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Lamb Pasanda from Surya Indian Restaurant on Shrewsbury Street in Worcester, MA

I recently had dinner at Surya Indian Restaurant, 299 Shrewsbury St., Worcester. The atmosphere is very friendly, casual and bight; the wait staff incredibly nice and attentive. The method of serving our group was a little different in that rather than knowing who ordered what they just came to the table announced the dish they were holding and asked who ordered it. When they announced, “lamb pasanda” I raised my hand. Even though we were 19 at the table, all of the orders came together. The description on the menu for lamb pasanda reads, “Lamb curry cooked with light cream sauce & cashews.” It was chunks of tender lamb about 1″ to 1 1/2″ square and some cashews in a very rich and tasty curry sauce — delicious! After I finished the lamb, I dipped the bread … the nann in the sauce and cleaned my plate. The serving size was definitely enough for a meal — I just couldn’t resist the sauce!

The food is so good and the service so prompt that it’s hard to understand why we were the only ones having dinner. Perhaps its location, tucked behind Funk Murphy’s, doesn’t draw many people in — or maybe people just don’t want to try Indian cuisine — whatever it is, it is definitely not the quality of the food. It is well worth a visit — just remember that if you don’t like hot spices ask them to tone it down. I asked for medium and it was great — just hot enough to make my eye balls sweat but not so hot that I couldn’t enjoy it. -RS

Lamb Vindaloo from Surya on Shrewsbury Street in Worcester

Having only eaten Indian food once at a buffet at the age of 10, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect for this Foodie event at Surya Indian Restaurant. My fellow foodies were obviously more versed on Indian cuisine and patiently explained the menu to me. I was told to order the Naan, a traditionnal Indian bread, and to use this as a utensil to move the food from my dish to my mouth. I was also told to order cautiously as many of the dishes can be incredibly spicy. While I do like some spice in my food, I was relieved to have taken their warning seriously. After going back and forth between chicken and lamb, I eventually decided on lamb vindaloo – lamb curry cooked with potatoes and very hot spices (although I asked our waitress if I could have the sauce to be a medium spice) and the Keema Naan, bread filled with lean minced lamb and onions. The naan arrived first and was delicious! The thin bread was filled with tender, well-seasoned lamb and sweet onions. I ate half of the order before my meal. When my lamb arrived, I was a little taken aback by its color. The sauce was a brilliant red-orange color. When I tasted the meat and potatoes, I was pleasantly surprised despite my initial response to the color. The meat was moist and tender and the potatoes were cooked to perfection. The sauce was rich in flavor and very spicy. Unfortunately, I am not familiar with the spices used to season the dish, but I can assume they have alot to do with the color. My only regret was that the dish was not served with a slotted spoon because I found the sauce to be a little rich for my liking and felt that it overwhelmed the lamb and potatoes. Overall, my fist adult Indian experience was better than expected. I would return, but would need to bring one of my friends along who is more familiar with the menu. -AV