Shehnai Restaurant~Authentic Indian Cuisine
After twelve months, the occasion finally presented itself to take dinner at the Shehnai on Main St. West. We had put the Thai night on hold and made the trek through town for a taste of India.
Shehnai has been serving guests since 1990. For a Friday evening it was a little quiet but the phone was busy with delivery and take out calls and there were walk-ins throughout dinner. Shehnai has its regulars with whom they are on first name terms which is good to see.
We enjoyed the waistcoat clad service-very attentive. The right amount of attention. Don't like to be fawned over but don't like to be left with an empty water glass either.
Atmosphere is casual. Tablecoths and linen napkins- always a nice touch. The trend to plastic cloths is repugnant.
There is an extensive menu so it's a matter of taking the time to go through at a steady pace and put your meal together.
Enjoy a Kingfisher lager while you wait.
Historically, I would go with samosa, mulligatawny, butter chicken and palao rice. Time for a change. A small change. If you enjoy the food why change just for the sake of it?
We went with samosa, onion bhaji, chicken (korma and dansak), Kashmiri rice and garlic naan.
http://www.shehnairestaurant.com/
Samosa portion is two pieces so remember to keep this in mind when ordering. Vegetable samosa-well stuffed, crispy pieces. Onion bhaji comes as six pieces of deep fried onion strips in batter.
The chicken pieces were lean & tender breast. Not the over processed kind you will sometimes see in Asian restaurants. Rich yogurt gravy for the korma; nicely seasoned sweet and sour gravy for the dansak.
The rice came blended with a mix of dried fruit and nuts. I confess I was not expecting trail mix in my rice but it was tasty.
Naan is essential to mop up the gravy. Also available are chapati, roti and paratha.
We were comfortably full and declined dessert although the kulfi and jamun beckoned.
Only one minor issue and that was with the pappadum. Slightly under done so it lacked the requisite crispness.
We will definately be returning to Shehnai.
