Curry Fried Chicken

Where: Curry Fried Chicken, 660 S State Street, Salt Lake City

Who Went: Chelsey & Owen

Number of Visits: 1

What We Ordered: Curry Fried Chicken Plate and Shawarma 

What It Cost: $23.00

What We Thought:

Curry fried chicken? I've never heard of such a thing! Indian food mixed with fried chicken - it sounded too weird not to try it, plus they had such great reviews online so I had to know what it was all about. It was pretty empty for a Thursday night, and they cooked everything hot right there for us. It took a little longer than we had hoped for, but while we were waiting, they were nice of us to bring us free pita and hummus! 

It was some of the best pita/naan I've ever had - warm and toasty that was much more tasty than a normal bread basket to start the meal out! The hummus was pretty good, but not anything too different or unique. But it was on the house, and we thoroughly enjoyed it!

Have you seen The Avengers? Are you crazy like us and stayed until the very end to see the superheroes sitting casually and eating their shawarma? Well, we did, and every since then Owen has obviously wanted to try some shawarma! It took me a long time to find anywhere that served it, but Curry Fried Chicken had it, and it was delicious. This version was exceptionally similar to a gyro (but with different meat of course), with a cool cucumber sauce, lettuce, tomatoes all wrapped up in a soft naan. We definitely want to try it again (and pretend to be awesome superheroes...okay, a little lame.... :)

And now, for the food we've all been waiting for -- the curry fried chicken! It was served atop some basmati rice, a bit of naan, spinach that tasted a little bit like it was from a can...a little salad with some cucumber cilantro sauce, some potatoes and cooked lentils. But the chicken. Oh, the chicken. I've never had anything like it! It was so hot and freshly fried, with the juiciest chicken inside and a definite curry flavor that went amazingly and surprisingly well with the normal flavors you expect from wonderful fried chicken. All I can say is you have to try it to see for yourself!

What You Should Do: Go for the fried chicken! Everything else was just alright, but the curry fried chicken was so unique and juicy and spicy and delicious...you have to try it. I am pretty sure that you can order just the curry chicken on its own (as opposed to on the plate), and I would probably recommend that since it's really the star of this show!

Bombay House

Where: Bombay House, 463 N University Avenue, Provo

Who Went: Chelsey, Owen, Devynne, Mom, Grandma, Uncle Lee & Aunt Sara

Number of Visits: 3

What We Ordered: Mango Lassi, Assorted Snacks, Vegetable Samosas, Chicken Tikka Masala, Chicken Makhani, Peshawari Naan, Lamb Vindaloo, Vegetable Briyani, & Regular Naan

What It Cost: ~$40.00 for two people

What We Thought:

Well, in the battle for best Indian food in Utah County, Bombay House takes the gold for us! We love their atmosphere, varied menu, and heavenly unique Indian flavors. My mother's never really been a huge fan of Indian food, but we took her here on one of her visits and now I think she's been converted! Bombay House delivers consistently delicious meals in gigantic portions, so even though some people may comment that it is a little expensive, we've always had plenty of food for at least two meals! The only thing I wish was different about this restaurant was the dim lighting, but only so I could take better pictures of their amazing food! 

Cool and refreshing mango lassi - a heavenly complement to the intense and rich flavors of Indian food. I love super spicy food, so I didn't find that Bombay House was ever too hot for me, but if you are a little more wary of spicy food, then ordering this drink could help balance things out for you!

Owen and I decided to try the "assorted snacks" appetizer, which is basically a platter of heavenly fried Indian food! It came with my all-time favorite, the vegetable samosa (if only I could eat these every day!), two onion bhaji (sliced and fried onions - like Indian-style delicious onion ring cakes), chicken pakora (fried chicken strips), and vegetable pakora (where yummy spinach was the highlight). Honestly, after eating these wonderfully fried foods, we were already pretty much full and could have called it a night!

The vegetable samosas are filled with a delicious mix of veggies - including peas, potatoes, chickpeas, and is served with mint and tamarind chutneys. I am obsessed with the tangy sweet tamarind chutney dipping sauce, and Owen prefers the mint, so it works out great!

Their chicken tikka masala is definitely the best I've ever tasted anywhere - creamy, flavorful, and rich. It doesn't look like much in the picture, but trust me, you've got to try it! This barbecue Indian classic will charm even the biggest Indian food doubters. We'll never be able to go to Bombay House without at least one person ordering this in our group because we never can get enough of it.

