What's Cooking: The Star of India, a fine Indian restaurant
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I moved to Salt Lake City in 2008 and as a longtime fan of Indian food, one of the first things my wife and I did after moving here was to find an Indian Restaurant. Our searches revealed that there are several in the Salt Lake City area to choose from, but we settled on the Star of India as being our favorite for a number of reasons. They serve great Tandoori styled Indian food, which is a style of cooking that we were familiar with. They are also well situated on 4th Street South in Downtown SLC, with convenient parking in back (free on the weekends).
The Star offers a quiet and comfortable environment within which to enjoy their fine food. The walls are painted lavishly with characters from Indian folklore and lend themselves to the atmosphere. The booth seating provides some privacy for small parties up to 6 for intimate gatherings. The restaurant also includes ample room for celebrations and parties, with a large screen projector for viewing your favorite Indian movie, should you be so inclined.
I really enjoy the buffet on the weekends as it gives me a chance to sample their entrées for a very reasonable $10 a person. The Star of India begins the meal well with a nice assortment of appetizers, from samosas to pakoras. At the buffet the appetizers are vegetarian, but if you order off the menu, you can order a variety of chicken, shrimp or lamb appetizers, too.
They always have a good selection of entrées to choose from, including Chana Massala, Aloo Gobi Masala, with Tiki and Masala variations for chicken, shrimp and lamb. The buffet also tends to be spiced mildly so as to allow people new to Indian food to get acquainted without a spicy surprise. For the more adventurous, you can order from the menu as an alternative to the buffet and order the food as spicy as you like.
If you find that the meal is a bit too spicy, I highly recommend a salad to eat with the entrées. The salad dressing is a yogurt dressing that helps to cut the spice without resetting the palate completely, as water would. The salad at the buffet is usually iceberg lettuce with tomatoes and cucumbers, and is tastefully arranged.
No Indian meal would be complete without the fine breads. Naan is the bread usually available, although you can order it as either plain or garlic flavored. They also offer Puri, a deep fried bread that is soft and fluffy. Their breads combine very nicely with the curry sauces in the entrees and round out the meal.
And finally, there is desert. The buffet features rice pudding with the wonderful flavors of cardamom seed. Should you choose to order off the menu, the choices widen to Kheer and Gulabjaman, a deep fried pastry in a sweet syrup, which is also sometimes served at the buffet. If you don't the dessert you want at the buffet, it never hurts to order off of the menu.
At the end of the meal, I find that a masala tea with a little bit of cream caps the meal off very well. The Star also offers a range of beers, coffees as well as a full bar.
If you're a fan of Indian food, you might well find the Star to meet or exceed your expectations. I know I did.
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What: The Star of India, a fine Indian restaurant
Where: 55 E 400 S, Salt Lake City, Utah 84111
Phone: 801-363-7555
Website: http://www.starofindiaonline.com/
