Star of India, Ferndale, MI

ferndaleindianfood.blogspot.com
 180 W 9 Mile Rd, Ferndale, MI 48220
(248) 546-5996

Lamb biryani - 5/10 - nothing to write home about. Very average. Was accompanied by a vegetable curry that didnt help either. Not even worth taking a picture of.

Gaylord Restaurant, London, 6/10

 www.gaylordlondon.com
+44 20 7580 3615
 79-81 Mortimer St, London W1W 7SJ UK


Restaurant with a nice ambiance, however the food didnt match up. Ordered the dishes based on the server's recommendation and also told them how I prefer it cooked... but...

Hyderabadi ghosht (lamb) biryani - 6/10. Had flavor and the lamb was nice, but not great. Too much overtones of mint and clumps of white rice as if the thing was not properly mixed (having to mix is a no no anyways).

Murgh (Chicken) bhuna (roasted, in curry) - 6/10. This was a disappointment with too much tomato and the chicken was dry and fibrous. Normally, this would have been a dark brown well blended thick gravy (not orange) .. but theirs seemed put together in haste (not that the food arrived any faster). And to top it all, there was a full carrot floating in the curry! (decor, I assume)

Naan - 5/10. Fresh, but was on the sour side, as if made with over fermented dough.

     

Sitar restaurant, Paris 7/10

http://restaurant-sitar.fr/
7 Rue Liot, Boulogne-Billancourt, France+33 1 46 21 32 16

Overall, a fairly good restaurant, given its Paris...

Cheese naan - 8/10 different and interesting
Lamb (Agneau) madras / curry - 7/10. Tasty lamb dish
Lamb biryani - 7/10. Lamb pieces could be better marinated, but still an above average biryani
Chicken (poulet) curry - 6/10. The use of tomato puree, instead of fresh tomatoes, adds some gelatinous consistency to it, otherwise its ok
Chicken bhuna/madras - 7/10
Keema matar - 7/10 - a bit on the sweet side

Mixed kebab platter - 
Beef seekh kebab - 7/10
Chicken tikka - 6/10
Lamb tikka - 7/10

Masala chai - 7/10
 

New Jawad, Paris 9/10

http://www.jawadrestaurant.com/nj/

Address: 12 Avenue Rapp, 75007 Paris, France

Phone:+33 1 47 05 91 37

 

One of the best Indian restaurants in Paris so far... Indian and Pakistani food

Good ambiance,  good food. Near Arc De Triomphe... about a 15 min walk

Punjabi chicken curry - 9/10 very well done with tasty thick gravy

Lamb biryani - 8/10. aromatic and moist

Lamb sheesh kabab - 8/10

Rogan josh - 8/10. Hard to find the authentic Kashmiri rogan josh anywhere, but this was still well made.

Naan - 8/10

Dockmaster's House, London, 6/10

http://www.dockmastershouse.com/

Address: 1 Hertsmere Road, London E14 8JJ, United Kingdom

Phone:+44 20 7345 0345

 

Average food.

 

Kebab platter -

Chicken tikka - 6/10

Ginger lamb chop - 7/10

Tandoori prawn - 7/10

(very few pieces in the platter)

Rogan josh - 6/10 - far cry from authentic, and average in taste

Garlic chicken - 6/10 

Lamb biryani - 7/10 - well presented in a flour sealed handi, aromatic and moist as well, but lacked an overall taste

Palak paneer - 7/10

Dhingri mattar - 6/10

Basera Indian Bistro, NYC 6/10

745 9th Ave

New York, NY 10019

(212) 757-9787

 

 An OK place. Not much to write home about.

Goat curry - 6/10.

Lamb biryani - 6/10. Lamb pieces were dry-ish.

Butter Naan -  nice, 7/10

Masala Art‎, Needham MA

http://masala-art.com/
990 Great Plain Ave, Needham, MA 
(781) 449-4050‎

Will go out on a limb and say that this seems to be the best overall Indian restaurant in the greater Boston area, yet. Infact, will give it that crown until I eat at a better place around here :)

Great appetizers. Good entrees. Good ambience and decor.

Lamb seekh kabab - 8/10
Hariyali chicken tikka - 8/10
Malai shrimp - 8/10
Lamb barra kabab (lamb chops) - 9/10 - well spiced and marinated in general for most of the finger foods above

Lamb biryani - 7/10
Chicken anarkali - 7/10
Rogan josh - 7/10
Goat curry - 7/10 - had higher expectations on this one
Saag paneer - 7/10

Naan was nice - 7/10

Hotbreads, Woburn MA

Hotbreads.

