Curry Leaf — Restaurant in City of Albany

had been years ago and remembered it was pretty good, so when my friend suggested indian last night I headed here. BIG MISTAKE!

1. at barely 7 p.m. the buffet was decimated and nothing looked like it had been refreshed
2. there were 4 tables full when we got there. We had to wait for menus. The tea I ordered took 30 minutes to arrive. My friend requested a cup of hot water, and was brought a plastic water glass with tepid water. She repeated her request, specifying "like you'd bring for tea" and 20 minutes later (AFTER my tea finally came) she got ANOTHER plastic drinking glass, this time with boiling water.
3. the waiter brought out my appetizer, brought plates and napkins to the table and then walked away and started a conversation with another table about the coupon they wanted to use, leaving us with NO SILVERWARE. When I finally got silverware from one of the kitchen staff, it was dirty.
4. having brought me my appetizer (which was spicy), he then neglected to refill our water glasses until I got up AGAIN and hunted him down and asked for more water.
5. the menu is incomprehensible - describing some things as "lightly spiced" and others as "mildly spiced" but when asked, the waiter indicated they were the same level of spice.
6. my friend ordered the vegetable rice. The waiter told her it came with some sort of vegetable, which we didn't understand. He described it as "long and green". My friend replied "scallion?" and he said "yes, like that." When the rice came out it was regular white basmati rice with frozen vegetable mix added in - corn, diced carrots, and green beans (apparently, that was the long green vegetable he meant). As for the quality of the food, it's mediocre. The samosa chat I had was flavorful enough, and gave some promise that the rest of the meal would be good, but the samosa was barely crispy under all the toppings. It should be. It should give contrast against the potatoes, chick peas and sauce. The paratha was okay, but the naan was dry and overcooked. My malai kofta was bland, and the serving was smaller than I have gotten in most other restaurants (4 dumplings as opposed to 6). I mentioned the vegetable rice already. My friend also ordered the Barrah kebab, described as "juicy pieces of lamb". What came out seemed to be the Sheek kebab, minced lamb pieces, and it was very dry. I was very disappointed, obviously. All I can say is if this is the best indian in...

Let me start by saying I order from here frequently and I’m always impressed. I felt compelled to write this review tonight because I was really craving some Indian food and what I got was transcendent and satisfying in every way imaginable.

I ordered chicken vindaloo, and my partner ordered vegetable samosas. I’ll start with the vindaloo. The chicken and potatoes were fresh and cooked perfectly. The gravy was a symphony of flavor - the acidity, spices, textures, and heat all blending together in perfect balance. While some Indian restaurants hold back on the heat to satisfy a mainstream American palette, Curry Leaf does not, to my delight. On top of this, the rice was light, fluffy, and nicely seasoned as usual.

The samosas disappeared nearly as soon as they came out of the bag. The shells were crispy and perfectly cooked, and the stuffing was delicious as well (I insisted on taking a bite). It came with 7 different chutneys, sauces, and creams for dipping, ranging from sweet and tangy to hot and spicy.

The order came with naan, which I can always tell is prepared fresh. It’s never overcooked, it’s delicious, and again, the perfect texture.

The man who rang me up was friendly on the phone, and when I came to pick up the order. As I was leaving he called me back to the counter and gave me an extra dessert cake.

I can’t rate Curry Leaf highly enough! I hope they stick around forever so I can keep...

Delicious! A great dinner at an awesome price.

I've been trying to call in my take out orders when possible save restaurant owners fees from on-line ordering systems. I admit I struggled somewhat as I had a hard time understanding the person I was speaking with. But I'm happy I persisted as we were quite pleased with our entire dinner.

We ordered their Special @ $16.95 which included an appetizer, an entrée, Basmati rice, Naan, cucumber raita, mango chutney, and rice pudding. My dinner companion chose the samosa appetizer and Chicken Vindaloo (mild). I chose the samosa appetizer as well (for ease of ordering) and beef Rogan Josh.

The spices of the dishes were delicious. Both had large chunks of boneless meat. My beef wasn't the most tender but, again, for the price and flavor, it was quite good. Each of our meals came with two large samosas which were loaded with potatoes and peas. Along with the raita and chutney, we found other sauces and peppers which complimented our dishes nicely. The Naan bread was still piping hot and the rice cooked to perfection. Even the rice pudding was good...probably the best I've had though I haven't been to too many Indian restaurants.

We'll definitely be ordering from Curry Leaf again and again.

The picture is 1/2 portion of one of the rice orders, one of the two samosas, about 2/3 portion of Rogan Josh topped with the side of peppers, along with...