I recently went over to the new Chakraa restaurant over in Hannamdong. I’m a big fan of Chakraa because they make authentic Indian food. Sure there are quite a few Nepalese restaurants in the city such as Everest, Namaste, and Himalaya and they all serve Indian Curry. These restaurants serve Indian Curry because they realize that it is popular. If you notice on the menu’s the authentic Nepalese dishes such as Dal Bhat (Lentils and Rice) and Vegetable Pulao (Vegetable Fried Rice) only have a small section in proportion to the whole menu. If you want authentic Indian food, then there are only a few in the city.
In Itaewon there is Agra, Wazwan, Curry Town, Taj Mahal, The Foreign Restaurant, and Chakraa. Over in Hannamdong- if you go down the road from Cheil there is a little curry joint that’s way overpriced and with small portions. Over by Myeongdong there is a place…I don’t recall the name, but I do remember they served me kimchi with my curry. KIMCHI! Grrrr. In Samcheongdong there is Dal in the Artsonje Center. Now I judge Indian restaurants based on their palak paneer and their palak paneer was spicy. Grrr.
Oh, and there is Ganga.
In the past, the only really good Indian restaurant was Ganga. But Ganga is expensive because they were the only game in town and they marketed themselves as premium.
Taj Mahal used to be my favorite, but they changed chefs. Wazwan did the same. Agra, I’m not a fan at all. Sure the place is pretty, but they put potatoes in my Palak Paneer and tried to pass them off as paneer. I’ll never go there again.Then on a whim I decided to check out Chakraa and I’ve been hooked ever since. They make authentic curries, the naan is always big and made fresh, their palak paneer is authentic and it has the right proportion of paneer (a curded cheese) and their tandoori is moist and spicy. It’s a great place to go for real Indian food.
I’ve gone to the buffet as well. I love Indian buffets. There are so many different curries and I just love Indian desserts. I just love Gulab Jamun and Gajar Halva. Gulab Jamun are Indian munchins flavored with cardamon, rose water, and saffron. Delicious. And Gajar Halva is an sweetened carrot salad with raisin, cardamon, and milk. It’s awesome. I always feel bad because I make several trips for the Gajar Halva.
One note about the buffet. I would recommend that you go around 12:00 that’s when they start putting out the really good stuff.
Dan
www.chakraa.co.kr
796-1149 Korean
796-2255 English
info@chakraa.co.kr
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during my visit to Chakra, they served uncooked chicken tandori!!! sure they offered a new one but that was scary. the tandori was not good anyways. too soft outside and marinade was just on the surface. chicken tikka masala was different(bit sweet tomato pasty and light) but good.
service was friendly but unproffessional.( they kelp asking me to answer their phone while i was eating!!! since they had no Korean speaking staff at the time and I can speak Korean.)
overall, food was okay, service was friendly but not satisfactory, and most importantly would I ever go back? definetly not.
I can’t agree with you J. I have visited many Indian and so called Indian Restaurants in Seoul. Chakraa serves the best tandoori, curry and naans. They have really professional staffs for service, of course Indians who managed to speak little korean. I always felt i was in India whenever i was in Chakraa
Dan, this particular Chakraa sold me the worst buffet food ever in 2004. I arrived there at about 2:30pm on a Saturday or Sunday. Everything was dried out because the staff refused to put more water on the steam pans. I politely and quietly pointed this out, but two men became a bit miffed at my suggestion and shook their heads.
The Tandoori Chicken was the driest concoction I’ve ever had in my life, and the other dishes were not even mediocre.
I’ll try this place in future, but that particular day was just a bad memory.
Oh, the one down in Songtan was quite alright, but the portions were tiny and the prices outrageously high. I’d go back there on pay day for sure.
In future, I’ll only eat on a regular basis at the Pakistani-owned resto that’s located diagonally across the street from the Foreigners’ Grocery Store in Itaewon.
Peter, I’ve never had the experience that you had at Chakraa. It’s been sad to hear that some people have not enjoyed their meals there. I’ve met the owner and I’ll be sure to let her know. I feel that it’s one of the top Indian Restaurants in the city, but it seems to have some issues with consistency. Thank you for your comment. Hopefully it has changed a lot since 2004.
Dan
Hi Dan, you are right about the inconsistencies in Chakraa. Me and my husband had dinner in Chakraa in Suwon during my birthday and I would say that the Chicken Tikka that we had is way different from the ones we had before few months back at the same place. It looks more like chicken tandoor. And the worst thing is the waiting time we waited for 45 min for our food to arrive, its totally irritating. After that meal we swear not to visit that place again except for Indian snacks like thosai or Idli which we think are still worth trying once in a while.
JYOTI RESTAURANT is the best place for Tandoori and curry. We love this place always