Curry Leaf Restaurant — Restaurant in Albuquerque

Our daughter and son-in-law were married in Ranchi, India in January 2023, in an elaborate, multiday ceremony. Because very few friends and family in the US were able to attend such a far-away wedding, we held a reception for everyone in Albuquerque, in May 2023. We tried to make it as Indian in style and flavor as possible, to show people what an Indian wedding is like.

Our event space was decorated in Indian style, with a multi-color cloth backdrop behind the wedding couple, Indian elephants, and even a statue of Ganesh at the entry. We hired a woman to apply henna designs like in the traditional Mehendi ceremony.

But our best decision by far was to hire Curry Leaf Restaurant to cater the reception. Working with Mr. Ajay Dhiman, we selected a menu of appetizers, chicken and vegetarian entrees, naan, rice, dahl, and a delicious dessert, rasmalai. Mr. Dhiman drove all the way out from Albuquerque to walk the event space in the East Mountains several days beforehand. We discussed where to place the buffet tables, whether there was room for one or two serving lines, where the appetizers could be served separately, and several other important details.

On the day of the reception, Curry Leaf arrived with about five total workers to unload the food and set up the chafing dishes. They provided table cloths and serving spoons for the buffet. The set up was fast and efficient, and the buffet looked lovely (especially the antique style copper and brass serving dishes for the appetizers) and smelled heavenly.

The quality of the food was simply outstanding. There was a mixture of dishes that were more mild in flavor, like navratan korma, and dishes with a richer flavor of Indian spices like karahi chicken and daal makhani. A particular favorite was the chicken makhani, or butter chicken, prepared Delhi style. And finally the rasmalai provided a wonderfully rich and creamy dessert. All of our guests raved about how delicious it all was.

Throughout the dinner Mr. Dhiman and three servers from Curry Leaf paid careful attention to the buffet line and dining tables. They were smiling, friendly and gracious throughout. They kept all the chafing dishes full with fresh food, and collected empty plates from the tables in the dining room, stacking them in the kitchen. Some even circulated to pour water from our pitchers. This was all a pleasant surprise for me, since I hadn’t thought about the need for these tasks, but they did them anyway without being asked. Throughout the dinner everyone from Curry Leaf was unfailingly polite and gracious. Mr. Ajay Dhiman remained present to supervise, and to check with me for when to start serving appetizers, when to begin the main buffet line, and when to close the buffet and clear the plates.

Once the buffet had ended and the guests were dancing to the DJ, the Curry Leaf team packed up all their chafing dishes and cleaned the kitchen thoroughly. They even packed up the leftovers from the buffet in aluminum food trays for people to take home.

In summary, we had an outstanding experience with Curry Leaf catering our event, and I highly recommend them to anyone seeking a similar service. Mr. Ajay Dhiman was excellent to work with, and carefully communicated with us throughout the process. He made insightful suggestions about the buffet set up, the number of servers needed, the timing of dishes, and many other topics. His professional attitude and steady reliability was fantastic. Overall I give Curry Leaf a five-star...

Surprisingly excellent and a memorable meal. With the depth and complexity of flavors, you can tell they use whole spices (and you see them in the food).

We had the vegetable pakora to start, with mint and tamarind chutneys. Most of the pakoras we get elsewhere are grated veggies mixed with the lentil batter. This was single chunks of battered veggies (e.g. single slice of cauliflower or potato), different but good. The chutneys were flavorful. The tamarind chutney was more liquid and less sweet than other tamarind chutneys I’ve had, but still good.

The star of the meal was the madras masala dosa. Wow. Most dosas have small amounts of filling just in the middle, this was filled all the way through and had more than potatoes. The spices inside were bright and rich. It comes with three dipping sauces, all of which are good. But it’s also excellent by itself. The three sauces are a smokey-flavored dal (not too salty- thank you!), coconut chutney, and a tomato chutney. In most places I avoid the tomato chutney, as many just seem like catsup with curry powder. This was good.

The other main dish we got was navrattan korma. The sauce was sweet and flavorful. The description says cashews, almonds, and raisins. The thin almonds were sprinkled on top, but there were no obvious cashews or raisins. There were dark specs in the sauce, so those may have been blended in? Even so, it would’ve been nice to have some whole cashews and raisins (or currants) for texture and pops of interest. I would have also preferred the veggies cut up a little more - they were large pieces. I did still enjoy it.

For dessert we had the rice pudding. Really nice. Not too sweet and the flavors were interesting and elegant with the saffron as the star.

This was a very pleasant and surprising find. I debated between giving it a 4 or 5 star. It wasn’t perfection, but it was memorable and enjoyable enough that I’m going with the 5 star to give it a well-deserved boost in...

Mumbai street food! There's something you don't see on a buffet - except at Curry Leaf! Vada pav! Pav bhaj! Yum, yum, yum!

Yesterday we popped in on a whim and found it was one of the evenings that Curry Leaf does a buffet. One of the things that's really wonderful about this restaurant is - not only is the food wonderfully flavorful and of top quality; these folks can COOK - you find many dishes here you don't run across in most of the "cater to the lowest common denominator" Indian restaurants. At Curry Leaf, you'll find both northern and southern dishes. And if you go when there's a buffet, you'll find the dishes actually change - and there are a variety of them, and they're cerebral. (Ever see aamrakhand on a buffet before? I never have - and this mango/saffron pudding is haunting my taste buds' memory this morning.)

Yes, you'll find the classics well represented, but I've never seen goat chettinad on a buffet anywhere else in the US. I'm past the age of eat-until-I-can't-move, but the buffet at Curry Leaf was so good that it's the next morning and I already have a hankering to return. Oh! And I forgot to add that the tiny fried green chile for the sandwiches was the tastiest green chile this New Mexican has had so far this year!

Ah, and the dosas are just wonderful - quite a variety - and included with the buffet (so are the naan). Curry Leaf also has a good variety of beers and some wines. Service is polite and friendly and omnipresent without being intrusive in a comfortable room where a group, a couple or a few friends can always find seating.

If you've not tried Curry Leaf, you're...