Indian Restaurants in Seoul

Indian Restaurants in Seoul :

Do I have a catering degree? Is my sense of taste like an average person or is it something terribly unique? There could be more questions on me qualifying for writing about Indian food in Seoul. But then I guess this is my space and who cares after all. So here goes my piece. To set the base right let me explain that I understand a fair amount of cooking and I have had my decent share of eating out.

One of the first Indian restaurants I visited was Ganga (I hear its owned by a Bengali – I am one too – for Non Indians: I will explain this concept later). Ganga is located in the basement of Seoul Finance Centre, a perfect up-market area, where you find a plethora of upscale restaurants. As soon as you enter a Korean Hostess would greet you and assign you the relevant table depending on the number of people. It’s a dark brown atmosphere, if you know what I mean. The chairs, the tables and the décor are dominated by that color. When you look up, you see those big pipes intertwined and carrying water or gas or what have you. You immediately know that this is the basement of a large multistoried building. Those pipes by the way are painted and now form part of the décor. Then comes the menu. The prices are exorbitant to say the least and therefore let me concentrate on the food. We ordered Barbecued Prawn, which was marinated with a tangy Indian Masala (spice mix). That was pretty good and I enjoyed each time my teeth bit into the soft meat. Then came the Nan (Indian Bread) which was soaked with so much of butter that you could perhaps take some of the latter some home for next day’s morning breakfast. The Black Dal (Boiled Black Lentil with Indian seasonings) was disastrous and perhaps they had no cream in the kitchen. We had ordered for two Curry Dishes: One a Paneer Makhani (Cottage Cheese in a Tomato Butter Sauce spiced up with Ginger and Fenugreek) and the other a Chicken something. which I do not remember. How do u make two dishes identical? This art would be easily explained to you by the hundreds of chefs working in the hundreds of Indian restaurants all over the world. It’s quite a simple process. Prepare basic gravy consisting of tomato, onions, coriander powder, cumin powder and some Indian spices and keep. Keep your vegetables, or Cottage Cheese or Meat boiled and ready. No matter which dish you order they would just mix them up and serve. No wonder they all taste the same. So Ganga? 4 out of 10!!!

Taj in Myong-dong, the fashion district of Seoul. That was my first visit to an Indian restaurant in Seoul. Under duress I have been there a couple of more times. My humble suggestion to you? Stay away!!! They have this same problem of similar tasting dishes. Additionally, they make them sweet. After all Kashmri Rogan Josh cannot be sweet. They also manage the colours well. All dishes look the same!! I guess they are an ISO 9000 restaurant. Stick to the process!!!! 3.5 on 10!!

Chakra in Itaewon and Hannam Dong and some other places. The South Indian Dishes here are not bad but if you opt for the buffet make sure you are in time. If you were late all the gravy would be diluted with water. That’s there idea of filling up the containers....ahem...coffers. 4.5 out of 10 but purely because of the South Indian spread. “Dal” I have talked about earlier and it’s a nice and cosy joint. Finally, this is a restaurant, which would earn a little respect in whatever they churn out notwithstanding some blemishes. 6 out of 10.

Other than this there are quite a few of them and I will talk about them as I encounter each one. By the way, I always wonder about the Indian Samosa being treated as a starter in Indian dinners. Where are the Tikkas and Kebabs? They are there, but the samosas seem to be a hit. But who said that the world isn’t quirky. So where do I get good Indian food in Seoul. The Indian homemakers (colleagues wives) are there and thank god for them. And there are some colleagues too who can give those restaurateurs a run for there money. I rather visit them for a good Indian meal than waste time buying an expensive untrue Indian dish. And of course I have my own kitchen, for producing good items and if they are bad I can always blame it on myself.

A commentary on "Chakraa" is available here : http://seouldays.blogspot.com/2006/03/friday-evening-at-chakraa-itaewon.html

I visited "DAL", why don't you? : http://seouldays.blogspot.com/2006/02/lazy-sunday-talk-sunday-has-arrived.html Sphere: Related Content