Queen's Tandoor : The place to be for smelly Indian spices!

I have spent 10 years of my life in Mahatma Gandhi School. No matter how much I try to deny it, there's still a part of me full with Indian influences. The same thing goes with my school mates as we can randomly sing the national anthem of India (in Indian) while reminiscing our primary school days. Or maybe how we like to tease each other with fluent Indian accent (this goes to my siblings too). The most painful thing is not to be able to buy an Indian snack called frankie at the school canteen while the most tantalizing thing is the fact that I still crave for Indian flavors every now and then.

Fortunately, all of my siblings did go to Mahatma Gandhi School as well, so they pretty much undergo the same thing as me. In spite of giving the freaky face smelling a pungent smelly Indian curry, we embrace it with wide grins and open arms.. 

So after debating where to eat for a 'not-so-ordinary' dinner with our Mum, we decided to eat at Queen's Tandoor : Indian and Chinese Cuisine (what is it with the Chinese cuisine tagging along behind the Indians in an Indian restaurant..? I continually wonder if the Indians love Chinese cooking that much or is it the Chinese who love the Indian cooking)

Despite of solving my personal unsolved curiosity, I enjoyed my time, as well as the dishes there.. 

The place is full with Ganesha statues and ornaments. The elephant-headed God is believed to be the God of success and the remover of obstacles. As a polytheist that I myself am, I can easily appreciate and understand why they put the statues in the restaurant.

Awards and recognitions

I just think this drawer is very pretty and unique..

STARTERS

Mutton (34k) and Vegetable (27k) Samosa. A fried puff pastry-like filled with generous minced mutton and veggies. 

Frankie (34k). I was so happy to see this on the menu. Inside was chunks of chopped veggies with Indian spices. Reminds me of my school days.. The outer wrap almost resembled the texture of tortilla.

Dahi Puri (36k). It's another Indian snack with the shape of a round puffy shell-like texture, bursting with mashed potato and chickpeas filling when bitten, sprinkled with some spicy paprika and poured with generous cold yogurt.. It's my first time trying Dahi Puri and I LOVE IT. The not so sweet yogurt contrasted with the spicy paprika..

MAIN COURSES

Jeera Pulao (61k). It's basically cumin basmati rice. We were trying something different because we usually order briyani. This one was okay.. I think Indonesians can still accept the taste of this..

Garlic Naan (25k). Well, it's just not complete if not to tear this into pieces and use it to wipe the sauces off of your plate.

Mutton Handi (81k). I remember saying "Mutton mutton mutton! The mutton is so tender" with Indian accent after my first bite. Not only the masala spices are strong, it has that hint of spiciness which completes this dish. 

Butter chicken (74k). Cubed boneless chicken with (yet another) masala spices. They add butter to this one as you can see it's a bit more oily. 

DESSERT

Gulab Jamun (23k). Okay, this I don't like. Sweet way over the top syrup poured into these balls of fried sponge cake like.. NOT FOR ME..

That night, I temporarily fulfilled my Indian food cravings. Feeling perfectly comfortable surrounded with Indian families, I sometimes wonder if maybe I am part Indian inside. Maybe it's just the 10 years of influence, maybe it's just the food that I like, but what I can definitely tell to myself is the smellier the curry, the more me will likey.. Until then, a very good night to all of you (I am literally saying that out loud with Indian accent)

Queen's Tandoor

Permata Plaza

Jl. M. H. Thamrin Kav. 57, Jakarta

Phone : 3903287

Open Hours : 10.00-15.00, 18.00-23.30

SATE JEPANG : a little yakitori vendor in Bintaro

'Too many cooks spoil the food', well, that is a saying that I believe just fine when I was hanging out as one of the 20 people. The larger the group, the harder it seems to find a mutual destination, in this case, a good place to eat. The problem is either no one is making a choice or everybody wants to go with their own choices.

After an hour of just sitting, with dubious multiple decisions, I have somehow used my right as an individual to utter my choice, my craving, my curiosity of a particular street food vendor that I have been lured by the idea of it for months. It was a secluded yakitori vendor in Bintaro, famous with the name of Sate Jepang among the inhabitants of the area. It's a funny thing how one mind can affect other's. So the next thing I knew, there we were, a breezy 6 p.m, on the side of Maleo street.

To my disappointment, we arrived with no presence of any vendors. Back to square one, we all stepped out of our cars and began discussing our next destination. Here's another funny thing, call it something about fate or just pure damn luck, as we were all busy dwelling, there it was. A small yakitori cart pushed by two skinny men, approaching us. Well, being dubious wasn't a bad thing after all.

No, this was not a 'Silent Hill' setting. It was just too smoky as they were setting up the tools. And no, that was not me or any of my friends. lol

Once again, 'Too many cooks spoil the food'. Too much of everything has never been a good thing. This is a concept which I think they get really well. They only offer you with three choices of yakitori. Either you have chicken skin or chicken meat skewers (breast or drumstick). It was easy in deciding what to order as we were all just faced with three options. Sometimes less is definitely more.

Is it normal to call it chicken thigh?  The yakitori was coated with a thick brown sweet savory sauce that gave it its kick in the taste buds. 

Make your request for extra crispy skin. TOP NOTCH. Each portion is worth for 10k, with a total of 5 skewers. Not fulfilling enough, that's why we ordered most of the stock for the night.

If we have lontong for satay's company, this vendor have onigiri (8k). You can choose between just plain rice or the ones with tuna fillings. Since they also grill the onigiris, the outside layer of the rice became a bit crispy, in a good way.

I always have a special thing for street food vendors. It was more exciting to discover a new unexposed cheap 'it-destination'. I warn you fancy diner fans, this place has no high-end touches in every way possible. It is the place to sit on the side of a road with plastic chairs and minimum lighting, with minimum care in the world but with lots of fun teasing and bullying your friends. Not forgetting, the misty setting from the thick smoke will blur out your vision. I was unable to see anything further than a 2 meter distance and I also ended up smelling like yakitori for the whole night. I have no complains though, it was the highlight of my day, both the yakitori and the crazy times I had with my friends.

We bought most of the stock for the night. In an hour and a half, there were none left. I only had a portion and an onigiri for the night, but I also kept taking my friend's portion as we sat there. It's a bit ruthless that we left almost nothing for the other customers. After all, we were the first customers.. ;p