Chhole
Tiffins India Café

Tiffins India Café

2416 Arapahoe Avenue, Boulder, 80309, United States Of America

Cafe • Pizza • Vegan • Indian


"I dined in. The service was friendly and fast. I went and looked and saw there were a lot of one star reviews a year ago or several years ago; I have to say my experience did not match up with theirs at all.I ordered the chicken masala because it is a staple of indian-american restaurants and what I always order if I'm visiting one for the first time. I ordered it hot, so I don't know if you'll find the flavors the same if you order yours medium or mild. I also got the cream option, not the coconut milk. Coconut milk is a good creamer for tikka masala if you do not consume dairy, but it does not taste the same, so keep that in mind.The creaminess of the sauce was immediately noticeable. I honestly hadn't seen sauce of quite that consistency before, but I'd guess they weren't shy with the cream. Maybe they are using some other thickener? Either way the result was stellar.The chicken was a tad dry. Presumably chicken breast, and I didn't really notice the dryness that much as it was drowned in sauce. The one ounce of constructive criticism I'd respectfully offer is that you can achieve the same level of sterilization and salmonella reduction as you do at 165 degrees with lower temperatures over time. Failing that I'd recommend switching to dark meat, it's cheaper and it won't dry out as quickly when exposed to those high temperatures.All in all though this is the best Indian food I've had in Boulder County. The flavors were great, the spice was really well balanced--by this I mean it had a good balance of lip and palate burn--and the rice was well portioned to the sauce. I got a good portion of food too, not too expensive and filled me up.One of the things I noticed from the negative reviews was that they mentioned it being westernized; I can't call myself an expert on cuisine from the subcontinent, so I don't know if this is still true, but tikka masala is an immigrant dish anyway. That's just how immigrant food works. I find accusations of inauthenticity to be frankly silly. Tradition is to eat what you have, and to work with ingredients you can get. Nothing's ever the same, you know? That's life."