Broomfield Restaurant Reviews

Can you believe Broomfield now has not only one but two Indian restaurants?  As of three months ago, we’d never had even one (as far as I know) and now we have two!  I already reviewed Buddha’s Indian Restaurant, and my wife and a couple weeks ago we just went to the other new one, called India’s Grill.

They’ve been open about 2 months.  When we were there, it wasn’t very crowded, with maybe only 2 or 3 other groups there for dinner.

At India’s Grill, they make their own chutneys, except the mango.  Their mint chutney is very spicy.  I really liked their onion chutney.  It was yummy and crunchy, and I took home an extra order of it in a little side dish container.

I started the meal with a pineapple lassi, which was really tasty and something I’d never had before.  It was quite refreshing.

Beth wanted vegetarian samosas, so we ordered some for an appetizer.  The filling had more of a curry flavor than most samosas I’ve had, and I liked that change of pace.  They were served on a plate with greens and some alfalfa sprouts, which was a nice touch.

For the main course we had lamb saag and chicken korma.  They were both pretty good, I thought.  They were served with mostly plain white basmati rice.  And of course we had naan.  The lamb seemed a little overcooked to me.  The korma sauce on the chicken was thinner than what you usually get at Indian restaurants in our area, but it seemed to have a homemade flavor that I couldn’t really put my finger on.  The naan tasted a bit different to me, too.  It reminded me more of Navajo fry bread for some reason.  Is that because of the flour used or the baking powder or what?  I have no idea.

Overall, I think I liked India’s Grill about as much as Buddha’s, so since Buddha’s is closer to our house I’m probably more likely to eat there.  But both are good choices for Indian food, and the only choices you have within the Broomfield city limits.

India’s Grill

2420 E Midway Blvd

Broomfield, CO 80020

(303) 404-9505

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Update: This restaurant went out of business sometime in summer of 2009.  So I’m marking it with the dreaded “Now Closed” category.

Update: As of December 2008, it looks like Buddha Indian Cuisine has gone out of business.  They didn’t even last 6 months.  So sad.

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Broomfield has its first Indian restaurant!  Hurray!  Beth and I had to try it last week on opening night, of course.  She’s the one who first introduced me to Indian food, and we both like it.  This new restaurant is called Buddha Indian Cuisine and it’s across Nickel from Target, in the location where Khow Thai used to be (Khow Thai opened and then went out of business within just a few months, before I had time to write a review of it).

Well, Buddha Indian Cuisine’s grand opening was last week, and it was a little shaky but good.

We had a free basket of very crispy papadums as I looked over the menu, which listed a couple of very interesting-sounding non-alcoholic drinks.  One was a mint cooler that sounded ideal for a warm evening (the air conditioning either wasn’t working or not working very hard) but they couldn’t make that one for me.  So I saw another drink that is listed as Adrak Limbo Ka Ras, “a ginger and lemon drink that will leave your taste buds wanting more.”  I asked for that as a backup, and the waitress said they didn’t have that one either!  So I settled for water.

For entrees, we went hog wild, ordering paneer korma (mild), fish jalfrazi (medium), chana masala (spicy), butter chicken (mild), and an order of roti bread.  Before the entrees were brought out, the server brought two big dishes.  The rice was a little weird, and I don’t think it was the usual basmati rice.  And on top of the rice were cold peas (maybe canned).

When the entrees arrived, the first thing I noticed was how big they were.  The portions are much more generous than some Indian restaurants we like.  In fact, they were probably the biggest portions of any Indian restaurant I’ve seen in Colorado.

The chana masala was actually spicy, which made me happy.  I was a bit afraid they were going to crank it down and make it too mild, but that wasn’t the case at all.  It was too hot for Beth to eat, which is about how I like it.  The butter chicken was very creamy, and probably the best sauce we had.  The other dishes were also good, though the bread was nothing to write home about.

We had lots of leftovers, and I think I got two more yummy meals out of it through the week.

So yesterday, I decided to go back and try the lunch buffet.  The first thing I asked for was the ginger drink – “adrak” – and this time they had it.  It was tasty, but sweet enough that I didn’t really want a refill.

The food was a fairly typical Indian buffet.  This visit the rice was definitely basmati style.  The buffet included tandoori chicken, chicken tikka masala, lentils, spinach (without cheese), vegetable samosas, veggie lo mein, and green salad with ranch dressing.  Sound like every other local Indian buffet?  Yeah, I thought so, too.

The buffet was $8.95 so I tried to eat my fill.  I couldn’t really complain about any of the food, but I was hoping for something – even just one thing – out of the ordinary.  I suppose you don’t see lo mein at most Indian buffets, but although it was good, it didn’t satisfy my desire for something new and extraordinary.

I asked a few questions of the servers and learned that it’s a family owned business.  The family’s name is Gurung, and they’re from Nepal (which I had guessed earlier since they didn’t really look Indian to me and looked more like the Sherpas I’d seen in TV shows and movies about Mount Everest).  There were two sisters and one brother serving food, and Dad is the cook.  Mom works there too, though I didn’t see her at lunchtime.

On my way out, I chatted a little with the siblings and asked if their father considered serving some special dishes from Nepal.  The son said he’s considering making momos.  In my opinion, that would be a nice addition to the menu, since the only thing I saw that wasn’t stock Americanized Indian food was the lo mein on the buffet and the two special drinks.

