Ruchi Tampa - Indian Food (01/16/2009)

Last night, I went to a new Southern Indian Restaurant, Ruchi Tampa, with the TampaSocials.com Tampa A-Z Meetup group. My husband and I are really into Indian food, and the menu sounded really good.

I entered the restaurant, and was greeted by some the members of the group. They really made me feel welcome, as this was my first even with them. I sat at a table with a few other people, and as the time on, more and more folks made it into the restaurant.

The owner of the restaurant, Chef Kalyan (who is also a member of the group) told us a little about the word 'Ruchi', "which means 'Taste' in Telugu, a language that originates from the South East Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Ruchi takes to heart the meaning of authentic indian cuisine. Although it's an authentic indian cuisine, we also have a grocery store as a part for convenience."

And man... the food was absolutely INCREDIBLE! We were offered the following selections on our private Dinner Buffet:

• Vegetarina Manchurian (Appetizer)
• Vegetarian Biryani
• Chicken Tikki Masala
• Andhra Chicken
• Vegetarian Butter Paneer Masala
• Roti (crispy bread)
• Naan (flat bread)
• Ghee
• Chicken G5 (Appetizer)
• Eggplant Curry
• Navratan Kurma
• Butter Chicken
• Gulab Jamun (Dessert)
• Basmati White Rice
• Chicken Biryani
• Raita (yougurt wtih vegetables)

I decided that I was going to sample each of the foods, and in order to do this, took little bites of each side of the buffet onto a plate, bring it back to the table, photo it, and then taste everything. I am not sure which side of the buffet I enjoyed more - the side with the Andhra Chicken, or the side wtih the Navratan Kurma!

Here is a slide show of the foods that we ate last night:

View Album

Get your own

Enjoy!

~Chef Susan