Darbar India

Date
4/9/2014

Location
Downtown (?) Branford
1070 Main Street, Branford, CT

What I ate
Coconut soup
Vegetarian samosa
Hyderabadi mixed vegetables
Garlic naan
Kheer

Who came
Jolene, Michael, Helena, Rempe

Website
Darbar India

Thoughts
This is the hands-down winner for most foot/best value for restaurant week; I've never walked (waddled?) out so stuffed!  They didn't have to sacrifice quality for quantity, either.  Intrigued by the vegetarian menu, I deviated from my normal choices and was not disappointed.  The soup was quite good and a nice way to start the meal, though a little sweet.  The samosa was as tasty as expected.  The only drawback was that my meat-eating co-diners were given two samosas.  I can always use more samosas.  Indian cuisine is one of my favorites when it comes to shining the spotlight on vegetables as the main part of an entree and the Hyderabadi mixed vegetables further cemented this in my mind.  The garlic naan didn't taste like much, but was an excellent vehicle to sop up anything that was left behind.  The kheer could've used some addition, maybe a little bit of fruit or some almonds, but that and already being full didn't stop me from wolfing down the whole thing.

The dining room is big and open, great for a group.  The only negatives were with the service.  The waiter was friendly and attentive, but didn't seem to fully grasp the restaurant week concept.  The timing of service was also a little odd - this was only exacerbated by the fact that the restaurant was mostly empty.  The soup and samosas came out in rapid succession, while there were long waits for the entree and dessert courses.  This might've been more of a problem without a group as conversation helped cover up the delays, but they were still noticeable.

Recap
Pros - Delicious food and tons of it
Cons - Pacing of the meal was off
Overall - I still haven't had better Indian food in Connecticut.  Darbar is my go-to when I'm craving Indian food and restaurant week was no exception.  Go.  Get good food.  Thank me later.