Next time I definitely hope to try the mint cooler.  Yes, we’ll be going back.  But too bad they don’t offer delivery!

Buddha Indian Cuisine
300 Nickel Street
Broomfield CO 80020
303-993-8036

One last thing: While researching this review, I learned a couple things.  First, traditional Nepalese food is closer to the Indian food we see in American restaurants than I thought.  Second, though the family name is Gurung, that is also the name of an ethnic group (presumably their own).  I’d read about something similar where the Sherpa people (also of Nepal) use “Sherpa” as both a family name and an ethnicity.

Broomfield’s newest breakfast restaurant is “Bright -N- Early Breakfast” which just opened last week.  I went in for breaakfast on a snowy spring morning, and was the only patron.  The owner, Vince, said it’s been a bit of a slow start so far since he hasn’t done any real advertising yet; it’s just word-of-mouth.  Bright -N- Early Breakfast is really just a side room of Hot Shotz, in the strip mall just east of Target.

I didn’t really see a true menu per-se, but Vince said the special of the day was pancakes, eggs, and Canadian bacon.  That sounded good to me, so I went with that.  I did see another list of breakfast items, but I’m not sure if it was complete or not, and it didn’t have any prices.  But it included breakfast quesadillas, made-to-order omelets, danishes, breakfast burritos, and so on.

Don’t expect anything too fancy here.  The dining experience is similar to going for a big family reunion picnic or something.  The flatware is plastic, the plates are paper, and the tables are like those you’d find in a bar.  There are no napkins, just a roll of paper towels on each table.

But the food was good.  The pancakes were big and thick, and Vince offered to put cheese in my scrambled eggs, which I accepted.  All told, with a glass of milk, the breakfast came to $7.

Vince bought Hot Shotz from the previous owner last July, and has cleaned it up quite a bit.  I haven’t been there since that time, so I can’t speak for the hamburgers or hot wings or anything else.  But I plan to go back and try his Philly cheese steak sandwich, which he says is his best meal.

One nice touch was that the restaurant has free wi-fi.  You just have to ask for the password.  The owner wants to turn it into the kind of place where people come, have some hot breakfast, and hang out a while, which was exactly what I needed while waiting for my bus in a blizzard.

Hot Shotz and Bright -N- Early Breakfast
300 Nickel Street, Unit 1
Broomfield, CO 80020
303-460-0066

Update August 7, 2010: A few months ago, this restaurant closed down for remodeling and reopened as Habanero’s.

Update February 24, 2008: The name of this restaurant has changed.  It used to be “Tacos Tamayo” and is now called “Taqueria mi Barrio”.  The cook and menu are still the same.

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I was in the mood for some Mexican food for lunch today, so I visited Tacos Tamayo. I’ve been there a couple times before. Tamayo is a tacqueria located in the strip mall on Highway 287 between the car dealership and Dairy Queen.

Tacos Tamayo is a counter service type place. You place your order, then pick it up a few minutes later at the counter, and then pay when you’re finished. The menu is pretty extensive, with six or seven dishes that come with four or five different types of meat.

It’s pretty authentic Mexican, and all three times I’ve visited, I have been the only person in the join speaking English. That said, the counter staff (a woman who takes the orders and works the cash register, and a man who does most of the cooking – maybe they’re the Tamayos, I’m not sure) speaks decent English and almost all the menu is in both Spanish and English.

Today I noticed they had a menu of daily specials on the wall. The specials are all $5.00, which is tough to beat! Today (Monday) the special was chilaquiles con huevo. I’d never had chilaquiles before, so I had to try it! The special includes a can of pop to drink, which makes it an even better deal.

It took a while to prepare my lunch, perhaps 15 minutes. It was a plate that had chilaquiles, two fried eggs, and some refried beans with grated cheese, plus a basket of several very hot corn tortillas. Don’t know what chilaquiles are? Essentially, they’re pieces of corn tortilla that have been “chile-fied” – sauteed in chile.

Speaking of which, if you’ll allow me to go off on a tangent for a moment, I learned just a couple weeks ago what “enchilada” means. It’s really short for “tortilla enchilada” which means, basically, “chile-fied tortilla”. In other words, when you infuse a tortilla with chile, you get a tortilla enchilada.

Anyhow, chilaquiles are often served with chicken or steak. But in this case, they were served with eggs. From what I know, the eggs are often served on top of the chile-fied tortilla pieces, but at Tamayo they’re served on the side. Regardless, it was obvious they should go together, so I ate them in the same bite.

I noticed the beans were nicely flavored. Perhaps some extra garlic or onion in addition to the salt and (probably) lard, but I’m not sure.

Anyhow, since the main part of the entree was tortilla pieces, there wasn’t much need to serve a big pile of tortillas on the side, but I got them anyhow, and ended up eating two or three of them.

All in all, it was a very tasty meal. I don’t give Tacos Tamayo high marks for ambience, but for five bucks it’s hard to beat. I walked out with a good lunch and a Coke for $5.41 including the tax.

Oh, one additional note. The menu says they have horchata, but I asked for it the first two times I went in and they said they don’t really have it. I didn’t want to explain – in either English or Spanish – that I thought they should take it off the menu board if they never have it. So I didn’t bother asking this time.

1384 US Highway 287
Broomfield, CO 80020
(303) 439-7921