Kiran's

While the days when Bombay Palace ruled Houston as the premier Indian restaurant have come to an end, several new contenders have made a run for the top spot of Houston’s upscale Indian dining experience. One of these contenders is Kiran’s.

For starters, the food is fabulous. It's not all straight-forward Indian cuisine, however even the "fusion" dishes remain true to their South Asian core. The traditional Indian dishes are done to near perfection. It is clear that owner and head chef Kiran Verma has poured her heart, soul, and imagination into her food.

However, it's everything else that we weren't so impressed with. For an upscale restaurant, the service staff was unprofessional if not slightly disorganized. The hostess kept us waiting unnecessarily during a relatively slow time and our server exuded a flippant attitude. During the course of our meal, another server started yelling at two of the patrons. The restaurant looked very upscale (as did our bill), but the service certainly was not.

As for the clientele... Hare Ram! How can I say this nicely… perhaps the fantastic reviews for Kiran’s gets is due by the fact that most people who eat there wouldn't know the difference between a Thai curry dish and an Indian curry dish. We noticed several patrons were puzzled by simple traditional dishes (one woman didn’t know what paneer was) and others ordered whatever the waiter recommended. The distinct snooty, uptight atmosphere generated by the somewhat stuffy, mostly anglo diners detracted from the dining experience.

Let’s get back to the food. Again, the flavors were outstanding, but the portions were small and the dishes over-priced. Kiran’s has done well with building their wine cellars as we enjoyed some distinctive varietals at reasonable restaurant prices.

Here is what we ate:

• Halibut with watermelon curry sauce ($28). A hint of watermelon that was surprisingly not overpowered by the spices. Recommended dish to say the least.
  
• Bitter melon, Karela ($12). Great flavor that went perfectly with the kulcha naan stuffed with goat cheese ($4). At least three other varieties of stuffed naan were available.
  
• Masala chai ($7) was too heavy with cardamom as it overpowered everything else... disappointing.
  
• Saffron crème brulee ($8) was just plain, unremarkable crème brulee.

If this restaurant were a Bollywood movie, it would be:
Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna ~ A major production with lots of great stars, but leaves one wanting something more authentic.

Kiran's Restaurant
4100 Westheimer Road
Houston , TX 77027
(713) 960-8472