One Man, On A Mission

Server: Are you ready to order?

Diner: No. Not really. You see, I don’t really know much about Indian food.  I am afraid that it will be too spicy for me.  All I know is Chicken Tikka Masala and Saag Paneer.  I had those once before and I liked them.  Maybe I should play it safe and just order that.

… and that is how many a conversation started, while Gopi was managing Coromandal Indian restaurant in South Norwalk.  One by one, and with great pride, Gopi tried to educate his diners as he converted them into happy Indian-cuisine-savants.  His goal has always been to make sure that each diner feels the confidence to enter an Indian restaurant … any Indian restaurant, order like a pro and LOVE it as much as Gopi loves his cuisine.

Gopi’s only regret was that, in a sit-down type of a setting, where an average meal spans 1.5 -2 hours, he was not reaching out to as many people as he would like.  That frustration inspired him to think out of the box.  His mission was to make Indian cuisine a household name.  He wanted to reach the masses and bring Indian food into the mainstream.  He wanted to boldly go where no man has gone before …

Enter Tikkaway Grill.

A totally out-of-the-box idea!  A concept that puts the ordering power and knowledge into the hands of new and experienced diners alike. A step by step ordering system that allows the diner to pick and choose each and every component.  With a menu so comprehensive, that after trying a few variations, one can’t help but feel like an expert on the subject of Indian food. Wouldn’t you like to be that person?

The well constructed menu is easy to follow.  It’s quick. It’s fresh.  It’s healthy.  It allows customized order constructions from mild to medium to hot.  It offers vegan/vegetarian options.  It offers gluten-free options as well.  In fact, it may be the answer to our prayers!  :-)

Pay attention now, people!  The menu offers an initial choice between a roti (thin Indian bread – staple of every home in India), a salad bowl or a rice bowl.  Then you have the choice of cooked meats and veggies (6 choices, you pick one).  You will then be asked to choose some additional toppings (10 choices, you pick as many.). Then come the sauces - well marked and classified into hot, medium and mild categories (5 choices, you pick one.  There is even a vegan sauce!).  Four more choices of chutneys and yogurt based raita complete your very own personalized, one-of-a-kind, never-done-anything-like-this-before - Tikkaway experience!

I sat down to calculate how many order-variations I can try at Tikkaway, with all the choices in each category - and my brain started to shoot up smoke!  Naturally, I stopped.  It’s far easier to just eat them all, anyway.

You could compare the concept to Chipotle or Subway, I guess.  But, dang it, this stuff tastes so much better. And I thought it was far superior in quality.  It’s the same delicious flavors you get at a great Indian restaurant, except it is lot more healthful and affordable.  Unlike eating at a sit-down Indian restaurant, where you feel that the food was so greasy and heavy that you couldn’t return for a few months – here you may find yourself returning quite frequently.  And if you do, you would make Gopi - the ever friendly, ever smiling, ever welcoming host - a very very happy man. :-)

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