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Editorial Juice Review: Namaste India Groceries and Kitchen

By Angel Head

Juice Correspondent
September 10, 2008

Namaste India Groceries and Kitchen

Address:: 7500 University Ave., Suite A, Clive, IA, 50325

Phone:: 515-255-1698

Overall User Rating:: (12 ratings)

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Hours:: Grocery: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. daily; Lunch buffet: 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Dinner: 5-9 p.m. Sunday and Tuesday through Thursday; 5-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Closed Monday.

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Namaste India Groceries and Kitchen is just that - part grocery store, part restaurant. The store sells pre-packaged ingredients so you can cook Indian dishes at home and has a seating area for the kitchen.

The austere decorating is one step below your average strip mall diner, but the menu is huge. There are 51 appetizers, soups, entrees, sides, kids' meals and desserts. There is also a fine selection of Indian beverages. Everything on the menu was vegetarian, but a flier announced the recent addition of a few chicken dishes. Namaste just opened in September so they are growing to meet the needs of their brisk business.

THE GOOD

The staff was incredibly helpful answering all of my questions about what to order. I ended up with a $3.99 Cheese Dosa (a dosa is similar to a crepe), and my dining partner and I split an order of Vegetable Cutlets and Onion Pakora, both $2.99. My guest tried the $3.99 Mysore Masala Dosa. Both dosas were crisp and not greasy. Hers was so spicy her cheeks turned red. Both came with three distinct and tasty sauces. Hers included a chutney that she loved. The vegetable cutlets were fried to crunchy perfection, and the sauces were both sweet and spicy. The Onion Pakora is a new favorite comfort food. The sweet onions are dipped in a batter, fried (not at all greasy) and sprinkled with fabulous spices - basically the best onion rings I have ever had.

THE BAD

The menu had no descriptions of the dishes, making it difficult for a newbie to order. Also, when you order you get a receipt that you have to hand deliver to the cooks in the back. Then you retrieve your food as they call out your number, which in our case was multiple times because of so many dishes. Finally, we ordered Rasmalai, a dessert that came highly recommended from the staff. While the sauce was sweet and custardy tasting, the balls of paneer (unaged cheese) were not our favorites.

BOTTOM LINE

Vegetarians, rejoice. You have another place for lunch or dinner on the cheap. A tasty adventure.