Where do you go for dinner when you have two small children who are reluctant to eat anything but chicken nuggets (dinosaur shape please) and macaroni and cheese in a country where no one serves chicken nuggets or macaroni and cheese or even has a children’s menu? Why, to an Indian restaurant, of course.
Tiranga is situated across the street from the Marriott Beach Club, where we were staying. Both our cab driver from the airport and two resort employees recommended it, so off we went. We had a plan: order rice (with butter), naan, and raita for Ella and Lily and grown up food for ourselves. As always, we ordered for the little ones right away, at the same time as our drink order. This caused some confusion, as we never got through to the server that we wanted the food for the children first, and all of the food was served together. Perhaps I should have told him in a straightforward manner, but I (a) live in Washington, DC and (2) I’m a recovering lawyer. Despite my clumsy efforts, it all worked out.
Here’s the remains of the bread basket ($19 US) after it had succumbed to repeated depredations by all five of us.
The basket originally contained multiple pieces each of naan, tandoori roti, messi roti, kulcha, and laccha paratha. (I copied that from the menu.). All of us loved the bead — the breads, I should say — and all of us ate more of it than we should, even Nancy. Even then, we didn’t eat it all. The $19 was a bargain.
We all ordered curries. Nancy ordered a chicken curry, the Andra Murg ($14), and asked for it medium spicy (they ask). Liza ordered the Chicken Masala (again, $14) with medium heat, and I ordered the Mutton Masala ($18), which was designated “hot” on the menu, and asked for it hot. Here’s a photo of mine. They all looked pretty much the same, to tell the truth.
I’m here to tell you that the food was good. I mean real good. Liza’s medium masala was spicy and a bit hot. My mutton was, first of all, delicious mutton, some still on the bone, and the description of the seasoning as hot was justified — not as hot as some vindaloos, but hot. I enjoyed it immensely.
Tiranga is a comfortable space with an attractive interior, and I give them props for linking to WhatsApp. That’s nice for outlanders like us. And the service at Tiranga was as good as the food, the initial minor confusion aside. The servers were very friendly and especially nice to Ella and Lily. Of course, Ella and Lily are exceptionally charming, but in the US the faces of restaurant employees aren’t exactly wreathed with smiles at the approach of young and energetic children. In St. Kitts is seems that everyone loves children — certainly they do at Tiranga. It’s a very good place to eat, and you should give it a try.
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