One of the best places around for Indian food and pastries. They have a good lunch buffet too.

Lamb biryani - 8/10. Very good. It is not served in the typical layered style (saffron rice, meat, rice...), but is mixed up. Nevertheless, its tasty and spicy.

Chicken biryani - 8/10. Ditto.

Lamb curry - 8/10. Good consistency gravy (not watery), spicy.

Egg curry - 8/10. Ditto.

Pastries - if you want the 'Indian style' pastries, this is the place!

Filter coffee - average. It used to be brewed the proper South Indian way, but its machine made now.

Ras malai and gulab jamun - both nice.

438, Main Street
Woburn, MA - 01801
Phone: (978) 361-6943

D'Guru Restaurant, Boston MA

The restaurant is located in downtown Boston, MA. The link is to the owner's other restaurant.

Lamb biryani - 7/10. Tasty, not too spicy.

Chicken curry - 5/10

Naan - 5/10

The food is not consistent though, as the second time around it was better (I hear).

Biryani King, Brampton, Canada

40 Gillingham Dr
Brampton, ON L6X, Canada
(905) 453-1500

This is near Toronto.
Chicken biryani - 7/10. Moist, flavorful with well tasting chicken pieces in it
Mutton biryani - 6/10. The lamb pieces were a tad bit dry, but tasty

Guru Catering, Somerville, MA

Lamb Biryani - 4/10. Wasnt biryani to begin with, more like pulav, and with no differentiating taste of anything. The lamb pieces had no taste either. It was wet rice with pieces of meat in it.

Chicken Biryani - N/R - this was almost equally bad, but what made it worse was that it had the 'aroma' of food beginning to spoil.

They were courteous enough to offer a complimentary replacement of the food. I have heard that their lunch "dabba" is nice.

Shalimar Restaurant, San Francisco, CA
532 Jones St, San Francisco, CA
(415) 928-0333

I had heard about this restaurant being good. I asked the chef for his recommendations (below):
Murgh Boti Tandoori - 5/10. Nothing great. The chicken was not well marinated and suffered from the same 1/2 mm of flavor problem (the surface has some marinate, but inside is unmarinated "white" meat). This dish is marinated chicken cubes "kabob", not minced.

Seekh Kabab Mughlai (beef) - 6/10.

Bhuna Gosht (lamb pieces) - 6/10. This was nice, but just about that.

Below is what I should have had according to some local sources:
Chicken Kofta
Chicken Leg
Aloo Parantha

Shahnawaz Grill, Iselin, NJ

Shahnawaz Grill, Iselin, NJ
1380 Oak Tree Rd, Iselin, NJ 08830 732-283-2257

12/31/08 update

The place has been renovated this year, but the food seems to have taken a hit.

Chicken Tikka - 6/10. 

Chicken Shami kabab - 4/10. This was pretty bad. It stank and tasted like spoilt daal (lentil).

Goat biryani - 6/10. Tasty, but needed more biryani flavor and a better goat

Goat curry - 6/10. 

Lamb seekh kabab - 6/10. Needed more spices and flavor.

Jalebi - 6/10. These were the red ones (vs the yellow ones - just a color technicality), but made in oil (vs ghee - those are the best). 

One of the best non-veg Indian restaurants on Oak Tree Rd in Iselin, NJ (Moghul - which the locals say is the best restaurant there, is not a targeted non-veg place. Shahnawaz is a carnivore's paradise :) The food has flavor, different curried items actually taste different.
Sample platter (different types of kababs and meat chunks) - 7/10
Lamb biryani - 7/10
Chicken seekh kabab - 6/10
Lamb seekh kabab - 7/10

Nan N Curry, Turk St and Van Ness Ave, San Francisco, CA
Nan N Curry, San Francisco, CA
533 Jackson St, San Francisco, CA (415) 693-0499

Lamb seekh kabab - 8/10
Mutton biryani - 8/10
These 2 were great! Their chicken tikka masala was the most popular dish and was nice too (juicy chicken chunks in creamy sauce, tasty).
Chicken tikka masala - 6/10

There are at least 2 Nan N Curry restaurants in SFO. I had these at the new one at the intersection of Turk St and Van Ness Ave, not the Jackson St one below. But this one may have the same stuff.