Eatery - Tandoori Fresh (CA)
1500 Adams Ave, Ste 100A, Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Pricing - $/$$ | Dining - Casual | Cuisine - Indian
www.tandoorifreshonline.com
My friends and I had some bad cravings for Indian food so after a week or so of looking at various schedules, we finally made our way here one Thursday night. I felt like parking was a tad easy to miss because you don't expect the restaurant to be right on the edge of a sketchy street. My GPS led me the wrong way anyhow. When I finally made it and we walked in, I noticed that it just looked like a casual takeout or sit down (but eat quickly) kind of place. The menu had just a few selections but they have a $9.99 deal with an entree, a side of veggies, a soft drink, rice, and naan - pretty slick.
I ordered the chicken tikka masala with saag paneer (I never change, do I?). Instead of getting a soda, I asked for mango lassi, and I'm glad I did. The food was spicier than I was accustomed to. In fact, I was tearing up for most of the meal but trying to seem a bit stronger by not letting any tears fall. The mango lassi helped with cooling my tongue down. It was interesting that the place made all of the food to order and served it in small bowls reminiscent of handis (the Indian bowls). Unfortunately that did mean that our food took a while but at least we weren't in any rush. I really liked the saag paneer because the cheese was just delectable. There was a nice fresh, cilantro-y taste to the saag, and the tikka masala was not overly sweet. The chicken in it had been slightly blackened, giving the whole dish a nice edge on its taste.
I would knock off half a star merely because their naan makes it pretty low on my list of good naan. It was very bready and thick. There was a tad too much dough for the whole thing. Was it really naan? Anyhow, the service was nice though, especially since it was just one guy the whole time. Great food overall - I'd definitely come again if I were in town. Costa Mesa is a bit far...
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