Tarka Indian Kitchen (Round Rock)

Rejoice, North Austin Indian food fans!  Tarka Indian Kitchen has arrived in Round Rock.  It is located in the commercial complex behind Ikea.  We no longer have to drive all the way to South Austin for our Indian food fix. ;)

We’ve honestly been eagerly awaiting Tarka’s arrival since a friend tipped us that it will open closer to home before the year ends. And indeed it finally has! I received an email inviting me and a guest to come and have lunch or dinner at Tarka before it officially opened to the public last November 17th.  One would be crazy to turn down an invitation like that!  It’s like saying no to Outer Banks foreclosures that’s being offered to you for free. Ok, well that might be a little exaggerated. :) Anyway, I RSVPd my yes and hubby and I dropped by on November 16th for lunch.  We were informed when we got to the counter that everything we order will be on the house. Yay!

There was a beverage in my head that I wanted so much to order but I didn’t know what it was called.  All I know is that it was some sort of a smoothie.  Too shy to ask, I ordered a Mango Lemonade…

And then, while we were waiting for our orders to arrive, I saw a server walking with the drink that I was thinking about!  It’s  called Lassi, we later found out!  It’s an Indian concoction of yogurt with freshly whipped ripe fruit.  I made hubby go up to the counter again to order a Mango Lassi for me.

Yum!  Hubby ordered one for himself as well, the Mixed Berry Lassi.

These drinks truly are refreshingly good!

For starters, we had Samosa Chaat, a classic Indian street fare.  It’s  samosa topped with onions, garbanzo beans, raita, chutneys & roti crisps.

Whenever we go to an Indian restaurant, we never forget to order some Naan (leavened flatbread)  and I’ll tell you why in a bit.  We went for the Garlic Naan, which is leavened bread coated with garlic and basil.

You really do taste the garlic.  Not that there’s anything wrong with it, but we decided we prefer the regular naan.

I had Shrimp Coconut Curry…

Did you see the sauce?!  Now that’s what the naan is for.  Haha!  Hubby and I use the naan to wipe our bowls clean, weird as that might sound.  We just don’t want all that saucy goodness to go to waste. *wink*

I’ve had the Coconut Curry before, but with chicken as my choice of protein. I thought I hit the jackp0t with the food I ordered.  That was until I tasted hubby’s lunch choice of  Lamb Korma…

Tarka’s Korma is a rich almond cashew pistachio cream sauce.  It was love at first bite for me as I have always been partial to cream sauces.  I always found myself dipping a piece of naan in hubby’s korma.  I didn’t care too much for the lamb though.  While I eat lamb occasionally, it’s not on top of my list of favorite proteins. :)

We enjoyed our lunch at Tarka so much that exactly four days after, we we were back for dinner, this time with our daughter in tow.

My daughter  loves curry.  So from the kids menu, we ordered the Tikka Masala curry bowl for her…

We introduced her to the art of dipping naan in her sauce and she loved it!  She was enjoying her food until she got a taste of mine….Chicken Korma…

Like I said, it was love at first bite when I tasted the Lamb Korma during our first visit.  I’d be crazy not to order it for myself on our second Tarka adventure. Korma is love! Hee hee.

Of us two, hubby is more adventurous.  So he ordered something different, Chicken Mirch Masala, a curry made with stir-fried mushrooms, diced onions and chilis…

I can’t complain with his choice of food, but I already have my bias for Korma.

I love the basmati rice! And with the naan, we always end up with carbo-loaded meals!  Not a very good idea but…

It’s been over two weeks since our last visit to Tarka.  We will definitely be back again…sooner than soon!  After all, it’s only a few minutes drive away. Yeehaw!

Cheers!