Lunch, Anyone? India Quality
The search for cheap, authentic Indian food stops here
India Quality offers a quaint and homey alternative to the many chain restaurants near it in Kenmore Square. Established in 1983, the restaurant offers traditional North Indian cuisine at prices that fit even a poor college student’s budget.
Located below an apartment complex on Comm Ave, a flight of stairs leads down to India Quality, making it easy to miss. But it’s worth seeking out.
Our lunch began with complimentary appam, a thin crispy bead served with a cucumber and tomato spread. The spread was sweeter than we expected, but complemented the saltier, seedy appam.
We ordered an array of dishes for lunch and were pleasantly surprised to discover that the seemingly small portions were more than filling, even allowing us to take home leftovers.
After poring over the menu, we selected aloo gobhi ($8.40), a potato and cauliflower curry, butter chicken ($8.75), and garlic nan ($3.50). The dishes arrived as ordered, on the mild side. However, this did not mean that they were flavorless and dull. The aloo gobhi, even when prepared mild, retained a kick.
The butter chicken was a particular favorite. The chicken was tender and juicy, the curry sauce creamy, but not too rich. The basmati rice that accompanied the dish and the garlic nan were both excellent pairings with the chicken. The dish comes with a pickled cabbage garnish we found a bit too bitter for our liking.
The hot nan was studded with garlic and spices and gave an extra dose of flavor to our chicken and vegetables. Although the bread is meant to be eaten with the curry, it’s delicious by itself, soft in the center, with just a bit of toughness around the edges—the perfect consistency.
Our Indian feast was capped off with hot coffee and tea, which we were pleased to find included with our lunch special.
The service was impeccable. Food came quickly and waiters were quick to refill our water glasses the moment they hit the three-quarters mark.
The decoration inside the small restaurant is cute, but not kitschy. Tables are adorned with an embroidered placemat that serves as centerpiece and proclaims, “Welcome to India Quality.”
India Quality is at 484 Commonwealth Ave., one block from the Kenmore Square T station. The restaurant is open for lunch Monday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., and for dinner Monday through Friday, 5 to 11 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 3 to 11 p.m. Phone: 617-267-4499. All major credit cards are accepted. A menu can be found here.
This is part of a weekly series featuring Boston lunch spots of interest to the BU community. If you have any suggestions for places we should feature, leave them in the comments section below. Check out our list of lunchtime tips on Foursquare.
Allison Thomasseau can be reached at althoma@bu.edu.
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