Tandoori express — Restaurant in Decatur

We were in town for a track meet. I was surprised that the menu I found online didn't clearly note which dishes were vegetarian and which were vegan. We decided to grab lunch there as Indian food typically had lots of meatless options. Unfortunately, the man working didn't seem to know what dishes were vegan (no animal). Definitely a language barrier to overcome and didn't leave me with a lot of confidence.

We ordered vegetable pakora, vegetable samosa, and chickpea masala. I thought everything was vegan but when asked the man working seemed unsure. I think he was confused about what I was asking but "vegan" and "no animals" should be obvious. There is an article on the wall near the point of sale system about eating vegan.

It seemed to be a one man show. I'm pretty sure one guy was taking orders, brought us clean plates and utensils, cooked, served our food, and cleaned our table. Respect to him, that's a lot to do, plus they lived up to the "Express" in their name, as food was severed quickly.

The food was good but not great. I had higher expectations based on the reviews I had read. I thought the samosas were the best thing we got. My wife and I love vegetable pakora but both thought that was underwhelming here. The spices mix the pakora and samosa were dusted with was very flavorful.

The pakora was kind of big and not well fried and crispy. The vegetables that were inside were kind of big pieces which made them crunchy. That is not how our local spot is and was quite a bit different than what we're used to.

The samosas were nice and plump. The spice dusting was really helpful for the profile. They seemed soft as opposed to a crispy fried exterior that we're used to. The samosa was my favorite part of our meal.

The chickpea masala was good. It had a nice flavor but wasn't something we normally order. When ordering I struggled to verify if chickpea masala was vegan and he said no chicken. I asked about aloo matar, which is what we usually get at our local spot, but he did not know what that was. I wasn't trying to order that, just trying to figure out vegan (no dairy or egg) dishes. The masala didn't set well with either of us.

Tandoori Express was decent. The food wasn't bad. The restaurant is small and mostly clean. The door was a little grimy, the table too, nothing horrible. The neighborhood was pretty sketchy. We didn't feel safe where we were. Maybe this is typical for Decatur.

I'd like to see vegan items clearly marked and the staff be familiar with ingredients. I really wanted to order bread but can only assume it had dairy in it and skipped it. Tandoori Express isn't a bad restaurant. I don't think we'll eat here again if ever given the...

I've eaten did from here a couple of times now and the food is constantly amazing. This was my first time coming in myself. I love Indian food, and this is among my favorite places in Illinois. It doesn't look like much, just a little corner food nook, but don't let that fool you, it's delicious!

I really enjoy the Tandoori chicken. The rice that comes with it is a multi color seasoned... Jasmine Saffron rice maybe? It's light and wonderful. The chicken is very flavorful and juicy. They can add more or less spice to taste. I usually like it really hot, but my partner usually likes mild and both of us are happy with what we got.

My kid got the butter chicken which I haven't had myself so I had to taste it. I wasn't expecting the richness with so many layers to the flavor profile. And the breads are also great.

The one drawback really is that it isn't very "express" as I think they actually do cook everything to order, so we waited a good 20 minutes. Absolutely worth it! I drove from Springfield specifically for this and have no regrets. (To be fair the other tables were also full)

I was also surprised to learn they have an event hall in the back! It's a white/grey marble, holds around 200 people and looked very nice. They also do catering.

The front of the place is pretty basic and only has a couple (3 or 4) tables. But we did get actual dishes, diverse when glasses, and the front counter person does wait on you. They do take out to. If you eat in you pay at the counter when you are finished.

Overall now I feel like I need to go back repeatedly to try everything. Unfortunately I was too enthralled with the taste of my food to think of pictures! I'll get some next time. Which...

Much better date spot than the other Indian restaurants in town, given the thoughtful decor these owners have added. This comfortable restaurant has authentic, fresh flavors, and they use even less oil than Rasoi Indian Food. Their approach to "clean" cooking (less oils) makes it easy to experience depth of spices and authentic Indian flavors with a choice of spiciness level; they dial everything in perfectly. Medium spiciness was great for everyone at our table, and we also loves the dal makhani (lentil) and palak paneer (spinach) were excellent. They let us bring our own wine for dinner. Their kindness is a rare find in town, and they even stayed later to make additional sides when our table grew hungrier for more garlic naan. Our host was previously an Uber driver, then a truck driver, and then decided to open a restaurant so he could spend more time with his kids while taking them to the Scovill Zoo and nearby water park. They are making Decatur their home and have been around for about a year in our community. I'd highly recommend getting to know them and their food, as they are truly great neighbors to have in town, with kind hearts and...