It's a measure of how small the planet has become, and perhaps a metaphor: What was a 1950s-style diner churning out coneys, burgers, and shakes in South Toledo for 55 years is serving some of the most scrumptious Indian food around.
Star of India opened last year in the former Dudley's Diner, making it the third Indian restaurant within a couple of miles on South Reynolds Road. May I suggest renaming this portion of Reynolds Namaste Way or Thiruvananthapuram Avenue?
RELATED CONTENT: Star of India menu
It still looks like Dudley's outside (a chrome dome) as well as in (booths, stools at the counter, black-and-white diamond-patterned floor), but once you walk through the set of double doors, the aromas are from the great subcontinent. So are the TVs: the four flat screens are set to different Indian channels, including sports and those fabulous Bollywood music productions.
The new owners are an Indian-born couple who bought the place at auction in 2010 and operated it as a diner, but couldn't make a go of it. They shut it down to convert to the food they're passionate about, and reopened last year as the Star of India (also the name of the golf-ball-sized star sapphire owned the American Museum of Natural History).
If you've heretofore shied away from Indian food fearing odd spices and tongue-searing heat, this is a good place to spread your wings, and the server (likely to be an owner) will guide you in ordering and determining the "spice level" (read: heat) that suits your palate. It's also an opportunity to eat vegetarian, which Indian chefs know far better than most of their American counterparts.
Twelve veggie dinners ($11) include various mixes of produce, dumplings, baked eggplant, and lentils in sauces that are creamy, tomato, or onion-based. The nine breads include plain hot naan that comes with most meals, seven chicken dinners ($12), five lamb plates ($13), and five seafood dishes ($13).
I loved the mango chicken ($14.99), white-meat chunks in a mango puree/tomato sauce, a surprisingly happy marriage. Another favorite was a mound of lamb biryani ($12.99): small pieces of meat (not a lot of it), cashews, and plump raisins mixed with rice and mildly spiced.
Delicious chicken vindaloo ($12) was sauteed and topped in a red sauce with potatoes; too mild for my companion, the kitchen took it back and "heated" it up. Aloo gobi ($11) is potatoes, cauliflower, onions, and tomatoes in a mild sauce.
Hungry when we arrived, we loved the mixed-platter appetizer ($8.99, good for four) with a vegetable and a ground lamb samosa (each dipped in chickpea batter and deep fried), and veggie and chicken pakora (bite-sized fritters).
We loved the hot cups of masala chai ($1.99), milky tea with notes of anise. Beer is sold and patrons may bring their own bottle of wine.
As is usually the case, lunch (11 a.m. to 3 p.m.) is your best value. Instead of the all-you-can-eat buffets offered by many Indian restaurants, you order an entree ($6.99 to $9.99; vegetarian fare is cheaper than chicken, lamb, and seafood). It's served directly on a large stainless steel tray with six compartments holding entree, rice, salad, raita (plain yogurt with finely chopped veggies), yellow-lentil dal (with onions and spices), kidney-bean curry (like a simple chili), and a small, sweet ball of dough for the underwhelming dessert known as gulab jamun.
On one occasion, the homemade yogurt-based raita seemed to have the tang of early fermentation; another time, it was fine.
Shrimp curry ($9.99) in a creamed tomato sauce was very good as was the saag paneer ($7.99: saag is spinach, paneer is small cubes of a tofu-like cheese made on the stove top).
Lamb on the bone ($9.99), recommended by the chef, is a messy special in a heaping bowl of large chunks that beg to be eaten with fingers. Reminiscent of ribs but with more fat, it was respectable but I wouldn't order it again.
Goat note: Sauteed goat masala ($9.99) is on the lunch menu herded with lamb.
Breath note: On the way out, freshen your mouth with a spoonful of licorice-tasting anise seeds in a bowl just right of the door.
Slightly unnerving: Bills are not itemized.
Post script: With a nod to Dudley's Diner, milk shakes and malts ($3.99) are still made (chocolate, vanilla, mango, and four other flavors). So are lassis ($2.99) (the Indian take on shakes).
STAR OF INDIA
****
Address: 415 S. Reynolds Rd.
Phone: 419-720-6452.
Category: Casual.
Menu: East Indian.
Hours: 11 a.m. to 9:15 p.m. Sunday through Saturday. Reservations are accepted.
Wheelchair access: Yes.
Average Price: $
Credit Cards: AE, Dis, MC, V.
Web site: starofindiatoledo.com
Contact Bill of Fare at fare@theblade.com.
First Published February 23, 2012, 5:00 a.m.
