Mio K.
Yelp
During the pandemic is when I discovered Arun's. It was also the time when they closed their dining area and switched to takeout only, so my only regret is that I never had a chance to experience the chutney station that my friends tell me they had. Arun's has consistently been listed in the Yelp Top 100 Restaurants in the US. The question is, would they make it on the list after this change to takeout dining? I would say yes, their food is consistently good and holds up after transport and reheating. I've made the drive to pick up their food, and I'll gladly find an excuse to make the drive again! I'm glad to see they've opened locations in Lauderhill and Boca Raton so that not everyone has to make that drive all the time.
Their online ordering site is easy to use to select and checkout. It's nice that they send notifications when your order has been received and when it's ready to pick up. There's never any delay or confusion when I've picked up orders.
In my opinion, the best time to get food from here is for lunch. They may or may not list it on their menu, but during lunch hours, for the same price of entrees, they add basmati rice, naan and gulab jamun (fried dough ball soaked in rose syrup) to each order. Their rice is fluffy and fragrant, their naan is thick, soft, and chewy (great for mopping up the sauces), and their gulab jamun is delightful with its sticky syrup lending heft to a dessert that's as small as an oversized pebble.
Their chicken tikka masala is for sure delicious. The spices and other seasonings are so well blended together that you'd think they were marinating together for an entire week on a cauldron in someone's yard before the dish came to you. There is a slight sweetness compared to other place's tikka masalas that we've tried to decipher---is it honey, maple syrup, brown sugar?---that rounds out the spices. We order it "Indian spicy", but I don't think they believe we want it that spicy, because it comes out to us just a little spicy. It's still wonderful.
I've also had the chicken madras, which at first I thought was more delicious than the tikka masala! I know, I'm insane. But the seasoning in the madras is gloriously fragrant and savory, hitting the spot for the Indian curry that I crave every other day.
I'm getting so hungry looking back at my photos and writing about these wonderful dishes! I'll have to make up a new excuse to go by again!