Well, this is legendary! Little Aldergrove now has 4 Indian restaurants, plus a couple more pizza places with butter chicken on the menu. At last count, we also have 2 each of Starbucks, Tims, Subways and grocery stores so we need to officially dispense with the term, "podunk." Anyway, after teasing me for more than a month UK is finally open for take-out, with the dine-in option coming next week.
The name UK was chosen because the nice couple who run this place (it is their second restaurant, the first being in New West) moved to Canada 5 years ago from England. Given that the national dish of England is Chicken Tikka Masala (and not mushy peas or bangers and mash), I think this could qualify these folks to turn out some decent Indian food.
I am doing my best to stay vegetarian this month as it is Vegetarian Awareness Month and Indian food is a great way to do that. Chat Papri is a little snack starting with potatoes and a sort of cracker. It is topped with a tamarind sauce and yogurt. We love this and UK did it very well.
Next was Dal Makni, a creamy lentil dish redolent of ginger garlic and spices. This was another excellent dish. I know it doesn't look like much but it was really tasty (I should have done my garnishing trick with some cilantro).
Paneer Tikka Masala is one of the UK specialties. The paneer cheese came with grill marks and that important mild char taste just like chicken T.M. does. The sauce was rich and tomatoey and I would definitely order it again.
Mharie has chosen not to go all-in with me on the vegetarian month thing (as is her right) and loves her butter chicken. I feel like the Friday lunch special at $10.95 is definitely a winner. I often complain when butter chicken arrives as a bowl of sauce with a few small pieces of chicken but this was definitely chicken-centric with a decent amount of sauce rather than a deluge. Also, the sauce had some texture to it which we really liked. Very good! The lunch special came with rice, naan and a soft drink. It's available until 3 on Friday although they let me get away with ordering it later.
A couple of tradesmen were present and putting some finishing touches on the dining area when I was there. You can see it's going to be a sharp-looking and comfortable room. Our first experience with UK's food has been really enjoyable and we intend to be back. Maybe we'll even try their pizza!
Food 4 out of 5
Comfort 4 out of 5 (at least, it will be soon)
Service 4 out of 5
Value 4 out of 5
No comments:
Post a Comment