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Chicken Chili

When I found out Foodies was going to Surya Indian Cuisine I was excited about the opportunity because while I have had Indian food on many occasions, I have not been to Surya and I am by no means an expert and wanted to try something new.

As many of the online reviews have said, Surya is a tough place to find if you are not familiar with Shrewsbury Street as it is essentially behind Funky Murphy’s and does not have its own parking lot or even valet for that matter. When I walked in I was surprised at the size of the two, big dining rooms decorated with colorful Indian artwork and decor. We sat in the back room and was greeted by an extremely pleasant waitress who smiled every single time she came back to our table.

I had a hard time choosing from the expansive (not expensive) menu. I finally decided on the Chicken Chili and my dining companion and I chose a cauliflower and onion naan to share along with some plain jasmine rice. Our server asked how much spice I wanted and since I am always disappointed with how little heat there is in a dish I told her to bring it hot (more on that later).

Before our food arrived our server brought out some wonderful sauces and spicy chutney. When my dish was served it looked plentiful enough with large chunks of chicken and potato served with a brightly colored spicy sauce. The chicken was moist and delicious…and spicy! So spicy that I immediately looked for some rice to take the edge off. I had also ordered a Taj Majal pale ale and the clean, crisp beer took a little of the heat away while enhancing the taste and flavors of my dish. The naan was outstanding, freshly made, light, fluffy and served warm.

Overall, the freshness of the food, combined with the outstanding service of our waitress, made for an outstanding evening at Surya.

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Lamb Pasanda

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

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