Guru the Caterer...MEH

[CambridgeFoodie]

Extremely nice owner, very nice story, and solid food...but I would not go out of my way for it.

Would be interested in others experience....if the board really loves it, I'd certainly go back again for another try.

I really did want to love it.

[enhF94]

Bit of an old thread, but this seemed the spot...

Guru today served bread pakora, which I'd heard of but haven't seen around here. Kinda-sorta indian-flavored stuffed french toast with potato-veg in the middle. Deep fried. Probably an excellent way to use day-old bread and make it wonderful, although I was disappointed in this case. No crispness on the pakora, tough bread, and roughly the same flavor as a samosa - so why not just get a potato samosa?

I want to like Guru more too, but I think I'm kind of permanently tired of Boston-Indian. Sigh.

[carbalicious]

I really love Guru as well. A lot of their sauces have whole spices in them, the use of which I fully support. I'd much rather spend $7 here than $14 for comparable entrees at other area Indian restaurants, where your food is often doused in ghee and sits in your stomach like something from McDonalds. That said, i live nearby and can't say I would drive longer than 15 minutes to get there, at least not on a regular basis.

www.carbalicious.com

[Bob Dobalina]

I think meh is somewhat harsh, in comparison to your finding that the food was solid. Meh is several shades of quality less in my book.

I think the cooking here pretty much beats the pants off of 95% of the other Indian options in Boston. The food is simple, but the sauces have a level of freshness and complexity that I have not found to be the case in other places.

As I mentioned on another thread, take for example the ubiquitous brown tamarind-based sauce that one gets at every Indian restaurant - the same sauce at Guru is either fresh-made or seriously doctored, because it has a number of levels to it, and is not just the icky-sweet flavor you usually get.

Would I cross town for it? Maybe not. It is of course an inexpensive take-out place.

But in terms of what your other Indian options are, I think there are few that are comparable.

Hey, what can I say? Count me as a big fan!

[StriperGuy]

I'm with you Bob. Guru is about doing simple things well, with some subtlety.

[CambridgeFoodie]

This could be a definitional issue...I view "Meh" as indifferent. I wouldn't drive across town for it but there are definitely some cheap take-out places that I do drive across town for.

My vote is for the Kebab Factory. On the weekdays, their lunch buffett (quite extensive, I must say) is $7.99 and they allow takeout...which is an incredible value given the size of the containers that they provide.

[chickendhansak]

I live close to Kebab Factory and go for the weekday buffet often. There is always a good variety of dishes and flavours to choose from, and it notably has distinctive, fresh vegetarian options rather than a one-taste-across-all situation. It's become my no. 1 choice for Indian food in the area perhaps thanks to its proximity but that buffet beats any other I have had by a long distance. Nothing here, for me, approaches the addictive qualities of even cheap British curry, but for freshness of ingredients and variety, I think Kebab Factory surpasses most British Indian food I've had.

But having said that, on my one visit to Guru I was blown away. So much so that after finishing my meal on on the premises (chicken saag curry -- unprecedented flavour) I ended up buying takeout to share at home later. Best stuffed paratha I've ever had. Although I'm not a fan of CTM, it's so ubiquitous here that I thought I should try a portion and it was better than anywhere else I've had it.

So a big thumbs up from me for Guru ... in spite of being a rabid Kebab Factory buffet advocate too.

[yumyum]

I'm in the "better than meh" camp too. I've had some delicious grub at Guru and maybe it's just how nice he is, maybe it's because his family is always around, maybe because it's so cheap and fresh -- I don't know, I dig it.

[Steve L]

Guru's is trying to do something different. His food is a less rich and fatty than a lot of Indian restaurant food which uses a lot more butter and cream. He's trying to make healthier, home-style food and I think he does a very fine job. I ate there yesterday and had chicken tikka masala and a roasted curried potato and pepper dish. I couldn't believe how good it was.

I've had issues with portion sizes there; getting an 8 oz container of something with a full order of sauce and maybe 7 peas and 2 pieces of potato floating in it. But the idiosyncratic elements are part of what the place is. He doesn't have recipies, he eyeballs most everything. I live nearby and eat there frequently and think what he's doing is somewhat unique and can't really be compared with other Indian places head to head. When his stuff is good (most of the time), it's as good as anything I've had in Greater Boston Indian restaurants.

[Prav]

Well, as a tiffinwalla, I sure wish he delivered to my office in Newton!

[yumyum]

I just like to say tiffinwalla.

[Bob Dobalina]

FYI - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dabbawala

[yumyum]

Dabbawala is not as much fun to say Bob.

[Prav]

I like the guru's name, pushpinder.

[Bob Dobalina]

Oh, no doubt. I only wiki'ed it because I was unfamiliar with the term.

[Prav]

Mister Dabbawala, Mister Bob Dabbawala..

[tatsu]

Actually the closest competitor is probably the India Gourmet food court chain.

[tatsu]

Tiffinwala FTW

Well, the family is very nice indeed and for me the draw is that the food is going to be consistently fresh. It's not the best but sure beats something like Punjabi Dhaba or the regular menu at Dosa Factory. The value is probably something the other places can't even compete on because of their unique business model.

[Luther]

Solid food, fills you up, nothing sexy or particularly stimulating.

[winecafe95]

Honestly....it's a value and service spot for me....where else can you get a whole meal for $7.00 and where the family goes out of the way to be welcoming????

[Prav]

I'm another one of the few people here who finds GtC pretty 'Meh'. It was tasty but nothing spectacular. The chapatis were a nice change from typical naan, though.