People have been asking us for years — and posting questions online — about whether anything was ever coming to the former Wendy’s location at 19430 Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. Until now, we didn’t have any answers.
The replacement for Wendy’s is a local link in a small but growing chain of 35 halal Indian/South Asian restaurants called House of Biryanis & Kebabs (HBK) — and, three days after the restaurant’s ribbon-cutting event with Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera on July 6 (above right), photographer Charmaine George and I were treated to a number of delicious dishes by the restaurant’s five local franchise owners, led by Satya Meka (left in photo) and Karthik Achanta (right in same photo). And yes, we thoroughly enjoyed everything we sampled.
The three appetizers we indulged in were the most uniquely garlicky Murgh Malai Kebabs (top photo),which were chunks of chicken served fajita-style on a sizzling dish, followed by a spicy Mongadu Gobi (cauliflower, bottom left). Next was an order of Onion Samosas (bottom right), which were different than most Indian samosas I’ve had before, as the tasty onions and potatoes were wrapped in a crisp, spanakopita-style, almost-cellophane-like crust and were not spicy at all.
“We can vary the spice on any of our dishes,” Satya told us. “But, these authentic recipes use the same quality ingredients and taste the same at every HBK location (most of which are along the East Coast and in the Midwestern U.S., with one location in Manchester, England).”
Of course, we had to try one of the restaurant’s signature biryanis — the HBK Special Chicken Biryani (right photo), which combines spicy, long-grain rice, a hard-cooked egg and a side of zesty, slightly sweet red curry chicken.
Our friend Prahlad Madabushi, who introduced us to the owners and is a vegetarian himself, also had us sample a mild mixed-veggie curry that also was excellent.
Our final sample (left photo) was HBK’s traditional, thick, creamy butter chicken, which we savored with three different varieties of naan flatbreads — butter, garlic and the spicy (but not too) “Bullet Naan” shown bottom right of the page. The naans were all pillowy soft, with a slightly crispy edge perfect for indulging in the butter chicken. I also loved the true Masala Chai tea and Charmaine and I both gave thumbs-up to the Thums Up soda (the Indian version of Coca-Cola now owned by Coke) and the house-made, creamy Mango Lassi.
In other words, even with its supposedly limited “soft opening” menu, HBK has a lot to offer those looking for authentic (mostly South) Indian cuisine. There’s also lamb, goat, paneer (cheese) and other dishes we will definitely return to try sometime soon.
For more information about House of Biryanis & Kebabs, visit HBKTampa.com or call (813) 388-6777.
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