Servers at Tava Indian Kitchen, which opens Monday, prepare an Indian-style rice bowl. Entrees start at $6.99, though students receive a special lunch deal which includes a free drink.
– Jeffrey Lu
Come Monday, State Senator Joe Simitian will have a flavorful new neighbor: an Indian burrito shop.
If anything, burritos are probably reminiscent of the crowded lunch lines at Lulu’s. But that could soon change: Indian-style, roti-wrapped burritos (affectionately dubbed “burrotis”) are the new flagship of Town and Country’s latest addition, Tava Indian Kitchen.
Founded by three Duke University alumni, Tava is nestled in the cluster of buildings behind Trader Joe’s, right by Village Cheese House and Sushi House. Adolescent eating machines looking for a quick bite can choose from burrotis (roti is a South Asian flatbread), rice bowls and salad bowls — plus a handful of side dishes.
All three entree options share the same ingredients and the same ordering process: choose your sauce, choose your protein, choose your chutney, choose your vegetables and you’re out the door. Think Chipotle, but with an Indian spin.
Eight of us from The Paly Voice ventured out to Tava on Friday evening for a special $10 all-you-can-taste pre-launch event. The general consensus: A nifty eatery, with a few rough edges.
Food-wise, Tava has a lot to be proud of. Both sauces — either the creamy tikka or the heartier daal — were warming and deliciously flavorful. At the same time, the assortment of greens (cucumbers, tomatoes, onions and lettuce) balanced the meal with a refreshing crunch. Spicy food lovers will be thrilled to know that the “hot” chutney was actually spicy.
Still, the food had its shortcomings. The protein department generally scored too high up on the savory meter; both the chicken and lamb contained much more salt that we would have liked. Bummer. On the other hand, the paneer — a mix of chickpeas and cheese — typically struck a happy chord among those who tried it.
I exploited the all-you-can-eat opportunity and tallied up two rice bowls and two burrotis before deciding that I didn’t need to help myself to another serving. While I would like to attribute my many trips back to the ordering line to the sheer yum-factor of the food, the portion size was admittedly underwhelming. To put it bluntly, most will find one serving at Tava mildly filling, but not very — not out of the ordinary for a meal at Town and Country. Entrees start at $6.99, with snack-sized orders about a dollar cheaper. Students can enjoy a special lunch deal for $6, which includes an entree and a drink. (Update: Denise Laabs, CMO for Tava, notified me via email that portion sizes will be larger than what I experienced at the pre-launch event. Now that’s music to my ears.)
Tava was born out of a desire to bring greater attention to Indian culture, according to co-founder Vijay Brihmadesam. As he put it, “We kind of view ourselves as America’s gateway to Indian food, and that’s what really gets us going, gets us excited about this concept.”
Perhaps I wasn’t particularly “excited” about the food, per se, but I found myself liking Tava quite a bit. Salty meats aside, the concept of Indian-style burritos and rice bowls seems to jibe well with a student-heavy market while the physical design of Tava Indian Kitchen is cleverly built to accommodate lunch crowds that pile in and pile out. And though I’d think twice before declaring a roti-wrapped burrito part of Indian culture, the concept Tava brings to Palo Alto is a tasty one worth trying.
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this review misstated the student lunch deal; the error has since been corrected. The opinions and attitudes expressed by the author are those of the author and not necessarily of the publication’s editorial board.