BEST INDIAN RESTAURANT: Tandoori Grill

Boulder County Gold — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 20:58:27 +0000

Winner

619 S. Broadway St., Boulder, 303.543.7339
www.tandoorigrillboulder.com

For those who savor the tastes and aromas of Indian cuisine, Tandoori Grill has been a Boulder destination for 13 years. Gurjeet Dhanoa, owner of Tandoori Grill with her husband, Paul, says, “We’re successful because we serve good food. Paul is the head chef, and he’s a really good cook; he was trained by his mom. Our food is very consistent. Our other two chefs have been with us for six years and eight years. We don’t change the way we prepare things. Our foods are typically Punjabi, from the Punjab region in northwest India.” She describes the cuisine as fusion: steaks, salmon, duck and mahi mahi are prepared using Indian spices and cooking methods. Steak and corn, for example, are cooked in the tandoori oven. In preparing coconut shrimp, the chefs substitute chickpea flour for regular American flour. “We get more and more busy every year. The most popular dishes are chicken tikka masala, chili tandoori chicken, and bengan bartha (roasted eggplant). When my husband does a special dish, if it hits well, we put it on the menu.”

Runner Up

The Taj
2630 Baseline Rd., Boulder, 303.494.5216
www.tajcolorado.com

BEST Indian Restaurant: The Taj

Boulder County Gold — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 21:59:23 +0000

Winner

The Taj www.tajcolorado.com 2630 Baseline Road, Boulder 303.494.5216

The Taj

Serving the freshest and healthiest food – that is what motivates Taj owners and husband-and-wife team, Vhim Rai and Kamala Ghimire, to work 16 to 18 hours a day. “We have many long-time customers,” Ghimire says, “some who have been coming since we opened The Taj in February 1996.” Rai does the cooking, along with several chefs he trained. “I, too, do some cooking and put in seasonal vegetables myself,” says Ghimire. Her husband supervises the abundant, popular buffet. “To make the food healthier,” says Rai, “we use less fat and heavy cream, just the bare minimum. Some people come every day for lunch, because the food is light. And we use absolutely no MSG at all.” They are introducing gluten-free and dairy-free Indian food. At their year-old restaurant, Mantra Indian Cuisine (1630B 30th St., Boulder, 303.444.1809, www.mantracolorado.com), you can sample masala dosa, a popular south Indian gluten-free crepe. While featuring a popular buffet at lunch and dinner, Mantra is also a “sit-down and be served” kind of place – at affordable prices. Try “thali,” platters of little samplers of tasty Indian specialties. The favorite dishes of Taj customers are chicken masala, tandoori chicken, and saag paneer (homemade cheese cubes cooked with Indian creamed spinach). “For the Tandoori, we cook our meat fresh, so it is moist and tender,” Ghimire says. She also notes that they use healthy options such as brown rice and steamed rice with no oil, steamed vegetables, and salad with fresh-cut vegetables. Another customer favorite is the homemade chai. “Customers come even from Evergreen for it,” she says. “It’s our secret recipe. We have a lot of experience playing with the spices.” Winners of the Boulder County Gold People’s Choice Award many times, this husband and wife are quick to express their gratitude for the honor: “From the bottom of our hearts we would like to thank the Boulder County community and all our customers. We’re very grateful to be winners of the Boulder County Gold Award again. It’s a community gift. We’re going to work even harder.”

Runner Up

Tandoori Grill www.tandoorigrillboulder.com 619 South Broadway, Boulder 303.543.7339

Boulder County Gold » Boulder County Gold – BEST INDIAN RESTAURANT: Tandoori Grill

BEST INDIAN RESTAURANT: Tandoori Grill

BEST Indian Restaurant: The Taj