Curry Craft

Best Indian place in town by far. Chef Mel Oza's appetizers are out of this world and very novel. His main courses are more traditional, but still very inspired. The wait times are long, as evidenced in other reviews. As long as you go into it with this knowledge, and treat it like an event, you will absolutely not be disappointed. If you have three hours to spare, ask about the Tasting Menu. Mel will make you about 8 or 9 different small plates, and he gets to play around with it so the quality is unbelievable. I can't stay away from this place. If you love good Indian you need to try out Curry Craft.

Inspired by the recommendation of Heritage Restaurant's barkeep, Mattias. Maestro de Cocktails. Go. Now., a British pal and I decided to give Curry Craft the ole college try. This experience ended much better than at least 95% of the short lived 'tries' I was giving in school. Thank God. We started things off with the server's recommendation as an appetizer. Not only did this chick have the fliest, most X Games influenced hair imaginable, she also knew her stuff about the menu. The Juhu Beach Style Chaat is a gorgeously presented bowl of puffed rice, potatoes, green chili, red onions, various chutneys and Chaat spices that absolutely rocks your palette from bite one to the end. If you're looking to start your meal off with subtlety then stay the hell away from this Mike Tyson uppercut of flavor. But I figure that since you're in a place you know is going to be partying hard in flavor town all night, why the hell delay the show, right? For the main course, I again went with the server's recommendation of Lamb Vin d' Alho. I've tried this dish at a number of Indian spots, so it figured to be a solid reference for comparison. Well, had it been any better I would have personally called each of this place's competitors and recommended they just take their version off the menu. The spiciness of the garlic, vinegar, and sugar cane sauce was just perfect. It carried a nice amount of heat, though balanced with the slight gaminess of the lamb and simplicity of the jasmine rice the dish really won me over. James, being the true Blue Blood that he is ordered Chicken Tikka Masala - and don't act like you knew that was the national dish of Britain either. He was a bit put off at first as Chef Mel doesn't allow spice variations, a la your run-of-the-mill "1 to Indian Hot" featured at most places. Just another reason that this place should not be considered most places I guess. After finally surfacing for air from his tomato-khada masala sauce deep dive, I could tell from his facial expression(s) he no longer had a beef with the big guy driving the flavor train. He was also kind enough to let me have a taste of the dish, only to quickly realize that situations such as these are the reason you don't offer crack to a recovering drug addict. This stuff was seriously awesome and the rationale behind the chef's commitment to not overspicing his dishes became crystal clear. The meal wound to a close when Chef Mel himself brought out a dessert of black walnut and date Kulfi. Then he stands by our table blasting the most genuine smile you've ever seen while describing the manufacturing process of "India's answer to ice cream." I mean c'mon, peoople, tableside discourse with the man of the hour himself. What else could a visitor ask for other than a hug? Shoot, you're totally right. Maybe I'll grab one during my next visit.