My former coworker recommended Tower Indian Restaurant in Morrisville. Pulling into the parking lot in the suburban shopping plaza, we were surprised to find a variety of ethnic cuisines. The Mexican, Indian, and African restaurants reminded us of the diversity of Jackson Heights, Queens - an area known for it's ability to satisfy any appetite. However, much to Colin's dismay, we were not back in NYC.
I had purchased a restaurant.com coupon for our dinner and I got a $25 certificate for $2. The only caveat is that we had to spend $45 on dinner. As soon as we opened the menu and saw that their entrees were about $8 each, we knew we were about to order a feast!
We started with the Tower Appetizers Platter, which consisted of fried items like lentil donuts, vegetable patties, and mashed potato dumplings.
The Tower Appetizers Platter
And then we each ordered 2 appetizers. Colin's Gobi Manchurian, or fried cauliflower fritters, were delicious! Their spicy and tangy soy sauce complemented the dish nicely.
Gobi Manchurian
My onion chilli Uthaappam, we much more spicy than I anticipated. I only had a few bites at dinner, but it tasted like I was eating the section with all the chili peppers! The dish looked a lot like a flat pizza with red onions and peppers mixed in.
Onion Chilli Uthaappam
The two curry dishes, Channa Palak and Channa Masala were also very good. But, by this point in the meal, we only had a few bites left in us (and we hadn't eaten all of the first courses). The Channa Palak was basically a dish with chickpeas and spinach blended with mild Indian spices. And the Channa Masala was also chickpeas, but in a tomato curry sauce with red onions on top. Thankfully, neither dish was overly spicy, so I was able to enjoy them at dinner and as leftovers during a few days that followed.
Channa Palak
Channa Masala (with "puffy bread")
Not really needing to add another dish, but wanting to sample as much as we could, we also ordered dessert! We decided on the carrot halwa after consulting the descriptions of some of the options on our smartphones. It was very sweet and surprisingly good for a dish that cooks shredded carrots in milk and sugar syrup.
Carrot Halwa for dessert
The poor server was trying to convince us that we were ordering too much food as we ordered, but it worked out so well to sample the variety in the restaurant and then have 2-3 days worth of leftovers. The curry dishes and Gobi Manchurian tasted really good as leftovers, but I cannot say the same was true for the Uthaappam or the fried appetizers.
After this dining experience, I am less hesitant to try Indian food - though I will still admit that it is not my favorite. I'm really glad we were able to order a variety of items, because if I had only ordered the Uthaappam, I would have been really disappointed with my meal. I guess I should thank restaurant.com for offering some really good deals!
What is your favorite Indian dish? Is it spicy?
