The Navratan Korma of my heart
No meat, no ambiance, no waiters, no alcohol.
No problem.
Because y’know what? Udupi Bhavan doesn’t need that stuff. The food outshines everything.
I had the pleasure of redeeming a Living Social deal to Udupi Bhavan with a friend last night. Like so many amazing restaurants in semi-unfortunate locations, the restaurant is located in a strip mall on Saybrook Road in Middletown. Menu selections are on boards above cash registers and everything is pretty DIY from ordering at the counter to retrieving your own pitchers of water. Paper plates and plastic utensils are the extent of tableware. The staff is fabulously friendly (and lets you bring in wine/beer/whatever from the liquor store next door, although they don’t advertise being BYOB) and the food. OH, the food.
Gulab Jamoon
Between the both of us, we enjoyed the veggie samosas (filling, flaky, beautifully seasoned) baigan bharta– a smoky eggplant curry (one of my favorites), spicy navatran korma (WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN), fluffy, flaky fried flatbread (poori) and my delicious syrupy-cardamom-laced gulab jamun.
The entire meal was remarkable- some of the best Indian food I’ve ever had. And I’m usually the first in line for lamb, chicken, or whatever meat I can throw in a korma, but this vegetarian selection spared no flavor whatsoever.
749 Saybrook Road, Middletown CT
