Golden Tikka Indian restaurant - the lunch is good value for money!

I am no connoisseur of Indian food - on the contrary. Where I come from, we don't have any Indian restaurants at all, I must confess, so my experience stems from my visits with friends in Blackpool - and from Indian restaurants in Prague. It is actually a pity, because I enjoy it very much. I am still confused about the menus, simply because I am not sure what to expect. So for that reason, my first visit to Golden Tikka was helped by the fact that we could choose from the limited, but very fairly priced Lunch menu.

The nice terrace behind Golden Tikka

The restaurant is completely new, and I only discovered it because I was handed a leaflet last Friday on my way to dinner with a friend at U Emy Destinnove further down Katerinska (when walking from I.P. Pavlova). As I can be somewhat cheapish and also caught a glimpse of a blackboard announcing lunches from Czk. 89,- I didn't ignore the leaflet, which I would usually have done. And today I was inspired by Ms. Knedlikova's interesting blog, and suddenly felt like a late Indian lunch. Well, as BF was doing next to nothing, I invited him, and off we went.

The interior is clean and stylish - but lacks some pictures on the wall and other décor to give it a more homely feeling

We walked into the restaurant around 15.30, finding it completely empty. So was the large and nice terrace, where we picked a table and asked the friendly and attentive waiter for the lunch menu - and 2 Pilsner (our all-time favourite among the easy-to-find Czech beers). The beer wasn't a problem, but the lunch menu was, because it was only supposed to be served until 15.00. I clearly remembered from my leaflet that it said 11.30-16.00,  and when I told him that, he smiled and promised to deliver what we wanted, if we would settle for rice as the sidedish.

The lunch menu is limited, but interesting - which is perfect for a beginner like myself.

It is no secret that both BF and myself are carnivores, so we divided 2 of the 3 meat options between us: BF chose the Chicken Tikka Masala Menu, consisting of Chicken Tikka (pieces of chicken baked in a tandoor oven) cooked in a classic, rich onion-tomato and coriander sauce with cream + rice, priced at Czk. 155,-. That left me with the Kuřecí menu / Non-vegetarian Menu, consisting of chicken in a sauce, sabji (mixed vegetables), rice, and raita (white yoghurt with fresh vegetables and spices), priced at Czk. 110,-. There was one more chicken option on the menu, as well as a vegetarian option + 2 choices of homemade cheese cooked in different ways (I guess I should call those vegetarian as well?). So plenty for me to choose from, when I'll hopefully be back during the next days for a couple of business related lunches.

While we were waiting for the beers we could quench our thirst in water brought to the table without even having asked for it. Several restaurants in Prague could learn from that detail.

We didn't have to wait too long, before our food was brought to the table by a smiling waiter, once more apologizing for the misunderstandings with the lunch menu later than 15.00:

My Kuřecí menu / Non-vegetarian Menu

BF's Chicken Tikka Masala Menu

My food wasn't very warm - but I believe that would probably be because of the "lunch misunderstanding", and it wasn't cold either - nothing I would complain about. The chicken was served in rather small, but juicy bits in a sauce with tomato and spinach, and the spice was to my taste, meaning that there was a good bite, but it didn't kill my taste buds. There was some coriander, but not too much - in my taste coriander can easily be too overpowering. I liked the flavours and texture, and was completely satisfied. The vegetable mix was made with the same degree of spiciness, but the flavours were more curry-like. which I liked - no reason to put 2 identical flavours on the plate. If it had been too strong, I could have put out the fire with the raita served in a little cowl on the side.

BF's Chicken Tikka Masala Menu looked simpler - there was one item less on the plate. But the pieces of chicken were nicely marinated and larger than mine - and there was more meat in his portion, probably explaining the higher price. His food was warmer than mine. Like I have said earlier, I am no expert in Indian food, and I am really not sure what to expect from a Chicken Tikka Masala. But I tasted Golden Tikka's version, and I liked it a lot. It was mory spicy than my chicken dish, actually a lot more. But still my taste buds weren't killed by it (BF was full after eating 2/3 of it, so I had a nice sample), and once more, my raita would probably had been able to put out the fire, had it been too strong.
We were both quite happy with our (late) lunch, and I'll definitely be back - probably later this week. Maybe the hardcore Indian food aficionados will find the food to mildly spiced. On the other hand, BF can eat chili sauce as if it were ketchup, and he was satisfied. So I would recommend the place. The lunch is good value for money, and the dinner menu also won't ruin you. And for the service, I felt comfortable and well taken care of.

Our bill for the 2 menus + 4 Pilsner Urquell was a total of Czk. 420,- before tips.

Golden Tikka

Kateřinska 42, Praha 2 (very close to I.P. Pavlova)

+420 224 241 181

katerinska@tikka.cz 

Open daily 11.30-23.00