Tiffins India Café Boulder — Restaurant in Boulder

I dined in. The service was friendly and fast. I went and looked and saw there were a lot of one star reviews a year ago or several years ago; I have to say my experience did not match up with theirs at all.

I ordered the chicken masala because it is a staple of indian-american restaurants and what I always order if I'm visiting one for the first time. I ordered it hot, so I don't know if you'll find the flavors the same if you order yours medium or mild. I also got the cream option, not the coconut milk. Coconut milk is a good creamer for tikka masala if you do not consume dairy, but it does not taste the same, so keep that in mind.

The creaminess of the sauce was immediately noticeable. I honestly hadn't seen sauce of quite that consistency before, but I'd guess they weren't shy with the cream. Maybe they are using some other thickener? Either way the result was stellar.

The chicken was a tad dry. Presumably chicken breast, and I didn't really notice the dryness that much as it was drowned in sauce. The one ounce of constructive criticism I'd respectfully offer is that you can achieve the same level of sterilization and salmonella reduction as you do at 165 degrees with lower temperatures over time. Failing that I'd recommend switching to dark meat, it's cheaper and it won't dry out as quickly when exposed to those high temperatures.

All in all though this is the best Indian food I've had in Boulder County. The flavors were great, the spice was really well balanced--by this I mean it had a good balance of lip and palate burn--and the rice was well portioned to the sauce. I got a good portion of food too, not too expensive and filled me up.

One of the things I noticed from the negative reviews was that they mentioned it being westernized; I can't call myself an expert on cuisine from the subcontinent, so I don't know if this is still true, but tikka masala is an immigrant dish anyway. That's just how immigrant food works. I find accusations of inauthenticity to be frankly silly. Tradition is to eat what you have, and to work with ingredients you can get. Nothing's ever the same, you know?...

UPDATE Aug 2019 - What happened? Apparently the ownership changed. We haven't seen the (previous?) owners at the restaurant during our past several visits, and the food quality has declined. The samosas are sadly no longer spicy and the green chili chutney has a tart horseradish-like zing to it and we don't like. Looks like we will have to start making the drive to Bawarchi in Louisville now. Previously Tiffins had been our favorite Indian restaurant by far.

OLD REVIEW: Tiffins is our favorite Indian restaurant, and our favorite restaurant in Boulder, overall. As vegetarians, when traveling we often visit Indian restaurants because we can be fairly confident we'll find good options. We have a wide selection of restaurants to compare Tiffins with, and no other restaurant can beat the rich-tasting entrees that we have found at Tiffins. Our favorite items are the dosas (the accompanying sambar is spectacular), vegetable korma, saag paneer, paneer masala, and the samosa plate/samosa chaat. A few tips to keep in mind.... The seasonings in the Masala Dosa are mild (maybe you could ask them to spice it up but the folks in my family who order it prefer it mild), and the samosas are very spicy, and I mean VERY. Also, I normally am a benghan bartha fan but Tiffins version of the dish is a bit too oniony for my taste. My standard order is now the plain dosa and a samosa plate. I could eat here at least once a week without hesitation. (Actually we do eat there often, and the owners recognize us and they have our typical orders memorized.) The chai is very good too - not too sweet - but as far as I can tell refills aren't free so it's a bit pricy...

I used to love this place. So many fond memories with my family eating here and getting take out. For some reason, the food quality has declined so much. I'm more sad than angry. I've come here three times in the last month, each time hoping that the food would redeem itself. Today was the last straw.

I ordered Chicken Korma and Chicken Masala A La Carte, not through the lunch special. I specifically told the front lady that I wanted it freshly made. Instead, I was served the Masala that had been sitting at the front for hours, continuously heating. Don't try to deny it because I watched every step. The chicken was so dry, it was simply miserable. A fly was hovering around the food. The Masala was more of a tomato soup than anything else.

I also ordered Lamb Briyana, a past favorite of mine. It was a generous heap of bland rice with lamb bits mixed in. So poorly seasoned. So disappointing.

Furthermore, when eating in person, the rice given is about half of what is given if you get takeout, if not less. I asked for more rice after finishing the meager portion, and they wanted to charge me for it. Basmati rice is some of the cheapest rice out there, but they insisted on charging me extra for a normal portion. Ridiculous.

I've come here nearly 40-50 times in the last 5 years. I don't think I can bring myself to anymore. Something has changed, whether its management or the cooks. But man this...