Tasty Tikka House takeout requires some assembly

[Robin Garr]

Good to know, Joel. Thanks!

I love Indian food and my favorite dish, the one I use as a comparative standard, is Chicken Tikka Masala.
When Kashmir first opened, theirs was as good as Shalimar's and became a frequent take-out for us. A few years passed and they moved a couple buildings to the North and we noticed that they changed. The CTM became bland. The chicken had no distinctive texture or taste at all, like it was pre-cooked and used with different sauces to make different dishes. After 2 or 3 more tries, we gave up on them.
Hoping to get good CTM closer to home, I gave Tikka House a try, then, over time, 2 more tries. Each time the Chicken Tikka Masala was disappointingly bland. Like Kashmir, the chicken had no spice in it, and worse, the sauce was so underspiced, it reminded me of Campbells cream of tomato soup.
On a happier note; a few months ago, we decided to go back to Kashmir to see if they got their mojo back. I'm happy to say that they did and we've happily been back several times with consistent results!

[Robin Garr]

John, as I understand it, chicken tikka masala is British indian, and some Indian places don't give it their best effort, saving that for those who want more authentic dishes. I can't say for sure, but did you try any other dishes there?

[Robin Garr]

Looking back at my full review, I was surprised to be reminded that we actually got chicken tikka masala! This was during the pandemic and was a pickup lunch order based on a limited number of choices. It was okay, but yeah, nothing to write home about:

The non-veg main dish, chicken tikka masala, featured chunks of tandoori roasted boneless chicken breast in a, creamy reddish-orange tomato-based sauce that was slightly sweet and spicy.

We've gotten a fair bit of takeout from Tikka House during the pandemic. So far, the two dishes we've found that are consistently the best and most flavorful (to our tastes, at least) are the chicken korma and lamb vindaloo.