Adam & Eats: R&R Curry Express

Editor’s note: Adam Brandt is a graduate from the Cobra Kai School of Culinary Callousness, where he received their highest award, the Red Apron of Merciless Eating. Aside from eating and talking about eating, he makes pots, paintings, prints, books, photographs, and generally, a big mess. He has been the studio assistant at Mudpuppy Pottery for almost nine years and is attending a local university in a desperate attempt to earn a biology degree.

I thought that maybe this week I’d eat somewhere to celebrate the Christmas weekend. Perhaps some nice honey ham is in order. And some egg nog. Maybe a little gingerbread cookie for dessert.

Ah, who am I kidding? What I want is lamb. Delicious, tender, baby sheep. What could be more festive than lamb? Luckily, I know just the place. And it may just be the best Christmas present the River Valley has received in a while.

Located just across North 16th Street from the new home of the Fort Smith Regional Art Museum, in what was only months ago a discount bread store, is the brand-spanking-new R&R’s Curry Express.

I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking “How could a place attached to a gas station, and who calls itself Curry Express, possibly have food that is worth a damn?”

I will tell you, how. Just be patient.

First, we must take a little tour of the place. Upon entering, you’ll quickly notice that what was once a shabby bread store is now a serenely lit room that smells heavenly. A handful of stainless steel tables line the perimeter and speckle the center of the “dining-in” area. (Now, my favorite part.) There are two televisions in the dining area. One is playing the Indian equivalent of MTV, with the sound playing ever so pleasantly throughout the restaurant.

The other television is probably the coolest thing I’ve seen in a restaurant in a while. On the screen you see a metal disc covering an opening in what looks like a box. I couldn’t figure out what it was, so I finally had to ask my incredibly friendly and helpful waitress:

“What’s up with the tv?”

 She smiled and answered simply: “That’s the Tandoori.”

Brilliant.

For those of you who don’t know, a Tandoori is the clay oven in which most of the cooking takes place.

Tandoori TV= Awesome.

You can watch some of the food being made via CCTV in house. I was pretty excited to get to learn how naan, the amazing flat bread that I’ll talk more about in a minute, is made. I won’t spoil it for you. You’ll just have to go see for yourself.

The ordering process is almost the same as any fast food restaurant, you step up to the window, tell the person behind the counter what you want, pay, and go sit down to wait. The regular definition of fast food and R&R’s definition don’t exactly align. R&R’s makes food. They don’t just open shiny silver bags of meat-food product and reheat it. They combine ingredients to make something that has nutritional worth. One place where the definitions overlap is in the speed department. They don’t dilly dally around in the kitchen. You’re order goes in, and they get to work making it.

What is worth having, you might be saying. Well, I haven’t had a chance to try everything, yet, seeing as how they’ve only been open a couple of weeks, but I do have a few suggestions. The chicken tikka masala is fan-friggin’-tastic. Tender chicken bits, marinated in yogurt and spices, grilled in a clay oven, and slow-cooked in a tomato based sauce, and served with cumin infused rice and the aforementioned naan.

Now, naan is a food I could eat forever. Or rather (I can’t help myself), I’d eat it naan-stop, if I were given the chance. Naan is a simple flat bread that is made along the walls of the tandoori. It is a handy bread to have around when eating things in delicious sauces. I scoop and sop with it like there’s no tomorrow.

Let’s now talk about the namesake of R&R’s, the curry. It comes served with the same cumin rice and naan, and I prefer the lamb curry, but the chicken is excellent as well. They do Northern Indian curry right here at R&R’s. The perfect combination of spicy, sweet, and rich, just gets me all tingly.

I’ve rambled on long enough. I am just so friggin’ excited about having Northern Indian food in the Fort. I gave a pretty high compliment to the crew of  R&R’s (in my head). I thought to myself, upon my recent visits there, I could live here. Forever. That’s how happy they make me.

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When he’s not beating his eggs, Adam makes time to respond to e-mails that get past his hard-ass spam filter. You can try to reach him at [email protected]

Adam also has this thing called Sandwich Control.