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| - I really wanted this place to shine. Ever since Woodlands was sold years ago, their recipes and quality have remained at a level that does not give me a desire to visit. KOS is even closer to me and I wanted to try them and at the same time try the Yelp Eat24 system which collects the order and payment and sends it to the restaurant for the customer.
Service at Eat24 was spectacular. It went quickly, there were no problems, and I will use their service again. Their site presents the same quirky hipster attitude as Yelp itself. At the restaurant, the cashier was confused, but polite. She had never heard of Eat24 and didn't know how the take-out order had been paid without her taking the money. She left for the kitchen and came back educated. Then, everything went smoothly. Now, on the food from KOS. (Is that not a strange name for a restaurant?)
The Samosa came 3 for $4.99, a bit high but clearly made at the site. The crust was uneven but tasty; obviously, the thicker parts were not done at the same level as the remainder. The filling was milder than I expected and had flavors that did not come from a mix; I think they should work on the taste, though, as it was on the edge of bland. The mint chutney had heat and made a nice contrast with it. The tamarind was quite sweet and didn't have the stronger tamarind flavor I prefer when I make it myself.
I do not recommend the Mixed Vegetable Pakoras for $5.99. These are not individual items but a ground vegetable mixture covered with potato slivers and fried. The coating was too heavy and the taste of the fritters was not distinctive. I recommend they use the traditional when possible but the ground vegetable mix is just not a winner in this case.
The next dish was Chettinadu curry and was the single meat item of the order. Something broke down here. I ordered Lamb, spicy. The lamb cost $2 additional, making this item $14.99. The container had written in legible black magic maker, "Chettinadu Chicken." Many restaurants offer labels that are nearly illegible and this was excellent. The container was dark, so that didn't seem like chicken. Besides, who wants the Chet with chicken anyway? I opened it and it smelled great. There were many chunks of meat and not too many potatoes -- another good sign. First taste ... beef. This tastes like beef. Look at the lid again ... chicken. Taste again ... beef. But beef is not listed as an option for the Chet. Oh well, I don't cook beef Indian curries for obvious reasons, but OK, I'll press on. The texture is OK for lamb, but the taste is still beef. But there is no beef on their menu at all. This is not a "pure vegetarian" restaurant like Woodlands and I assume that cookware is shared between meat and vegetarian dishes, but they don't offer beef anywhere on the menu! This was odd. I saved some in order to give to a friend to blind taste to see what they taste. Anyway, I liked the fresh curry leaves, but I can make a lamb curry that tastes better and spicier, though I do not label mine at all!
After the one meat dish, we went back to vegetarian, the strong backbone of the many cooking styles across India, though not Himalaya, their other specialty. Aloo Gobhi, $9.99, was nice. The onions were very thinly sliced which makes me think that they use a machine to create bowls of onion slivers to use in several recipes. The slivers become hair-like and limp, creating an odd texture to contrast with the potatoes an cauliflower. I love the cut of the cauliflower but the potatoes were the same small size as found in the "Chicken"/Lamb/Beef curry above. They were not overdone. Again, my request of "spicy" was toned down; they did use some heat but it was one-dimensional. I think they do that for everyone to avoid complaints. I recommend for this dish a combination of the dried Sambol pepper and the fresh Serrano or Thai Bird's Eye to create a couple levels of heat and flavor. This was probably the most successful dish of the order.
Last was the Daal Makhani, at $9.99. Why was the daal so high at nearly $10? Well, it seems that every "entree" dish comes with white rice and a piece of naan. This is a mistake. This meant that my order came with three containers of white rice (not my favorite and not particularly well cooked) and three pieces of naan. Uh, that's a lot of starch. I know the idea behind what they're doing; item price must not fall below a certain point. But, they should offer side items that can added to an order without including more starch. Anyway, it had good texture and good taste. I ordered it medium and it came mild. I take it that the cooks or the owner did not live in Southern India. If you are used to spicy food, you will be disappointed. There is no way in the Eat24 menu to choose anything "spicier"; you might try adding a special comment to the order. I'll try that next time.
To read the full review, visit https://www.facebook.com/michaelsmusicservice.
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