Reviewer: Terry
Total Reviews: 739
Reviewed: 11/25/2005
Rating: 7.5
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I went here a few days back with my family, taking on another wishlist request. It appeared to be newly opened (in Newark) and very clean. There was a nice assortment of items layed out in front of me. Unlike a buffet, though, you order like in a fastfood restaurant. In fact, this was very fast food feel but of course Indian food and nicer overall.
The menu was diverse, they had pictured specials on the wall, kinda like a McDonalds meal or something. Just point to the picture and order away. I noticed a lot of the indian folks there were ordering the chinese food, so its probably a safe bet that its good stuff. Since I had another Chinese place queued up to review, I passed and went for the traditional dish. I asked the man behind the register for a good veggie dish. He recommended the curry dish that you see in the photos, and I specified the spinach rice. It was pretty darn good. Better than 90% of the indian food I have had in buffets around the bay area. Again, Indian food is not my holy grail of food so I find it hard to get myself to psyched up about it. But if I was to choose Indian, Spice Hut would be pretty high on my list. Good service, good establishment, and of course solid food.
I heard about this place from my Indian coworkers and supposedly it's one of the better fast food South Indian restaurants in the midst of many in the Newark/Fremont area. We chose this restaurant instead of a more formal sit-down so we could try a wider variety of dishes (since it's less costly). Once you walk into the clean restaurant, the set up is immediately discouraging. You are supposed to enter into a zig zag line but standing at any point in the line will obstruct your view of the menu of about 50%. Luckily, it wasn't busy at all so I just walked around to the front of the cash registers to look at the menu. The restaurant was probably about 30% full.
I actually let my Indian coworker order so he probably knew best even though I've had Indian food countless times before. We ended up getting Menu Vada ($2), Plain Nan (8 pieces - $1), Veg Chettinad ($4.99), Sambar ($??), Chilli Chicken ($5.25) and another variation of this dish but with cheese instead of chicken.
The Sambar is a soup made of lentil with vegetables in it. I was told that it was spicier than normal. In any franchise, consistency is key so I hope that every time I go there, it wouldn't be a guessing game on how my stomach may feel afterwards.
Nan is one of those items that everyone makes differently - some doughy, some crispy. This place made it the crispy style and I like either way. I actually prefer it to be more crispy so that it doesn't fill your stomach.
The Chilli Chicken and it's cheese counterpart were delicious. It's actually a part of the Indian-Chinese portion of their menu and you can tell. It's spicy but it has an almost salty, light soy kick to it. Surprisingly, I enjoyed the cheese version a LOT more. It resembles ricotta cheese but in little rectangles and it's not heavy or dense at all. The Veg Chettinad consists of potatoes mixed with veggies stir fried in different spices. Very spicy. The menu vada is basically a donut shaped, bread-like piece of lentil. You're suppose to dip it in the different chutney sauces they have. It was a little dry without the sauce and bland but that's also good since you have the sauces.
Overall it was a good experience. The food may be deceiving because each dish looks relatively small but it can feed 5 famished individuals and it came out in only 10 minutes. Good prices for fast food! If you're not with a big group, you can always get a combo plate 1-4 items ranging from $2.50-$5.99.
I was originally on my way to Saizo but I popped into Spice Hut and grabbed a menu. The scent of cardamom and Indian spices caught me off guard. I decided to get in line after quickly checking out the steam line. Plenty of delicious dishes and the glass patio room looked like a nice place to eat.
I order a 3 item plate. At $5.50 it sounded like a good deal. The amount of food they give you is UNREAL…. Wholly cow! Each entrée is served up in 16-20 ounce foam containers. I immediately thought “leftovers”…
Vegetable Korma: VERY spicy. Not that I dont like spicy, but this was eyes tearing up a spicy. The veggies consisted of peas, carrots, cauliflower, potatoes, green peas and onion in a yellow curry. If the background flavors were stronger it would have been a dish Id enjoy more. It was also very perfumed with cardamom, a spice that is unusual in a vegetable dish. With the spiciness overpowering everything it was hard to taste anything.
Chicken Makini: A dish I did enjoy… Large chunks of tender dark meat chicken in a creamy tomato sauce. This dish is similar to Tikka Masala, but yet it had a different sauce taste. The sauce was good but it could have a stronger flavor. The taste of butter was predominating. Sauce tasted dull overall and left a greasy film in my mouth and on my plate. I left most of the sauce but enjoyed all the chicken.
Variety Rice – A tomato colored basmati rice cooked with lots of onion strips and cumin seeds. It also had a bit of a greasy touch, but I liked the flavor quite a bit.
Plain Naan – I was handed a pager and was buzzed when it came up – maybe 5 minutes after I sat down. Good, but I dont think they make it there. Wasnt as fresh as the stuff I had a Banjara the day before. That and they grilled it too long, making it crisp, almost burnt and very crumbly.
Mango Lassi – A simple puree of mango and yogurt. Very refreshing and just sweet enough. It really took the burn out of the veggies. It was a large 14 ounce cup and I didnt get to finish it.
Overall – Spice Hut is an excellent value and a nice change of scenery. Food is okay, but I imagine Id be likely go to a Indian Buffet instead of back. Spice Hut was too greasy for my liking. They do give big portions so if on a tight wallet and in the mood for Indian, I wouldnt hesitate to try it.
“These guys took away the onions from the salad bar and refused to give onions and lemon when requested..
I asked the waiter "Can I have some Onion and Lemons Please?"...get what the answer was big NO.”
