Aug. 26, 2009 - Issue #723: Small Town Meth Heads

Back to work happy

Your no-longer-strained belt will thank you

Heading to an Indian restaurant for lunch can often mean a difficult rest of the workday. The general propensity for overeating at an Indian buffet is a little more acceptable when one can head home, change into sweatpants and watch a Law & Order rerun, but showing up back at the office cockeyed and gastrointestinally challenged from consuming an obscene amount of creamy sauces and heat-bearing victuals can cause a problem.

Which is what makes lunch at Indian Fusion so refreshing. Instead of simply following the typical Edmonton endless lunch buffet and tempting mere mortals such as I into second—and sometimes third—plates, the lunch special that Indian Fusion offers is a combo of smaller portions that, when added together, are filling but nowhere near gluttonous.

The restaurant itself, located beside Louisiana Purchase in the tucked-away Oliver Crossing, is quite intimate—there are no more than a few tables—but made to look more expansive through the use of mirrors as decorative tricks. Outfitted in what seems like traditional Indian restaurant furnishings—silks hang from the ceiling, while tapestries and small statues featuring Indian men and women as well as a few deities line the walls and counter spaces—upon entering Indian Fusion, the restaurant seems at once entirely new, but somewhat familiar.

The lunch combo itself consists of a choice of butter chicken or beef curry, coupled with two vegetables which change from day to day, basmati rice and naan ($9.99 or $7.99 for take-out). I ordered the butter chicken combo as well as a mango lassi ($3.99), and in no time the food appeared from the kitchen, at the same time as the lassi.

The waitress placed the parts of the meal—which are served separately, in individual serving dishes, along with a bigger dish of rice—in front of me; the expected butter chicken, a dish of chana masala, and another I didn't recognize, which she simply referred to as cabbage, but which seemed to also contain peas. The "cabbage" was spicier than the butter chicken or the chana masala, though not overpoweringly so and, since I didn't know what dish I was eating, turned out to be a nice surprise. The chana masala, on the other hand, was a little plain. It was slightly firm and inviting, not over or under cooked as chickpeas are wont to be, but the sauce itself wasn't anything to be excited about. The butter chicken—that staple of North American Indian restaurant food—held some interest. Leaning more to the tomato than the creamy side of most butter chicken recipes, Indian Fusion's take on the classic offered something a little bit different and was complex enough to satisfy, while the chicken itself was tender and flavourful all the way through. It was almost a pity that I couldn't go back for more. The lassi was creamy and quite thick with yogurt, ready to take the edge off of any errant spiciness in the cabbage dish.

Unfortunately, once the food was served the staff seemed to feel that I would be fine fending for myself. At no point during the meal did anyone come over to ask how the food was, make sure everything was OK, fill my water glass or any other courtesy normally offered by a restaurant. For a while I wondered if I couldn't be seen, but in a restaurant of such a small size that seemed impossible. Once I was finished and laid my cutlery on my plate, it took nearly 15 minutes for anyone to come by and take it away, offer coffee or tea, or indeed bring the bill. In fact, by the time the bill came I was running late and needed to hurry back to the office.

Indian Fusion offers a number of advantages over other Indian lunch options in the city, with the restaurant's smaller portions and tasty food making it a worthwhile place to go when you're craving Indian but definitely don't have the willpower to keep yourself from overeating. For lunch patrons looking to not be bothered the service may suffice, but for those who are in a hurry you may need to be a bit assertive in making sure your exit is as timely as it needs to be. V

Mon – Sat (11:30 am – 2 pm & 4 pm – 9 pm)
Indian Fusion
10322 - 111 St, 780.752.5500

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