My lunch date at Tamarind Indian Bistro explained that he likes to take people to the year-old eatery on Demonbreun when he knows they can handle spicy food and when he doesn't want to have to engage in conversation with a bunch of other diners. I took exception to the remark — was he embarrassed to be associated with me, and thus taking me to an empty restaurant where no one would see us?
Minutes into our lunch in the cheery coral-colored dining room, which formerly housed Greek Isles restaurant, I understood what he meant. There were actually plenty of people in the room — we even knew a few of them — but no one wanted to talk. We all had our heads down, diligently working through an excellent spread of all-you-can-eat Indian fare. Most people take only an hour or less for lunch, so when the food is this good, it's better to use your time noshing than chitchatting.
Chef-owners Santosh Kotian and Madhu Naik change the buffet daily, "to keep it interesting" for the growing corps of repeat lunchers from offices at the roundabout and in the Gulch, and on our visits we encountered a welcome variety.
A trip down the steam table at the back of the room opened with a gorgeous light soup. One day it was mulligatawny with lentils and vegetables; another it was a thin tomato broth with a surprisingly brazen peppery sting.
Next stop: aloo tikki, golden-brown spiced potato patties; each crisp deep-fried exterior gave way to a steaming puree of mashed potato laced with the ubiquitous garam masala spice medley of ground turmeric, cumin, chili and cardamom.
Continuing down the line, we discovered a thick saag of pureed spinach and lentils and an all-too-rare favorite known colloquially as cheesy peas, or more formally as matar paneer. The spongey cubes of house-made cottage cheese tossed with green peas in a velvety spiced sauce were so stealthily sweet that we returned for an encore even after ample helpings of dessert. (More on that later.)
If you've been keeping track so far, you've noticed a flavorful proliferation of vegetarian dishes, which should come as no surprise to diners who recognize Kotian and Naik. The brothers also own the 5-year-old Woodlands restaurant on West End Avenue, which has earned a devout following with its meatless repertoire. But unlike Woodlands, which showcases the cuisine of the brothers' native Southern India, Tamarind centers on the Northern region, where years of trade and conflict with countries across the border resulted in a culinary profile rich in meat and dairy products.
Indeed, the menu builds toward a meaty crescendo of specialties based on lamb, goat and chicken, including plump drumsticks cooked in a traditional clay oven. Beet-hued meat plucked from the tandoori chicken also makes its way into chicken makhani — a creamy spiced stew otherwise known as butter chicken — made with onions, tomato and a rich cashew sauce. Similar to butter chicken, chicken tikka masala blends sultry warm spices with tomatoes, onions, yogurt and cream, minus the cashew sauce. And chicken jalfrezi delivers cubed chicken and vegetables in a curried broth of ginger and garlic. (Naturally, basmati rice is available on the buffet, but the strategic guest knows she can maximize her dining experience by ladling a little of each stew into the small soup bowls, thereby not filling up on rice before her lunch hour is up. And that way she'll have more capacity for indulging in the char-pocked rounds of fresh naan baked in the restaurant's clay oven.)
Tamarind offers an admirable array of condiments to accent the palette of warm and creamy flavors while adding vibrant dashes of color to the curried earth tones. Most notable among these accoutrements — which include chunky raita, along with chutneys with mint and the eponymous tamarind — is the coarse relish of pickled lemons. Brined and marinated until the zesty rinds soften, the vivid-yellow pickle adds a unique brightness and tang to the meal.
Of course, there's more to Tamarind than meets the eye on the buffet: An extensive roster includes rogan josh, vindaloo, curries and a variety of what Kotian describes as "Indianized Chinese food," such as soy-infused Manchurian chicken. While it's hard to deviate from the bountiful array of the all-you-can eat buffet at lunch, it's worth exploring the menu for dinner (available 365 days a year) or delivery (available through www.gowaiter.com). When we asked for a to-go order of lamb sukha (tender cubes of lamb in a spicy red sauce with dried coconut and spices) after lunch, the server asked what time we would serve the evening meal. Given our time frame, he determined that whole wheat chapati bread would hold up better than the thicker naan, and recommended the substitution.
Now, back to that dessert. We don't usually have much to say about sweets in Indian restaurants, except that things we'd expect to be hot are usually served cold. But Tamarind won us over with a pair of inventive confections, including halvah — shredded carrots cooked with cream, sugar and nuts — and crisp deep-fried croutons bobbing in a cold golden custard perfumed with cardamom and rose. Both desserts were delicious and unexpected. Then again, knowing that the same team from Woodlands is responsible for the bounty at Tamarind, we should have expected nothing less.
Tamarind serves lunch and dinner seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Email arts@nashvillescene.com.
