Tadka Cuisine of India — Restaurant in Payson

This was a great little find! I was skeptical of getting Indian food in a small town, but we were not disappointed. We took our family and tried the Tikka Masala, Saag Panner, and Butter chicken along with the appetizer sampler and naan.

The servings were about what you'd expect, and they were very generous by asking if we wanted more rice or naan. The Tikka Masala is some of the best I've had and very flavorful. A lot of Indian restaurants skimp on flavor and then add butter and cream to make up for it. The dish was rich, but balanced. We also enjoyed the saag paneer. Saag is so hit and miss for me, but this was really good. I plan to go back and see how consistent it is. The butter chicken was AMAZING! It was so flavorful and it left all of us wanting to lap up the residual from our plates. The samosas were our favorite from the appetizer sampler and the naan was also good.

The owner waited on us most of the visit and he told us to come back to the buffet to try it and claimed it was just as good as dinner service. We went back and it was pretty good. There were a few of the veggie dishes that were overcooked, but the Tikka Masala was not watery like you expect to see on buffets. My only complaint is price for kids. We brought them with us and they all eat like sparrows, especially our young kids. The price was reasonable for our older kids, but $5 for a 3 year old feels excessive. All of my kids can eat off a one meal, so when we spent over $20 for them to eat less than a 1/4th of a regular meal, that was not fun. We called ahead to ask for prices and when we got there and none of the servers could give me the prices for kids. All I was told was, "We'll have to see what it rings up at the register." Had we known it was that expensive, we would have ordered off the regular menu for the kids. It feels less wasteful to me and they can bring home the extras.

Overall, food quality is great and they definitely know what they are doing. My only complaint is service. When the owner was waiting on us, it was amazing. He was energetic, gave us recommendations of new things to try, discovered our preferences, and interacted very well with our kids. It felt warm and inviting. The regular servers aren't very helpful and weren't very knowledgeable of the offerings or what their personal experience is eating there or to make recommendations of what to try. The time we came in for the buffet, no eye contact was made to welcome us to the restaurant. There was a line and I could tell the waitress was flustered, so we were patient, but once it was our turn to be seated she just told us to pick a place. Had we known that from the beginning we would have seated ourselves to save time.

We plan to frequent here again and I'll update the review as needed. I want to give it 5 stars so much! It's nice to find a gem in a little town without having to travel far. I just wish they'd hire me to give their servers a quick customer service 101: Make eye contact, say hello when the customer approaches, welcome them in, anticipate needs, ask "What else may I get for you?", and thank them for coming in with verbage of seeing the customer again. It creates warmth and a reason to come back besides the food. There are several restaurants I frequent that serve somewhat mediocre food, but I go back because the people know my name, they recognize me, they get to know me, and they remember my favorite menu items that I always get. It feels like I'm eating with family. When you can connect with your customer on a real, authentic level, it changes things in a very good way and I go back to the places that make me feel good.

Edited to add: Updated to 5 stars. We come here a few times a month. The lunch buffet is my favorite because I enjoy getting little taste of several of their offerings. The chili chicken is rockin'! I also love the kheer. The service is still so-so. When you get one of the owners waiting on you, service is great, but otherwise, not so much. Luckily the food...

Sultry spices and amazing service close to home!

Let's face facts: Outside of major cities it can be difficult to find proper Indian cuisine. So I was pleasantly surprised to find Tadka was so close to home here in southern utah county.

I went the attitude of, "Beggars can't be choosers." because hey, any curry is better than no curry, right?

Well choose I did, and it wasn't easy. Tadka's menu is impressive, edging out regional competitors in options by about 10-20%, some of which I'm sure were their own design.

I chose the Rogan Josh (accompanied with the optional basmati rice) because it's a tricky dish to get right and it would give me a good idea of the restaurant's skills.

They offer a heat scale of 1-10, not "mild, medium or hot" as most Indian restaurants do. I liked this because it seemed that they genuinely wanted to personalize your experience. I chose 7. For appetizers I went with samosas, chicken pakora and onion bhaji and for naan I chose the bullet chili.

I then asked if they could make a bit of hot sauce for me. As brutal , but as tasty as they could make it. Again, this gives me an idea of their skill. Anyone can dump peppers in a blender and make me go into respiratory distress, but the hotter a sauce gets the more difficult it is to balance it with enjoyable flavor.

They blew me away.

The Rogan Josh was savory, earthy and not at all gritty. Mixed with the basmati it was magnificent. Tadka really nailed it with subtle nuances making it a familiar dish, but with a unique touch of their own design.

The appetizers were bang on. Each item was Fried perfectly, the Bhaji was crisp on the outside and chewy delicious (especially with the tamarind chutney) samosas tasted like little comfort-food meals and the pakoras were tender and saturated with flavor.

The bullet chili naan was amazing. It had a savory garden flavor with some heat followed by a beautiful buttery taste. Dipped in the Rogan Josh it was heavenly.

Their hot sauce I asked for? Face melting and transcendental. If you're a heat fan, have them whip you up a batch.

If you're traveling through Utah on I15 or live nearby just go. You'll...

I truly hate leaving negative reviews- but sometimes they are necessary. My wife and I tried Tadka, and were extremely underwhelmed. If you like Indian food, there are vastly superior options in the area.

When we arrived, our server assumed we were there for the buffet. While I generally steer clear of buffets, I thought that I should at least take a look at the spread before declining. The buffet was sparsely populated with very few options- and the main event included only two chicken options. That’s it- no other meat “entree” options at all. It was a hard pass.

I requested regular menus for my wife and I. We received one menu to share. Ordered drinks- and were told that they were completely out of our requested lemons and limes- a staple of Indian cuisine.

We ordered Shrimp coconut Kurma and Butter Chicken. Portions were small (and expensive for what it was) and insufficiently spiced. Shrimp were obviously frozen and small. Both dishes were bland and unexciting. Basmati rice was flavorless.

Service was poor, we waited an excessive amount of time to order despite the place being near empty. Staff seemed more concerned with cleaning tables than serving customers. Wait staff never checked in to ask if we were happy with the meal, or to offer refills on beverages.

We had high hopes for our trip to Tadka- it is much closer to home thank other Indian food restaurants and they have great hours of operation. After our visit, it is safe to say that we will not be back. I highly recommend sticking to a sure thing for Indian food. Just go to Bombay House in Provo. I’ll...