Joshua C.
Yelp
I'll start by saying I haven't eaten much Indian food in my life, so this review is more in line with a first-time experience vs. someone who's eaten "real" Indian food in Mumbai.
Hungry one evening in Anchorage and looking to try something a little different/adventurous, I turned to the internet to find my wife and I some dinner. Yak & Yeti was nearby the hotel we were staying at, had solid reviews, and was different so it met the criteria. Hooray for the internet!
We arrived during dinner hours (6-7), pulling up to a little divey-looking building with a tiny parking lot right off the road. The location really isn't great, parking is a bit of a pain as is leaving the parking lot which requires you to back into the main road. Inside the building is kind of what you'd expect from the outside and the best way I can describe it is "comfortable". We were greeted by the waitress/hostess immediately upon arriving and explained that we were looking to order takeout but had no idea what to order. She was very friendly and suggested the chicken tikka masala for Indian "newbs" like us. Another waiter (cook maybe, I don't know) was also hovering nearby the register, but wasn't nearly as friendly or helpful. I guess you could just call it a bad day for him, 50/50 on the service.
We ended up going with the suggestion of chicken tikka masala in addition to an order of pork vindaloo. The dishes came with the option of rice, tingmo, or some other bread. We went with rice and tingmo. I'm glad we did as both dishes were tasty and made for an awesome alternative to pizza (boy does Anchorage have a TON of pizza joints), Applebee's, or TGI Friday's. I can't comment on eating at the restaurant itself, but the to-go portions were served in your typical styrofoam container, decent sized, enough to fill both my wife and I's appetites without feeling the stuffed yuck that is often attributed to overeating. Presentation was...well, messy, but that's to be expected given the container/food.
The chicken tikka masala was very flavorful, definitely my preferred dish of the two sampled, particularly the sauce. Dipping the tingmo (some sort of steamed bun) into the sauce is especially wondrous and it was hard not to "pig" all the buns. Sharing is tough kids. The only negative I found was the chicken itself - a bit on the dry side. I'm not sure if that's how the dish is prepared traditionally, but I like my meat moist in most cases. The pork vindaloo was tasty, reminded me a bit of adobo for some reason. Lots of flavor, moist, filling. I ate the majority of it (along with most of the rice) as my wife isn't really a big meat eater. So much for not pigging.
I think my biggest takeaway from Yak & Yeti is that I really like Indian food. I would eat here again, and now want to check out other spots back home that serve Indian. I want to cook it at home. Yak & Yeti: Thank you for being a gateway drug into the world of Indian cuisine!