Tasty Indian Bistro

Heading to Surrey for a supply inventory sale, BF and I finally had the chance to visit an Indian cuisine restaurant he has been raving about for quite a while, at least a year. A few of our friends have mentioned Tasty Indian is one of the better Northern Indian cuisine restaurants in Surrey and of course, the interior looks modern. Walking up to the restaurant, I knew what that meant. Tasty Indian has a chain restaurant vibe like Cactus Club and Joey, with two hostesses waiting to greet diners and a dimly lit interior. The restaurant is spacious with comfortable seating arrangements and patio seating is available as well, a very not so typical Indian cuisine restaurant. Tasty Indian seems like the restaurant to be for those who prefer dining in a "nicer" atmosphere or to impress out of town guests. As for me, I am more about the food than atmosphere but do enjoy having a comfortable dining space.

PLAIN RICE, LAMB VINDALOO, BUTTER CHICKEN, TANDOORI CHICKEN, PRAWN SAHI MASALA AND GARLIC NAAN.

PLAIN RICE, PLAIN FRIED RICE ($4.00) x 2.

For the first order, the rice tastes slightly undercooked therefore a bit hard and after finishing, we had to wait roughly fifteen minutes to order more since our server disappeared for long periods of time. As for the second order, the rice tastes a lot better, perfectly cooked and soft with a nice aroma.

BUTTER CHICKEN, BONELESS TANDOORI CHICKEN COOKED WITH RICH TOMATO CREAM GRAVY ($13.00). 

The butter chicken comes with huge chunks of white meat which tastes tender as well as moist. However, the chunks are huge! Although it may be a personal preference but I prefer medium chunks rather than a three bite (large bites!) piece of meat in curry. As for the curry, the consistency is not too thick and has a rich, creamy as well as buttery taste without tasting heavy on the salt.

LAMB VINDALOO, LAMB COMBINED WITH A HEAVY AROMA OF FRESHLY ROASTED CINNAMON, MUSTARD SEED, CLOVES AND RARE SPICES ($14.00).

There are plenty of flavourful spices along with a medium spiciness and a hint of tartness, and although the vindaloo does not taste bland or salty, I would have preferred a tangier taste. As for the meat, there are a couple of bite sized chunks which do not taste too chewy, however, there is one gigantic chunk the size of almost the whole bowl which seems to be an end piece and tastes like dry beef jerky. A beef curry may be a better choice than the lamb because I was not too impressed with the pieces of meat.

PRAWN SAHI MASALA, PRAWNS COOKED WITH TOMATOES, GREEN PEPPERS AND SPICES ($14.00).

We originally went for the prawn vindaloo since it is one of our favourite dishes, however, our server recommended the sahi masala which was a great recommendation. The bouncy tasting prawns are not overcooked and the use of larger sized prawns are appreciated because it truly makes a difference! The sahi masala has a creamy consistency and is full of spices with a flavourful taste of ginger. Also, the curry actually tastes spicy as requested and has a strong medium settled spiciness that lingers in the mouth, which I love. I definitely recommend ordering the sahi masala and it tastes better than the vindaloo. 

GARLIC NAAN, GARNISHED NAAN WITH GARLIC AND HERBS ($2.50).

The garlic naan tastes flavourful as well as soft, quite tasty and of course is served hot.

TANDOORI FISH, FISH MARINATED WITH SPICES AND COOKED SLOWLY IN TANDOORI OVEN ($15.00).

The tandoori fish has a crisp exterior and the usual red color but tastes dry as well as slightly stiff and although there is a bit of spice, some smokiness would have been nice. 

TOTAL: $73.00 + TIP $12.00 = $85.00.
Overall I find the food average and nothing special, especially in Surrey (although people can come here for the atmosphere and hey, the food is not bad). As for the service, despite his friendliness, our server was hard to find when the restaurant was not even busy. Also, for those who like spicy, do not forget to make the request since our server did not ask us and we forgot to mention it! Foruntatley waiting frantically for him to walk by fifteen minutes after ordering, it was not too late to request for everything to be made spicy. Dramatic? Yes, but I really like Indian food spicy!

POSITIVES
- Nice atmosphere
- Prawn sahi masala is definitely recommended

NEGATIVES
- Not a fan of the large chunks of meat
- Staff could be more available

LITTLE THINGS
- There are a lot better restaurants in Surrey but also a few worse ones
- Requested spicy (in our case) is a nice strong medium spiciness and I personally think the medium spicy which was recommended for us, would have been more mild than a medium
- Was not really expecting to spend as much as we did for the two of us but the rice itself comes up to $8.00 for two orders

Food: 2.5/5 (butter chicken and prawn sahi masala 3/5)
Service: 2.5/5