The chicken makhani was a similar dish to the tikka masala, but with the addition of cashews, ginger, and different spices. Though they may look nearly identical, the flavors of these two chicken dishes were completely different. The tikka masala was much more sweet, whereas the makhani dish had this unique smoky flavor. It wasn't my favorite dish that we've ordered at Bombay House, but it was still satisfying and tasty.

We ordered the peshawari naan as per recommendation of a friend, and were pleasantly surprised. I don't like raisins and my mom doesn't like coconut, but somehow combined with cashews in this dessert-like naan, it was delicious! We are definitely adding this to our must-order list of foods here at Bombay House.

My uncle ordered the lamb vindaloo, and although I didn't get a chance to taste it, he guarantees it's the best lamb vindaloo he's ever had. So there you go...

Now for my personal favorite - the vegetable briyani. If I was a vegetarian, I think I would eat Indian food every single day because the combinations of vegetables and spices is so delicious! Sometimes I prefer ordering vegetarian dishes to meat at Bombay House because the mixture of vegetables is more interesting and multi-dimensional. In this incredible basmati rice dish, there is an assortment of vegetables, garlic, onion, cashews, golden raisins, and ginger all mixed and cooked to perfection, and served with a large bowl of raita - an amazing cool cucumber-mint yogurt sauce that tastes good on pretty much everything. I would never expect that one of my favorite dishes would be a bowl of vegetables and rice, but this vegetable briyani was an unexpected delicious discovery.

What You Should Do: Definitely go. Even if you think you don't like Indian food, you've got to give Bombay House a chance. They have a ton of different options, and something to please everyone. I mean honestly, I've never met anyone who doesn't like their chicken tikka masala. If you are looking to have the traditionally very spicy Indian food, make sure to tell your server that you want it "actually hot" not just "Provo 'hot'." There's a difference :)

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India Palace

Where: India Palace, 98 W Center Street, Provo

Who Went: Chelsey & Owen

Number of Visits: 1

What We Ordered: Vegetable Coconut Korma, Lamb Bhunna, Gulab Jamun (not pictured) and Naan

What It Cost: $40.00 (including tip)

What We Thought: 


Let me just start off by saying that I was really sad when I first got to this restaurant because I realized that I had forgotten my camera! We were kind of in a hurry so I didn't want to go home and grab it, so we decided to take pictures on Owen's work phone. So, I apologize in advance for the less-than-stellar photos, but considering they were taken on a cell phone, I think they are pretty good!

It seems like in Provo there is a pretty big rivalry between the two big names in Indian food - India Palace and Bombay House. Though I have to admit that my loyalty lies on Team Bombay House, we've decided that India Palace is pretty good too. Between the two, I've had better service at Bombay House, am obsessed with their Peshawari Naan, and like the environment better. But if the line at Bombay House is out the door or you're in the mood to try something different, India Palace is an excellent choice.

Owen started out with the Lamb Bhunna, which contained onions, ginger and large hunks of green pepper. It had a unique blend of spices that wasn't too overwhelming, and the lamb meat was really tender and delicious. Their portions were quite large, and we easily took at least half of our plates home with us.

The rice was actually one of my favorite parts of the meal - this is the one aspect that I liked better at India Palace than Bombay House! Their rice was light and fluffy, with unique flavors added in that really enhanced our individual dishes. And unlike most rice sides, it was still good the next day!

I love getting vegetarian dishes at Indian restaurants because I feel like the mix of the vegetables that they use in the sauces is much more interesting and delicious than a one-note meat dish. This korma dish proved me right, including chickpeas, potatoes, cauliflower, carrots and more in a creamy curry-coconut sauce. I thought that the dish was good, but not anything amazing or new. For dessert we got the gulab jamun, which tasted like a hot doughnut soaked in syrup - we've never had gulab before and thought that it was kind of fun! Of all the things we ordered though, we felt like the dessert was kind of overpriced for the amount of food it was. Everything else seemed to be pretty standard prices for the quality of Indian food that it was.

What You Should Do: If you're tired of Bombay House and want to try a different location, India Palace is a good bet. They are typically less busy and have a great range of meal options. I've heard that their buffet is one of the best in the area, but I've been conditioned since a young age to be kind of wary of buffets, so I'll have to take your word for it! We liked India Palace, felt like it was a decent price, and were satisfied with but not astonished by our meals.

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