The ONLY Indian Restaurant In Puerto Vallarta

I don’t mean like, the only one worth going to, I mean… the only one period.

As you might have already seen, Elysia and I are freaks for Indian food. We’ve eaten Indian food from Manila to Montreal. We love it.

Because of this, we were disappointed to learn that in the whole of Puerto Vallarta, there was not one single Indian restaurant to satisfy our cravings. That was, until about a week ago.

As fate would have it, while checking out our soon to be new apartment in the Old Town Vallarta area, we saw the sign for “Casa de Tandoor – coming soon!” Could it be that just as we move to this new place, an Indian restaurant opens up a couple hundred meters walk from our door? Law of attraction type stuff or pure chance?

I don’t know and I don’t care because not only does Casa de Tandoor fill the need for Indian food in the Vallarta area… it sets a pretty freakin’ high standard doing it!

The restaurant, situated at 356 Olas Altas Street Colonia Emiliano Zapata in downtown Vallarta (see map) is small and with only a handful of tables on the streetfront, it’s equally well enjoyed as take-away.

The menu is compact, focusing on expertly preparing a short list of Indian favorites with just enough difference to make it interesting. But the way they do it, is where Casa stands out.

Not expecting much on our first meal, purely happy to be eating Indian again, we were shocked when we saw the chef preparing our Naan bread in house, from scratch! From there on, we expected great things and weren’t disappointed. The Naan for me was perfect; soft on the inside and that gentle almost pastry like crunch on the outside… a view I shared with the restaurant owner only to receive a reaction that seemed to indicate his wonderment that such a gay description of his Naan had come from an evidently straight mouth.

Next we got our curries; my all time fave Butter Chicken. The food arrived in record time but as we learned, not because it had been pre-prepared, just because they’ve only recently opened and are still relatively quiet. Even better, right?

The quality? Muy bien mis amigos!

It turns out the owners also imported a real Indian Tandoor oven and the chicken that comes out of those things… REAL butter chicken… I’d recognize it anywhere.

The sauce was tasty but not too spicy, the chicken perfectly tender and sliced into thin chunks. As far as the simplicity of butter chicken goes, it’s hard to ask for much more. If I’m being super critical I’d say the sauce could do with a little extra creaminess and as is my personal preference a little greater quantity for the all important Naan dipping but in no way was this a source of complaint on the meal.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention: For 85 pesos (just under $8 USD), a butter chicken comes with EVERYTHING. You get two enormous pieces of Naan, and rice, and salad. You don’t need to order or pay extra for any of those normal sides. How can you not love that? This being the case means Elysia and I eat until we can’t eat no more, for about $20 USD in total before tip.

If there’s one downside to this place it’s the unfortunately small seating area. There are only a handful of tables on the streetfront (that is, in total) and it’s possible you’ll have to opt for take away on the busy nights of the week. Because the guys are just getting started and because the popularity of this place will surely grow, the small seating area has the potential to become more of an issue.

Anyway, the verdict: Whether you just want an Indian fix while on your holiday to Vallarta or you are a high level Indian food lover, Casa de Tandoor will not disappoint. This is our favorite new restaurant in the area and if you do end up stopping by, it’s likely you’ll see us pigging out.

UPDATE April 24th: Went back to Casa tonight and had the special Lamb Vindalu (hope that’s the right spelling) – Absolutely delicious! A mild, sweet, thick curry with tender spiced lamb and potato. Also includes the Naan and rice as normal. Can’t say enough good things about the food at this place