I cannot resist myself when there is an opportunity to try new food. I was walking up Spruce Street deciding what I should eat for lunch when I came across A NEW CART! I had read somewhere about a new Indian cart coming to campus (to compete with Curry on Wheels) and it finally opened…. today. I couldn’t resist so I stepped up and looked over the menu. My understanding is that this cart is owned and run by Lucky’s Mexican Spot (the Mexican cart right next to it on Spruce), so there were two people in the cart. One was the Mexican Lady from Lucky’s who was in fact wearing a Lucky’s t-shirt and the other was an Indian man wearing a Lovash t-shirt which I assume is a full-fledged restaurant downtown somewhere.
I decided to give the Beef Curry Bowl a go. When the opened up the containers with the different varieties of meat, they looked visually awesome, swirling with many hues of orange and brown and filled with large chunks of meat. They loaded some basmati rice into half the bowl and the Beef Curry in the other half. He asked if I wanted some onion on top and I accepted. He thanked me for coming telling me that I was the first customer and I left with my meal to give it a try.
I brought it back and my first thought was that the portion looked a tad small. For $5, I would ordinarily expect a bigger portion since this is in fact a food cart and not an Indian Restaurant. Their direct competition, Curry On Wheels, serves monstrous portions for about a $1 more. Anyways, I stirred up the Beef Curry and basmati until it was completely mixed and took a bite.
The flavor is dead on. Really nice, rounded Indian flavors. At first I was surprised by how little spice was in it, but then by the end of the dish it had crept up on me leaving a slight, yet satisfying burn. The beef was tender and soaked in the curry and spices. Each bite was flavorful and delicious.
Looking back on this, I am surprised they have no way to manipulate the spice level per customer. It would be nice to have a choice of ‘spicy’, ‘medium’, or ‘mild’ like it is offered at Curry On Wheels. In order to compete at a price point that is $1-$2 more than most of the surrounding carts Lovash will likely need to increase their portion size. If the portions get bigger, I’m all about this.
Bottom Line: This new cart has a bit to learn and change before their business can take off. Portions are a little small and the price point is slightly higher than other carts, but the flavor was absolutely delicious.
Cost: $5