01/10/2024
Review of:
Tandoor & Tadka
715 N Giant City Rd
Carbondale, IL 62902
618-353-0033
I couldn’t wait to try the newest addition to the Southern Illinois-area Indian restaurant lineup: Tandoor & Tadka, located in Carbondale.
Their prices are excellent, and the food is…well, amazingly delicious! Outstanding service and attention to detail; Navi was an excellent host. AND they have the best kids menu I’ve seen 😂
We ordered the Peanut Chaat appetizer, Murg Malai Tikka, and (of course) Chicken Tikka Masala (spice levels are mild, medium, hot, and Indian hot), along with garlic cheese naan and several cups of their Indian Masala Tea.
The peanut chaat (peanuts cooked with spices and tossed with fresh tomato, red onion, and cilantro) is a traditional Indian street food; theirs is so good that I’m hooked for life! I could have left full and happy after eating just this, but I’m glad I didn’t because the rest of our meal was ridiculously good!
The chicken breast chunks in the murg malai tikka (grilled chicken marinated in creamy yogurt and spices cooked with sliced onions) was perfection. It’s almost impossible to cook chicken this way without it being at least a touch overdone, but this chicken almost melted in your mouth, it was so tender and juicy. And the flavor? Seriously out-of-this-world! It couldn’t have been better.
The Indian hot chicken tikka masala was wonderfully spiced and very hot—not as hot as some other places I’ve been, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, as the heat didn’t obscure the fragrant spices of the sauce. The all-white meat chicken chunks were not as melt-in-your-mouth as the murg malai tikka, but still wonderfully tender and juicy. The sauce had a nice balance between tomato and cream, with the lovely aromatic spices I hoped for.
The garlic cheese naan was very soft and fresh, with plenty of butter and garlic, and tucked inside was more cheese than what I usually find in Southern Illinois Indian restaurants. I would have liked more cheese, but that’s because I LOVE lots of cheese; most people would be quite happy with the amount it came with.
The masala chai was so good we ordered four cups! I would have ordered more, but I was so full I couldn’t fit one more thing in my stomach. Sadly, this meant there was no room for dessert; but dessert will definitely happen on my next visit.
Tandoor & Tadka ranks the highest on my list of Indian restaurants I’ve eaten at, so make sure you check them out!
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