Daniel B.
Yelp
Thanks to Yelp for introducing me to Curry Up Now through a "Yelp Elite Perk" in November 2019: http://bit.ly/342Gw. If it wasn't for Yelp, I probably wouldn't have known about or come to this restaurant. This particular review is primarily based upon my return-trip experience at as a regular paying customer.
This place is a solid four stars to me. It's good. Good enough for me to bring my fiancee here and make the 25-minute-plus drive from our home in Midtown to this location in Decatur. Curry Up Now is situated on the north side of Decatur in that new shopping center with Whole Foods, gusto!, Tin Drum, and Bad Daddy's Burger Bar. Like the aforementioned restaurants, Curry Up Now is a fast-casual chain. It's based in San Francisco. This location in Decatur is the company's first in Georgia. At least two more locations are planned for Atlanta proper at the time of writing this review. This location opened in July 2019.
Curry Up Now is kind of like the Indian version of Tin Drum. It's not truly "authentic" (traditional), but Americanized. I would categorize the cuisine as Indian and Indian fusion. The restaurant is bright and colorful and has a casual, fun vibe to it. It looks "hip" and "cool." You can order by interacting with a human or by using the self-order kiosk. In addition to a small dining room, the business has a fenced-in patio with umbrella-covered tables and a garage-style door that retracts up to connect the indoor-outdoor spaces.
The menu print is tiny, both on the wall behind the registers (the subtext is virtually impossible to read when standing in line to order) and on the print menus. I'd change that if I were them. I'd also make the design less busy.
The restaurant offers a wide range of food, focusing on street food, bowls and burritos (kind of sounds like Chipotle). They also serve thali (Indian platters with multiple components) and Indian desserts. Expect to spend about $10 and up for most items. The most expensive items are the biryani ($13) and thali ($14-15).
Here's what I've tried:
Indian Street Food
* Pani Puri ($8) - hollowed semolina puri, potato garbanzo mash, cumin tamarind water
Bowl
* Punjabi by Nature ($10) with chicken (paneer also option) - saag paneer and tikka masala; turmeric & fenugreek rice, chana masala (daal lentils also option), pico kachumber, housemade root pickles
Sexy Fries - Indian-inspired poutine-sweet potato fries, mozzarella ($10) with lamb (+$1; paneer, vegan, chicken also options)
Naughty Naan ($11) with paneer - flatbread of flour kulcha naan (wheat also option), mozzarella, caramelized onions, shaved jalapeno, local seasonal greens
Thali
* Meat Sweats ($15) - lamb keema, ghee makhani butter chicken, kadhai chicken; tumeric and fenugreek rice, daal lentils, pico kachumber, housemade root pickles with papadum, flour kulcha naan (wheat also option)
Dessert
* May I Come In Sir ($8) - fennel crepes, daal lentil halwa
Drinks
* Housemade mango drink ($3)
* Mango lassi ($4)
Overall, I thought most everything was delicious. My favorite item was the Meat Sweats thali and my least favorite was the "May I Come In Sir" dessert. Portion sizes were fair to generous and everything was presented beautifully (Instagram worthy). I recommend everything, but the dessert and mango lassi (more on that below).
My recomendations, in order:
1. Meat Sweats thali
2. Punjabi by Nature bowl
3. Sexy Fries
4. Naughty Naan
5. Pani Puri street food
You can't go wrong with any of the above. In the first two items, the lamb keema, ghee makhani butter chicken, kadhai chicken, daal lentils, saag paneer, and chicken tikka masala were all good to great. In general, they were tasty and full of flavor. My favorites were the ghee makhani butter chicken, saag paneer, and chicken tikka masala. Creamy, buttery, and tender. I like the addition of the "salsa" (pico kachumber) and pickles to the bowls and thali to mix things up. One thing I wasn't a huge fan of was the rice. It was harder, more dense, and more moist/soggy than the fluffier and more fragrant basmati rice I'm used to eating at other Indian restaurants.
The Sexy Fries were terrific. We got ours with lamb and my mouth waters just thinking about it. Admittedly skeptical at first, these fusion fries were crispy and flavorful. The lamb was ground and seasoned wonderfully. The Naughty Naan was like eating an Indian pizza. I liked that there was lots of paneer. Both the Sexy Fries and Naughty Naan are heavier dishes. The pani puri hit the spot.
The "May I Come In Sir" tasted strange because of the fennel. It was like eating crepes that had a hint of mukhwas (Indian mouth freshener). Perhaps an acquired taste. The mango lassi had a bite to it. I suspect the yogurt in the drink had fermented more than I'm accustomed to.
Service was excellent during both visits. Shout-out to Corey and his coworker, the lady with the clear-rim glasses. She and Corey were super nice and friendly. They set a positive tone for the experience.