Tandoor Restaurant: Shady Restaurant of the Month
by Andrew | July 13, 2008 | 13 Comments
(votes: 13, average: 4.31) 
Loading ...Tandoor Restaurant is located inside the JRS Travel Center at 1900 East Reno Avenue in Oklahoma City (map). You can call the travel center for information at 405.270.0379.
As a rule, choosing the Shady Restaurant of the Month is far from easy. Perhaps what once stood out as an abnormality in my pre-conditioned culinary mind has simply become the norm. You see, I eat at shady dives and taco stands nearly every day now, so having one stand out as particularly more shady than the others is becoming more of a challenge. This time, though, the decision came fast and clear. The moment I heard myself actually say out loud, “wow, I’m eating goat meat in a gas station … and it’s delicious!” — that was the moment I knew I had a winner.
JRS Travel Center sits on the corner of Reno and Martin Luther King Avenue. Many a trucker stops here for a fill up and an energy drink, but it’s what is going on in the attached restaurant that will keep me coming back. When we first walked in, there was a sign for Corky’s Grill and a big picture of a nauseating star-shaped burger patty. Everyone has unfortunately experienced one of these unnaturally misshapen mystery meat patties at one time or another. I think the last one I had was at the hospital after my last kid was born. These can be tricky because everyone else is eating them and it makes you want to believe that they aren’t rancid, but it’s never the case. Thankfully, Corky’s has been bought out by an enterprising group of Indian chefs who have turned it into a tandoor grill.
The interior is awesome! The entire menu from Corky’s remains above the counter as well as all of the old signs advertising it’s American truck stop fare. You’ll need to ignore the Corky’s menu. Sorry for the inconvenience to all of you looking for a frozen chicken fried steak with fake gravy. They have draped some bright-colored cloths on the walls to give that distinct Indian feel, but then you sit down in booths that make you feel like you’re eating at Carl’s Jr. OK, maybe Carl’s Jr. in New Delhi.
Of course, a mismatched interior is what shady dining is all about. We’re looking for the place that can surprise us by delivering taste far beyond the expectations set up by appearances. And in the taste department, Tandoor is getting it right.
Tandoor Restaurant delivers the culture, spice, and flavor of Indian cuisine to all those daring enough to try something new. They will gladly show you a beat-up, laminated menu of what they really serve. I didn’t need a menu. When we walked in there was a dry-erase board with a big, bold proclamation:
“Now serving Halal goat!”
I knew what I was getting. No, it’s not because I’m a practicing Muslim needing to follow Halal standards, but rather because I’m a sucker for goat meat. The choices ranged from curries, to masalas, to biryani dishes. For those of you who have never experienced a biryani dish (and that used to include me), imagine an Indian version of fried rice. Indian food purists will surely mock my description. Speaking of Indian food purists … since visiting Tandoor, I have mentioned this place to various India natives and those friends of mine who have traveled extensively in India, and they all say this is one of their favorite places in town. Apparently, I’ve been out of the loop. The buffets in town surely don’t do Indian food this type of justice.
Anyway, I really enjoyed the flavor of the goat biryani. It really heated up as I went though. I found myself wishing I had ordered a Dr. Pepper with my meal this time. Talk about a hidden spiciness, this dish really creeps up on you. The only drawback of this particular selection was picking all of the goat bones out of my mouth. They are basically stewing the goat meat in a pressure cooker so that you get that marrowy, gelatin goodness in the stock. This makes it very tasty, but also means bones are going to break down and sometimes be small enough to hide under piles of rice. That, as well as the whole cloves, made it a little tedious to chew. I’m sure you can safely chew up and swallow these items, but I wasn’t in the mood for how this could have affected my digestive tract over the following few hours so I chose to discard these pieces as politely as I could.
My shady companions got a range of other biryani dishes and curries. We were not prepared for the level of spice. These dishes get warm quickly. However, fantastic flavors accompany that heat and they make the temporary palate-pain well worth it. I, for one, love the explosion of flavor that comes with saffron, clove, and other Indian spice staples.
Perhaps the highlight of the food was the naan. Naan is an unleavened bread found all across the Middle East and into India. It resembles pita bread, but it is much softer and infused with more flavors. They served a garlic naan which had cloves of garlic woven artfully through the dough. It was out of this world. The smell of roasted garlic enveloped our table and made our mouths water. We also ordered plain naan and onion naan. They were both very good. It was like naan other naan I have ever had. Ha!
