Choices for Indian food require a bit of travel time

In the late 1970s, the Duchess and I courted in Indian restaurants. She’s American, I’m British; a true attraction of opposites when it comes to food preferences. She grew up enjoying spicy Mexican food; I was brought up on bland English fare.

Oddly, we found common ground in The Raja, a late-night, main-street eatery in Coventry, an industrial city in Britain’s industrial midlands. There, we savored Indian delicacies like rogan josh, which is a a lamb and tomato curry, and chicken tikka masala, then held hands over kheer, an aromatic rice-pudding dessert made with basmati rice.

When I emigrated in 1980, I expected to give up such treats. And for a while, I did. My early newspaper career took me around the Western United States, including a sojourn in the Midwest, where Indian restaurants are few and far between. We once drove 400 miles clear across Nebraska for a curry.

When we settled at the North Coast almost 10 years ago, we were again bereft. Portland-area Indian places came and went, so pricey pilgrimages to The India House in Seattle’s university district, now renamed The Bombay Grill, were our best option.

We both cheered when Namaste opened in Vancouver, Wash., in fall 2001. On our regular family trips east, owner Harjinder Singh Chand provides for our needs, especially with his inexpensive, plentiful and varied lunch and dinner buffets. Namaste means “most welcome” in Hindi, and the Chand family certainly makes guests feel welcome.

Though we usually enjoy the buffet, on a recent Thursday night, we ordered our favorites from the a la carte menu. We were not disappointed. The lamb in the rogan was the perfect consistency, cuttable with a fork, and fresh from the oven. The CTM – chicken tikka masala – was creamy and filling.

Having set the standard on which we rank Indian fare in the Northwest, we began a new journey in the Portland area, where new Indian restaurants are springing up almost weekly.

First for us to try was a place in Hillsboro called Chennai Masala that is all the buzz. Coast Weekend’s regular columnist, Rich Fencsak, had heard about it on the food writers’ grapevine.

We were pleasantly surprised. Chennai Masala is settled in an ugly storefront in a newly minted, upmarket shopping mall. It is the closest Indian restaurant to the North Coast. Thirteen tables and nine bar stools are available for diners in a muted atmosphere. Dishes are listed on a wipe-clean board high above the counter, but menus are also brought to the table by Sumi Raj, the gracious owner.

The portions were small, but the food was zesty. The rogan josh was aromatic, though too mildly spiced, and the meat crumbled on the fork, demonstrating its freshness. A recent TV travel show suggested that chicken tikka masala is actually a British dish, invented by Indians because wimpy English palates could not tolerate fiery vindaloos. Whatever the truth in that, the CTM at Chennai Masala was rich and satisfying. The waiter said it was so popular they named the restaurant after it!

The nan, however, was a disappointment. Unlike Namaste, where the unleavened bread is puffy and soft, this splintered into thin, dry pieces. The raita, a cucumber-flavored yogurt served as a side dish to cleanse the palate, was heavy with cucumber flavor but light-tasting and it did its job. But the gulab jamuns, deep fried milk balls soaked in light flavored syrup, were overdone and heavy.

We came away thinking “good but not great,” but certainly worth another visit.

Next up was a west-side neighbor, the India Palace. Located in another bland strip mall, it didn’t sing out a welcome until we were inside where the staff was very attentive, the ambiance brighter than Chennai Masala.

The rogan was thick with aromatic spices that tingled on the palate, while the CTM was suitably creamy and the chicken tender and soft. The menu offered considerable variety for future trips. The gulab jamuns, which finishes a meal nicely if you have room in your tummy, were considerately light.

So in order of preference I’ll rank them: 1. Namaste; 2. India Palace; and 3. Chennai Masala.

Next on our itinerary will be Abhiruchi and one of the Swagat restaurants in Beaverton. As we make plans to travel to those locales, we had another thought: Why isn’t there an Indian restaurant closer to the North Coast? There would be at least two customers every week!

Patrick Webb is managing editor of The Daily Astorian. As he visits more Northwest restaurants in his quest for the perfect rogan josh, look for updated versions of this review on the Web.