Spice and Ice, Greater London (Surrey) 7/10

http://spicenice.co.uk/
South Park Hotel
Croydon, Surrey

Nice restaurant, and have heard most of the food is pretty good Indo Chinese.

Chilli chicken - 7/10, though my bad in ordering. Was looking for the classic Indo Chinese "dry" chilli chicken (with green chillis and soy sauced chicken nuggets), but forgot to tell the chef to make it dry. The default was wet... which completely spoiled the experience. But in all fairness, my local friend who frequents this place said that the dry one is as close as it comes to the Indo Chinese one. (which I havent found anywhere else outside India, yet). The best one so far has been at the Golden Dragon in Rangila Park, Surat, India

Roomali roti - 6/10. Could have been thinner.

Tai Pai Chicken and Tai Pai Paneer - 7/10. Dry style, with Sichuan flavors. Well made.

Pongal, Billerica MA

Pongal, 786 Boston Rd Billerica, MA 01821
(978) 667-3443

Update 4/25/10

By far the best Indian restaurant this side of town! It also has a good selection of Indo-Chinese food.

Chilli paneer dry - 8/10. Very good, well made, comes very close to the Indian Chinese style, probably without much MSG

Chilli chicken dry - 8/10. ditto. The real deal, not adulterated by green peppers and such, although it has onions (the Indian one is just green chillies and chicken)

Chicken chettinad - 8/10. Very tasty and flavorful. It didn't feel like chicken thrown in some standard gravy, as we also ordered veggie chettinad. The chicken was juicy and prepared well.

Vegetable chettinad - 7/10. Good stuff.

Lamb seekh kabab - 7/10. This one was a bit disappointing, given the other good food and expectations, but not bad nonetheless. Could have been a bit more moist and flavorful.

Overall, this is the place to goto if you are in the Northwest area.

Update 1/1/10

The weekend buffet is good, 7/10 on average.

They have a good mix of veg and non veg. Their tandoori chicken is much better than the average fare elsewhere. Its well marinated.

Goat curry - 7/10

Lamb biryani - 7/10

Naan - 7/10

Chicken tikka - 7/10

One of the best in the area.

This restaurant replaced Masala. The decor is better, but the food is average.
Update 4/9/09Heard from many foodies that the buffet is much better on weekends.

Buffet included:
Tandoori chicken - 5/10
Chicken tikka masala - 5/10 - the chicken pieces were dry and the gravy as usual
Lamb meat balls - 6/10 - nice flavor, but the gravy could have been better - the ingridients and spices werent well mixed in, which left the gravy chunky (much like an amateur cook - how most bachelors cook at home :)
Ginger chicken - 5/10
Bhindi (okra) entree - undercooked okra
Garlic naan - 6/10 (was fresh and served as part of the buffet)
Service was slow.

Golden Dragon, Surat, Gujarat, India
15/16/17 Rangila Park Ghod Dod Rd Surat-395007, Gujarat, India

+91 0261 2669517

Chicken chilli - 9/10. The real thing. Dry (thats how its supposed to be). Lots of green chillies. Indian Chinese. Doesnt get much better than this. There are not green bell peppers (capsicum) in this like so many US restaurants.

Paneer chilli - 9/10. The other real thing. True Indian Chinese. Dry.

I think this is one of the best Indian-Chinese restaurants in Surat.

Volga, Iselin, NJ
1546A Oak Tree Rd, Iselin, NJ (732) 494-5151

Chilli paneer - useless. - 4/10. The paneer tasted like tofu (abnormal behavior for paneer).
Aaloo paratha - average - 5/10.
Ganne ka ras (sugarcane juice) - you get it here. Average.
This place is not worth the time and calories.

Ming, Iselin, NJ
1655 Oak Tree Rd # 185, Edison, NJ (732) 549-5051

Supposed to be the best Indian Chinese in the Oak Tree area (by the locals). It was above average, but not impressed.
Chilli paneer (wet) - 6/10
Chicken chilli (wet) - 6/10

Why cant anyone make these the way they are made in India?? (minus the MSG)

Indian Village, Billerica, MA
279 Boston Rd, North Billerica, MA (978) 670-0001

Buffet - 6/10. Some buffet dishes are above the average fare dished out at restaurants (the lamb curry for example).
From the menu:
Chilli paneer (wet) - 4/10. Yuck. The paneer tasted like tofu (its not supposed to, normally).
Chicken tikka masala - 4/10. Chicken in McDonalds is better. Maybe it was just the day, but both these dishes were unedibly bad. You have to try hard to mess up CTM, but they did it.

India Palace, Chelmsford, MA
313 Littleton Rd, Chelmsford, MA (978) 244-1235

Chilli paneer (dry) - 6/10. My wife gave it a 8/10.
Its an appetizer, so you can eat a couple. Its not the kind you get in India (the ones with MSG :), but American Indian instead. Its still better than the wet chilli paneers that many restaurants serve.
Their buffet is average - 5/10.