Biryani – Minneapolis (Edina), MN

I originally thought I was going to Chapati, an Indian place recommended to me by a few people. Apparently, this place took its place, so EyeHeartPizza and I thought we’d give it a shot since we were already sitting in the parking lot. There was a large canvas sign over the old Chapati sign, it’s THAT new – I think it opened in September 2009. We walked in and only one other table was occupied. But we saw a buffet and thought we’d at least find out if it was good. A super friendly host sat us at a table (they don’t have any booths) and we headed off to grab food.

The buffet had a lot of dishes on it, some I had never heard of. They all looked delicious. I loaded up my plate and headed back to gorge myself.

I’ve always been a huge fan of India Palace in Eden Prairie, but Biryani has them beat. It was amazing. I can’t even explain what all I got, since I have a terrible memory for Indian food names. Here’s what I can remember:

• Vegetable Pakora – veggies dipped in chick pea batter and deep fried – these were awesome (deep fried=awesome)
• Goat Curry with Bones – Honestly, this ended up being a LOT of work and not worth it – it was the only thing I got that I wouldn’t rate really highly
• Chicken Vindaloo – hot and sour chicken with potatoes – great flavor and plenty of spice – wurd
• Chicken Korma – chicken with garlic and onion sauce and cashews – fantastic
• Alu Matar – peas and potatoes in curry sauce – probably the best thing I had
• Basmati Rice – plain white rice cooked with some seasonings
• Naan – traditional Indian white bread – it was soft and good
• Paratha (I think) – chapati bread baked with butter – this is now my new favorite bread at Indian places. I’ll probably be talking about this simple bread for weeks now.

I wolfed that down with great success, minus the goat bones, which got left in a pile on my plate. These ended up being way high-labor food and I don’t do high-labor food.

I had to go back for more. I got more of the same, but I also tried the Lemon rice, which was weird, but ok I guess. I’d rather just have the plain, since there are enough other flavors going on in Indian food, I don’t want to miss out. I tried the Chicken Dansak which was really good – chicken in an onion and lentil sauce. Baigan Bharta – eggplant with tomatoes, onions, and peas – weird to me, but I ended up really liking it a lot. I also tried Gulab Jamun, which is basically an Indian donut – deep fried “milk confection” in a sweet syrup. It was REALLY weird, but not terrible. Maybe it would just take some getting used to with the syrup part – give it a shot.

I know they had other things on the buffet, but I was bursting. The food here was soooo good I wanted to keep eating, but couldn’t. The wait staff were all super helpful, even the water boy with the bad dragon tattoo on his wrist that looked like a lick-n-stick tattoo.

By the time we finished our meal, the place was packed. I think this place will do well, judging on how many people showed up for lunch. It’s good food, so you’d expect people to come in droves to it. I know I’ll be back there and I’ll be bringing the work crowd with me. Well played, Biryani.

Top 5 things about Biryani
1. Alu Matar – peas and potatoes in sauce
2. Paratha – buttery Indian bread
3. Chicken Vindaloo – spicy chicken
4. Vegetable Pakora – deep fried chick pea battered veggies
5. Baigan Bharta – eggplant with other stuff

Bottom 5 things
1. I wish Gerd would have gotten to eat here. We never got to eat Indian food together
2. Goat Curry with Bones was more work than was worth it
3. EyeHeartPizza only spilled once and I thought for sure it would be 7 or 8 times
4. EyeHeartPizza complained there was no Indian musak playing in the place
5. I’m still weirded out by the syrup-y donuts

7078 Amundson Ave
Minneapolis, MN