 Meena's Kitchen 113 West Pearl St., Nashua 204-5025 meenaskitchen.com Serving: Lunch, Tuesday-Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 11:30 a.m to 3 p.m. Dinner, Tuesday-Thursday and Sunday, 5:30 to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 5:30-10 p.m. Closed Monday. Cuisine: Indian vegetarian Dinner entrees: $5.99-12.99 Scoring: Our Gourmet and The Dining Companion each grade a restaurant in five categories, for a combined total score of up to 100 points. Visit the Dining section of NewHampshire.com to read previous Our Gourmet reviews listed by town. |
Our Gourmet: In a nod to our occasional third dining companion, we decided to go vegetarian this week and headed to Nashua to check out Meena’s Kitchen, which serves authentic Indian – and all vegetarian – food.
Appetizer 17/20
OG: Not really knowing what to order, both TDC and I opted for the all-you-can-eat six-course, eight-item meal ($12.99) that promised to give us a wide taste of the menu. The appetizers included ulava charu, a hot and spicy soup made with horse gram, a kind of bean; cabbage pakodi, deep fried shredded cabbage dumplings; and uthappam, a sourdough pancake topped with onions, tomatoes and cilantro.
The soup was very flavorful, but quite spicy. The cabbage pakodi was also spicy, but tasty. The uthappam was probably the most familiar taste, something like a small, soft pizza. I enjoyed all of them, but I probably like the pakodi the best. 8.5 The Dining Companion: I liked the ulava charu soup. It actually had a little flavor of a beef consommé, which of course was just my mind playing games with me. The cabbage pakodi was crunchy and a bit over-fried, but tasty — so much so, that I asked for more. The uthappam went well with the mint chutney served with it. 8.5
Entrée 16.5/20
OG: between courses, chapatti was served. It is made with whole wheat and very much like a tortilla. It was especially helpful in helping to diffuse the spicy heat from several of the dishes.
Main dishes were aloo korma (diced potatoes cooked in a gravy of onions, tomatoes, cashews and poppy seeds); matar paneer (peas and cheese cubes cooked in a gravy of tomatoes, onions and cashews); and bisi bele baath (rice cooked with vegetables and lentils). The aloo korma was again, quite spicy, but flavorful. The bisi bele baath reminded me of a Spanish rice, but my favorite was the matar paneer, with its tasty homemade cheese and a very nice and mild sauce. 8.5
TDC: The bisi bele baath, which reminded me of mushy Spanish rice, wasn’t my favorite. The aloo korma and the matar paneer were both very tasty, but I would have to say that the matar paneer was my favorite of the two. 8
Dessert 14.5/20
OG: The sabudana payasam was made with tapioca and milk and a touch of cardamom. It was a nice sweet, custard-like dish, but the cardamom was a bit overpowering. 7
TDC: It was an enjoyable, but not memorable, dessert for me. 7.5
All the rest 14/20
OG: Upon arrival, we found the restaurant to be about two-thirds full with only one waitress on duty. She explained that no one else had shown up and she was on her own. Soon that lone waitress was waiting on some 10 tables. While she was personable, knowledgeable and made a valiant effort until help did, eventually, arrive, there were some very long waits. Our vegetarian diner didn’t get his meal until long after our courses had arrived. We can only hope this was an off night and not a regular occurrence. 7
TDC: I too was disappointed with the speed of service. It wasn’t our waitress’ fault — when she could get over to us, she was very helpful and knowledgeable. It looked more like poor planning by management. Last point, be aware that they do not have a liquor license. If you enjoy an alcoholic drink with dinner, this will be an issue. 7
Value 18/20
OG: Meena’s is a tremendous value, with the most expensive meal six courses and only $12.99. The food is very good, the atmosphere is lovely and we can only hope the pace of the service was an anomaly. 9
TDC: I believe we would give Meena’s another chance with the hope that the wait staff issue gets addressed. We definitely left filled and content with the meal. 9
TOTAL: 80/100
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