Star of India Doesn’t Disappoint (Business Lunch)

Our 20-minute sojourn up to Springdale paid off in a curry.

Chicken curry, that is.

We decided to try The Star of India, a restaurant that has taken over the space in the Sunrise Inn that was home for years to the Peking Restaurant.

There were lots of choices on the menu, but since it all looked Greek … er, Indian … to us. So we opted for the buffet ($9 per person) to get a good sampling of almost everything the restaurant had to offer.

The authentic food and music soon had us swaying in our chairs like cobras charmed out of their baskets.

We started off with some chicken curry (which sells for $9 as an entree) and Tandoori chicken ($7 for a half bird, $12 for one with both wings). We know that sounds like a lot of chicken, but this is Springdale, after all.

The chicken curry (boneless chicken cooked with onion and tomato sauce) was good but reminded us just a tad of pigs knuckles.

The flaming pink Tandoori chicken, on the other hand, was delicious. The Tandoori chicken wasn’t swimming in sauce so it was easier to get a finger grip on in the true Southern style of chicken eating.

According to the menu, the Tandoori chicken is marinated in yogurt, garlic, ginger and Indian herbs, and then it’s cooked in a clay oven.

The fixin’s were also good. We had a mixture of peas and cheese, black lentils dahl, and cabbage and potatoes.

One diner had the lamb curry, which he described as “about the best thing I’ve eaten in a long time.” The dish was spicy but not too hot to eat. Only a bite into one of the large peppers cooked into the concoction sent the reviewer scrambling for water.

He also really liked the alu tikki, (in Arkansan speak, that’s fried taters and peas in a ball), and thought the alu gobi (fresh cauliflower and potatoes cooked with ginger, garlic tomatoes and other Indian spices) was delicious.

He agreed that the Tandoori chicken was tops.

We noticed that Tandoori prawns (shrimp) are also available off the menu for $11, and we’ll probably be back for a sampling.

For dessert, we sampled a small cake ball called gulab jamun from the buffet. It was sweet and good and reminded us just a little bit of bread pudding.

The Star of India is open seven days a week from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. for lunch and 5-10 p.m. for dinner. We recommend stopping by for a taste of the exotic and some of the friendliest service we’ve ever had.