Khazana

Update Saturday December 19, 2010.

Hubby and I went back to Khazana for more yummy curries, though we were too late and missed the weekend lunch buffet and had the dinner sets instead. We ordered the Pair Course meal for two for 4,900yen, which is a great deal given how much food we got. We left the place stuffed and still had leftover saffron rice to take home!

The Pair Course meal came with all the below. Drinks were extra.

- House salad

- Vegetable samosas

- Tandoori chicken and shrimps

- Choices of 2 curries

- Saffron rice

- Garlic nan

- Dessert

The house salad was quite yummy and I actually ate all mine! The samosas was good but could have been better because the shell was a bit tough and wasn't crispy enough. However, the tamarind chutney that came with them was delicious! It was a perfect balance between tart and sweet, and all the tamarind chutneys I've had in the past were either too tart or too sweet.

The tandoori chicken was spicy and fragrant and seriously delicious! We got a whole breast including the wing and a whole thigh including the drumstick, pretty much half a freakin' chicken! And you know what the most impressive part was - the breast meat was juicy and tender and was not dry at all! Pretty amazing stuff! And holy smokin' cheese those shrimps were gigantic!

For the 2 curries, we picked the Butter Marsala Chicken in spicy tomato base curry and a Coconut Shrimp curry, which is apparently a very popular curry with women diners. Hubby inhaled the chicken curry in a heartbeat. He wasn't too keen on the coconut curry because he's not a fan of shrimps at all. And while I enjoyed the coconut curry, it was creamy and the shrimps were succulent, I think I prefer the chicken curry too ^.^ The saffron rice was good, but we both like the garlic nan much better. They were crispy and not too overwhelmingly garlicy.

Overall, I'd totally go for that Pair Course again, with 2 different choices of curries until we sample them all ^.^

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Hubby happens to walk through Queens Square on his way to and from school, and looking at Khazana every day makes one nostalgic for some Indian cuisines ^.^ Good thing what we read online were mostly positive, so we decided to try their lunch all you can eat buffet on a weekday, just to sample the curries and whatnot.

The verdict - the curries were great! Sure, we've had better curry in Jersey, but hey, who can beat an all you can eat buffet lunch for only 1,000yen/person (weekdays only, about $12)? I can't even describe how remarkably cheap a 1,000yen buffet lunch is, especially for a restaurant in glitzy Queens Square. Holy cow, how do they manage that kind of rent with these pricing?!?

Anyway, the weekday lunch buffet includes 4 curries (details below), 2 rices (saffron and steamed), butter nan, those addictive cracker chip, sweet chutney sauce, very spicy red sauce, pickled onions, very Japanese-y shredded cabbage salad, and another very Japanese-y seaweed salad. Drinks are charged separately, though also affordable at only 250yen. Weekend lunch buffet are 1,300yen, about $16), and in addition to the same items above, there are chicken tandoori, kebabs, desserts, and a few other things not served during the weekday lunch buffet. Yep, hubby and I are going back this very weekend to try the chicken tandoori and kebab and I will definitely update with more food pictures! ^.^

Here's my (2nd, or was it 3rd?) plate with chicken curry, nan, sweet chutney sauce mixed with spicy sauce, cracker chips, and hot chai (a separate 250yen).

The 4 types of curries served are:

1. Dal, a legume vegetarian curry. Hubby and his friend loved this, but I didn't so much. Don't get me wrong, the Dal curry was very tasty, but I grew up eating beans as sweetened desserts in puddings and whatnot, so savory Tex-Mex bean dishes at home in the states are already trying for my taste buds even though I love, love, love Tex-Mex. Yeah, let's just say I wasn't too keen with this legume curry, even if it was good.

2. Vegetable curry, I assumed this was vegetarian also. It was spicy and had cauliflowers and chopped green beans. Yum!

3. Egg curry...Erhh...none of us were brave enough to try this dish, so... :X

4. Chicken curry, delicious! It was spicy and the chicken was super tender! I ate 2 bowls of this curry haha! :D