Tag: Indian Restaurant

The Kabob Café & Grill In Highwoods Preserve Adds ‘Breakfast Kitchen’

There are quite a few Indian restaurants in New Tampa, but one thing is for certain — none of the Indian restaurants in our area also served American breakfast — until now.

The Kabob Café & Grill, located at 18101 Highwoods Preserve Pkwy. (in the same location that also has been Sukhothai and a couple of other restaurants) recently added Breakfast Kitchen & More, which serves American breakfast every day (except for Mondays, when the restaurant is closed) from 7 a.m.-11:30 a.m. On Saturdays and Sundays, the Kabob Café & Grill offers a lunch buffet with a large variety of Indian (predominantly North Indian/Pakistani) items. The buffet begins at 11:30 and the restaurant’s full Indian menu is available every day for lunch and dinner (it stays open until 8:30).

While that may seem a little confusing, owners Javed and Rabia Mubin hope you will come try Chef Keith’s tasty breakfast items, including the bacon, egg & cheese croissant sandwich (left) and Protein Power Bowl (top photo). Please note that because Kabob Café’s entire menu is Halal, the bacon on the bacon, egg & cheese is beef (not pork) bacon, which I don’t believe I’d ever had before, but Jannah and I agreed it tasted very much like pork bacon. The chicken in photographer Charmaine George’s Power Bowl combined egg whites, grilled chicken, spinach, feta cheese and avocado, which also was quite tasty. The Breakfast Kitchen also serves waffles, French toast, oatmeal and Greek yogurt bowls, omelets, Benedicts, breakfast wraps and more.

We also sampled the buffet, which has many Indian favorites, like Tandoor oven-baked chicken and Naan breads, as well as chicken biryani (above right photo) and butter chicken, as well as some items I’d never tried before, like goat qourma (or korma), tender beef nihari (which tastes a lot like my mom’s brisket/pot roast, but slightly spicy), and vegetarian dishes like palak paneer (curry with spinach, cheese, tomato & creamy sauce), channa masala (chick peas with spices, tomatoes & onion) and halwa, which is a sweetened semolina flour mixture that can be a side dish or dessert. Speaking of dessert, the banana pudding with vanilla wafers was my favorite, but there’s also Gulab Jaman (deep-fried dough soaked in rose-flavored sugar syrup), Rubri Kheer (Indian-style rice pudding) and more.

For more info about Kabob Café & Grill, which has a 4.9-star (out of 5) overall Google rating on 900+ reviews, and Breakfast Kitchen & More, visit KabobCafeGrill.com or call (813) 405-8740. — GN

Introducing Nawabi Hyderabad House & Rain Bistro!

The New Tampa area already has a much larger number of Asian restaurants of all kinds — Chinese, Indian, Thai, Japanese, Korean and even Nepalese — than Wesley Chapel does, but it seems we should make room for at least two more, as Rain Bistro just opened in the former location of Mei’s Pizza (and a couple of others before Mei’s) on E. Bearss Ave., just west of Livingston Ave., and Nawabi Hyderabad House & Biryani Place just replaced another Indian eatery — Raaga — in the Shoppes at Amberly in Tampa Palms.

Right As Rain!

Rain Bistro, owned by my new friend Will, is actually pretty delicious. Although it is something of an Asian fusion place, Will is Chinese and he says his signature crunchy fried chicken (above right) and delicious fried rice (not pictured) are definitely from his native country, even though he also has great almost-Thai-style spring rolls and Japanese-style fried gyoza dumplings filled with chicken (both in left photo above), as well as a large variety of ramen and other noodle and rice dishes, plus a number of different boba tea drinks. Considering it only opened the day we went to press with this issue, all I can say is the food is great and the place, even though it still doesn’t look impressive from the outside, is much more upscale inside — without the upscale prices. Great job, Will!

For more info about Rain Bistro (2592 E. Bearss Ave.), which is open every day for lunch & dinner, call (813) 977-1688.

Nawabi — More Than Just A New Name!

Although I was never a big fan of Raaga, the most recent Indian restaurant in the same location is the new Nawabi Hyderabad House & Biryani Place at 15345 Amberly Dr. and I definitely enjoyed my first visit.

I didn’t find out why the restaurant is called Nawabi, but Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. Of course, the bottom line is, did I like the food on my first visit to this much nicer new sit-down restaurant? And, the answer is unequivocally “yes!”

Although I didn’t venture very far (if at all) out of my comfort zone, I gobbled down the garlic naan bread and wok-tossed hakka noodles with chicken at Nawabi. The thinner-than-lo-mein noodles had a delicate flavor, with a hint of black pepper and just a bit of a kick, even without the much spicier Schezwan (their spelling) sauce, which I was told to order on the side — and I was glad I did. I really only needed a dab on each bite to savor.

For info about Nawabi (also open for lunch & dinner every day), call (813) 443- 0198 or visit NawabiHHTampa.com.

Asian Restaurant Indian Restaurant Nawabi Hyderabad House New Tampa Rain Bistro

Persis Grill — Wesley Chapel’s First Indian Eatery Is A Delicious One!

As much as I love doing the dining reviews for my publications, I’m sure you long-time readers are aware that Indian food has always been something of a hit-or-miss proposition for my taste.

So, when I heard that Persis Indian Grill was moving into the space previously occupied by Omnivorous (adjacent to Double Branch Brewing) in The Grove, I didn’t know what to expect.

Well, rest assured that the first authentic Indian restaurant to open in Wesley Chapel (outside of the clubhouse at Anand Vihar in Meadow Pointe) is an upscale (yet still casual and affordable) restaurant which offers a huge menu of favorites from what seems to be every region of the Indian subcontinent.

The owner, who goes by Harry, admits that he has never owned a restaurant before but I have to say that his recipes, handed down from not only his own family, but also the family recipes of his chef and many of his employees, are as good as any Indian cuisine I’ve sampled, which includes at least a half-dozen places located in New Tampa.

I basically always try the menu items that I’m more likely to enjoy on my first visit, which in the case of Persis, was just a couple of weeks ago, less than two weeks after the new restaurant first opened.

And, I’m happy to report that the butter naan bread at Persis (not pictured) has a delicious grilled flavor and just the right amount of butter. Harry suggested that I try the garlic naan on my next visit, “because it adds a different flavor when you eat it along with our other food.”

I also had to try two of my other usual favorites — the Tandoori lamb chops (top photo) and the Indo Chinese style chicken fried rice (right photo), both of which were outstanding.

The sizzling lamb chops were tender and not over-seasoned and the fried rice had delicious chunks of chicken, as well as tasty veggies, egg and spices. I planned to bring most of both items home, but I brought home a lot less fried rice than I planned because I couldn’t stop taking additional bites.

Harry says he has applied for a beer and wine license but alcohol is not currently being served at Persis. Even so, great job, Harry & crew!

Persis Indian Grill (5956 Wesley Grove Blvd., Suite 106) is open every day except Monday for lunch and dinner. For more info, visit PersisWesleyChapel.com or call (813) 388-2245.

Indian Restaurant Persis Grill Persis Indian Grill The Grove Wesley Chapel