You do need to be aware of the pricing and the size of the dishes here. The prices were quite high, ranging from $7 to $12, depending on the dish. My goat dish was $11 after tax and I declined the beverage. The good news is that these dishes could feed two or three people comfortably. I think the best course of action is to take six to eight people and order four or five dishes, in essence making your own buffet. I can promise it will be much more tasty than any buffet you have ever had, and less likely to spread disease (depending on who you invite to eat with you, of course).
The shady experience at Tandoor Restaurant will provide you with good food, good fun, and the ability to pick up a pack of cigarettes, an energy drink, and one of those cool, mesh-backed trucker caps with the clever sayings on your way out. Bring an appetite, be prepared for a little spice, and get ready for what is perhaps the best Indian food in the city. But don’t take my word for it, go try it yourself. Let us know what you think in the comments.
We want to hear from you!
So far, 13 people have responded to this article. Won't you join in?July 15th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
I started going to Tandoor about 8 months ago and can’t get enough of it. To me it only adds to the appeal of the place that it is in a dump of a truck stop. I have tried many things on the menu and everything is great. The author is right, the food has a little more kick than other Indian restaurants in town, but to me that is what makes it more authentic. This place is better than Gopuram & Ajanta. Go give it a whirl!
July 16th, 2008 at 8:52 am
Leave it to Andrew to make me hungry for goat in the middle of the workday.
July 29th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
The worst customer service. Tried to place a large order over the phone. They would disconnect the phone and did not like to answer any questions.
September 17th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
does it shock you that i have been eating goat meat since i was a “kid”?? (get it?? “kid”-goat!!)
granted, it was west tennessee goat barbecue… but it was/is indeed tasty.
i am full of surprises..
-stephen
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:24 pm
I am a truck driver for SWIFT and I tried the goat curry. It was great. Good food.
October 27th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
I *love* Tandoor. I’ve eaten indian food in cities all across the country (and frequently cook it at home) and while Kazhana’s, Gopuram, etc… are “ok”, they’re not great, and they’re greatly watered down for Americans. My significant other works with almost all Indian men and they rave over Tandoor. They even take business associates to lunch there over the other, “nicer” Indian restaurants. The food there is flavorful, and they don’t shy away from the spice/heat level if you ask them to kick it up. It’s also the only gas station restaurant the significant other will risk trying the goat…and love it! I’m so glad you did a review of this place! Everyone always glosses over it when talking about Indian restaurants in the OKC area, and in my opinion (and many others), it’s the best here!
Complaint? Just that the girl working the register has been a different one each visit. On the last trip she was a little thickheaded and didn’t seem to give a sh*t about getting us the things we needed (drinks, rice, etc..). But I suspect there will be yet another new girl on the next trip, so no worries.
June 26th, 2009 at 10:02 pm
hey Andrew, just had the Chicken Khadai with medium spice and it was pretty good. There was a very limited selection today with no lamb & no goat so I was quite disappointed that I couldn’t try out this halal goat you speak of. The spice…even medium was no joke. I can’t even imagine what HOT might be like! I’m still sweating 2 hours later…or maybe it’s just this stupid heat wave. Anyway, good find, I’m glad I don’t have to drive 10 miles to get indian food anymore.
July 19th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
I am going to plug this place again. It is the best Indian food in OKC hands down.
September 11th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
We just moved to OKC and something on the top of our to-do list is to find a good Indian restaurant. We will definitely try this place out!
November 1st, 2009 at 5:02 pm
Just came across the review yesterday while looking for somewhere unique a friend and I could go for lunch today. We’re luckily both the sort of people who enjoy going to shady truck stops to eat frequently. So so so glad I went there today.. The service wasn’t spectacular and we should probably have not been starving when we went because it felt like forever to cook the food. But WOW! Best Indian I’ve had that didn’t come from some friend’s family. And the whole “shady truck stop” thing…well, that just added to the adventure. I will for sure go back, even if it is a 30 minute drive.
November 12th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
How cool is it that an Indian restaurant is in at a truck stop! Although it took a while to get our food (there were two large groups there that day), it was very tasty. The food was served on an eclectic mix of containers. Some item were served in styrofoam containers and other item were on ceramic or metal plates. I was not sure what message they were trying to convey. Even though the food was good, it is not a place where I would go to for dinner and they take a little too long to prepare the food for lunch.
January 2nd, 2010 at 8:14 pm
I stop at JRS 2-3 times a month for fuel and finally happy to see that they have started lunch buffet. I can definately afford 7 bucks for a good buffet. They also make good chicken biryani
January 3rd, 2010 at 1:32 pm
I am from California and Indian – I think this is one of the best places for Indian food I have come across since leaving Cali! Other than the Curry Pot in Panama City Beach, FL
Please tell us what you think.