Gorkha Palace — Attraction in Minneapolis

It's an odd time to be reviewing food and restaurants. I feel like somehow it's not fair. That the stress and conditions these places have had to bend to lend them to not being able to put forth their best possible dishes. However, these establishments also have an opportunity to capture our hearts and be a form of escape from our cold, dark, quarantines. A much needed comfort at the end of a dark, depressing, pandemic laden day. That's why it's a shame that a place with a reputation of Ghorka has decided on this day to fall weak at the knee. Enter the "Chicken Tikka Masala". Picked up at the end of a work day. Side of white rice. Garlic naan. It smelled divine in my car as I made the mundane treck home to N. MSP. My nostrils invoking a sense of comfort and familiarity that awaited me upon my arrival home. I removed the contents of the take out. Fantastic garlic Naan sat atop 2 pretty small disposable bowls. One with the Tikka the other with the rice. At a price point of just over $20 I would have expected a bit more. Maybe a different presentation? That's ok. I get it. Pandemic. Gotta survive. The sauce had the nice orangey, creamy glow masalas are known to have, a great aroma, but just a touch runny. I spooned the rice onto a plate. Solid rice. Then the masala. Ready to remedy the stress of my day with a tremendous first bite, as I put it into my mouth, I first notice the fantastic spiced flavor. The sauce itself is great. Balanced. A bit spicy. Arromatic. Sweet. Rich. Brilliant mouth feel. This is what Gorkha is known for. Unfortunately tragedy was about to unfold. As I bit down on a piece of chicken I was immediately met with resistance and my mouth turned it's attention to the dry saw papery textured chicken. Complete buzzkill. I was a bit taken back. How could a sauce this great have such lackluster chicken bits inside? The chicken actually dried my mouth out and took away from what could have been a fantastic dish. How does this happen? An overzealous cook? A new prep chef in the kitchen? Ran out of marinated chicken and quickly chopped and cooked some up? Whatever it was truly took away from the magic that could have been this dish. Poor cooked chicken is usually symptomatic of a distracted or non caring kitchen staff. It's really inexcusable for the price point and style of Gorkha. I'm willing to chalk this up to the Covid, but for now I have to Sadly give this...

Today I ordered the Chicken Tikka masala. What I loved : the sauce was super creamy and I had ordered it mild, and even so, it was quite a delicious flavor profile. Objection: white chicken breast meat. It was dry. This dish would be helped by using thigh meat.

We also ordered the Goan Shrimp curry (green sauce) and my boyfriend slightly objected to the tails on the shrimp. His was medium hot and I could enjoy it just as well. We were given a big platter of rice to share between the two of us. The rice was perfectly pilaf.

The momos were nice, we had the combo platter. Veggie was my favorite, not salty, flavorful, tender dough. All are winners, the sauce that came with them was reminiscent of my tomato based Tikka masala.

Our companion had the shrimp Biriany and she loved it. Lots of rice, shrimp and veggies in her dish.

My mango lassi was absolutely delicious and I ended up ordering 2.

We waited what seemed like forever to get our orders. The appetizer momos arrived at the same time as the entrées and the waiter removed my empty mango drink without asking if I would like another one or attempting in any way to replace it. I tend never to drink the tap water offered, so I was left without a drink. I successfully flagged him down after he passed us by several times.

The food was tasty, satisfying, more than enough to satiate our appetites and while we weren't offered dessert, I'm not sure we could have coped with any.

The menu had the 18% gratuity notice that they were going to avail themselves of it... But, they also cite a city statute that allows them to tip themselves without touching the server tip. So, this means that you're going to pay a 40% tip... A forced one to the business establishment and a customary one for the server.

There were several occupied tables, in a sleepy Wednesday lunch hour. Our server garnered about a $20 tip from our table and the restaurant did likewise. Let's consider that the meals weren't super complicated and mask mandates have come down for indoor dining. I'm mystified that other establishments manage to make ends meet and aren't charging what seems an arbitrary fee post pandemic.

I loved the food and the garlic naan was the best part, tender, slightly sweet, lightly charred and overall, to die for..... But it might behoove the image of the restaurant to lower their forced gratuity or just increase...

I have been visiting this restaurant since it opened (over the decade). They offer great vegan options and quality of the food is always top notch throughout the years (consistently great every visit). I can always hold my head high in front of my friends and family when I bring them to this restaurant and they always tell me how amazing the food is (vegan and non vegan).

Since the pandemic begin, I’ve switched to take out. I usually buy quite a few meals to take home and it’s so easy to warm up and still taste great like it I was in the restaurant. Saves me time cooking and cleaning during work week.

For those complaining it’s not authentic Indian food, Gorkha makes Nepalese food. So, the flavor is going to be different.

Also, Gorkha is a small family business and it’s hard to stay afloat during the pandemic. Im happy they charge that sur charge so they can pay their employees decent wages to keep this restaurant going. I see similar sur charge in other comparable restaurants so they’re not charging more than others. Restaurants dinning in general is getting more expensive but please know that most small family business like Gorkha isn’t trying to sneak a sur charge just to rip customers off. They need that to survive … especially in the current environment. They can’t afford several employees quitting (people quitting in small business means reduced hrs or could ultimately have to close the business like you see on the news due to tight labor market… and for the food to maintain that level of quality requires specialty chefs which is already hard to find in MN) because they don’t receive the wages they deserve. It might cost a little bit more for each diner but dinning/getting takeout in small businesses like Gorkha means you are keeping small business alive in those challenging environment. So, please consider these factors before complaining over...