on top was murgh tikka -- chunks of chicken breast, murgh tandoori -- a chicken leg with attached thigh, lamb tikka -- chunks of tandoori lamb, and shish kebab -- ground meat mixed with herbs and spices.

The murgh tandoori and the lamb tikka were my favorites. The chicken breast was OK, but less flavorful. The shish kebab was a little dried out and crumbly under its coating of tasty seasoning.

On the side, we had an order of garlic nan (55 CZK).This was fresh and good, but be warned, it was well stocked with big slices of almost raw garlic.

To add a sweet note to it all, I got mango chutney on the side (35 CZK).But we weren't quite done with the sweets.

Misty was in the mood for some mango kulfi (65 CZK).I'd never had this frozen dessert before. She told me that she's had creamier versions. The texture of this one wasn't the best due to ice crystals. But once it melted in your mouth, it was creamy and pleasant.

This final bill was 577 CZK. Served was almost always friendly and quick.

So, what can I say after this meal? I wasn't stunned by Curry House, and I wouldn't call it great art, but I would say it's quite good.

I've had better Indian meals outside this country, but it's up there with the best I've found here.

The next time I want some Indian food, I'll consider Curry House for a repeat performance.

Curry House
Novákových 7
Prague 8 - Palmovka
Tel. (+420) 284 684 417 or 775 621 115

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