Real Taste of India

I was craving me some Tikka Masala while I was downtown and stopped at this place when I saw it. The place smelled amazing, and I couldn’t wait because I was starving! The food was cheap; I paid $ 7 for tikka masala, rice, and naan. Unfortunately, it was all freaking terrible. Let’s start off with the fact that there is no nearby seating in this food truck park, ok, so you’d think the owners of these food trucks would take that into account when putting their food into boxes or any other storage container. Not these guys apparently! I grabbed the plastic container with two hands, but the thing preceded to crumble and spill food all over me and my stuff soaking some gifts I got that day. I never witnessed plastic that cheap. I couldn’t carry it around since it was still leaking everywhere, so I was going to give it back. NOPE! they guys wouldn’t give me my money back; fine I’m not a fighter. So I try eating some of what is left, and it was god awful. It was not tikka masala. I’m not Indian, but even a non-​Indian can tell when they’re being fed being fed watery tomato sauce over mushy rice. I’m not exaggerating, it was literally tomato sauce over some rice (advertised as basmati rice, ha!). This place is a complete rip-​off I can’t believe how it has four stars. DON’T GO HERE! GO FIND INDIAN FOOD WHERE THEY ACTUALLY RESPECT THE FOOD AND THEIR CUSTOMERS!

Cheap, huge portions, and really yummy. I think they forgot about my order so I had to wait longer than I would have… They asked «What did you order?» after I was there for a while, but they were busy and the food was good and cheap so I’m happy. I ate as much as I could for lunch and took the rest home for dinner – even at dinner I had to stuff myself and struggled to finish the rest. A little over two meals for me and only $ 7. I’ll be back!

There are those places that are good because the food is cheap, and there are places that are just good. Real Taste of India just so happens to be both. Now, there is no way I’ll tell you that it rivals the most gourmet Indian stops, which is why it only gets four stars, but it’s better than most full on restaurants I’ve been to.
First, let’s talk price. You get a hearty helping of one of several variations on chicken curry for $ 7, along with plenty of basmati rice. I’m an eater, and this was a filling two meals for me. Add a spectacular, (yes, I said spectacular) naan for only $ 1, and you’ve got yourself a stew goin’!
The best deal is the daily lunch specials, one regular and one vegetarian, including a half serving of curry, a side, typically chana or madras, rice, and one of those spectacular naans for only $ 6. The best deal I’ve ever found on a food cart.
Now, the food itself: I’ve actually been here several times; a trip to Portland isn’t a trip to Portland without stopping by the carts one or ten times. I have never felt disappointed by a single dish. Today I eschewed the lunch special for one of my favorite Indian dishes, vindaloo. Spicy and loaded with rich black pepper, their vindaloo is among the best I’ve tried. In every dish, the chicken ($ 2 less than the same offering with lamb) is succulently tender and steeped in bold, full flavor. Every curry I’ve tried here carries the same merits, and has never been found lacking in my eyes.
There are also several vegetarian and vegan options available as well, but I can’t speak to those personally. Their chicken is too good to pass up. (See above for a refresher.)
And in case you need to hear it a third time, the naan is spectacular. It’s piping hot, and not the dense, bready grocery store variety. It’s solid enough to scoop bites of curry, yet light and flaky at the same time, if that’s even possible.
Also note that this is the real Real Taste of India. As of this writing, there is another in town, albeit with a somewhat different menu and food and naan that is not so hot. They aren’t the same, and don’t appear to be affiliated. Make sure you get the right one! And the accompanying spectacular naan.

I came to the 5^th Ave food carts today with the mission to feast at a Hawaiian cart. I then saw that the Real Taste of India had a Chicken Tikka Masala on their Specials board [$ 6] and changed routes. I’ve had an obsession lately with some yummy curry.
I’ve surprisingly had some awesome Tikka Masala at Namaste Indian Buffet and was a little bummed that it just did not equate in quality here. The rice/​Tikka Masala ratio was just all off — too much rice and not enough curry. I really like to soak my rice with the goodness of the curry.
I did go later in the afternoon, so I shouldn’t have been too surprised that the Tikka Masala didn’t taste too fresh. Same with the naan… it was pretty soggy and underwhelming. My own fault for thinking all of the Indian food I’ve ever had would overwhelm me with joy.

I walked past 5^th Ave with all food trucks insight and I couldn’t help myself to the amazing smell of curry. I ordered the chicken curry special that came with rice, naan and Channa masala. It was good… not great. The naan lacked garlic but was super buttery so that was a plus and the curry and masala were mediocre. The rice was bland and not at all authentic. They definitely skimp you on the chicken seeing as they only gave me like 2 little pieces. However for the price of $ 6 I guess you can’t go wrong. It’s just not the best I’ve had.

Easily one of the best places to get indian food in the city. Fair prices and huge portions. The chicken makhani is really, really good– this is what you should get if you don’t know what to get. Plus some naan. It’s good for the soul.
Real Taste of India is definitely a lot better than many sit-​down Indian restaurants in town.
Sometimes the lunch rush can be a little overwhelming for them, so it can take a while to get your food. But it will be worth it, so that is no reason to dislike them.

Big fan of the Makhani, Open til 7 pm — so great for dinner too

YUM!!! Have you ever eaten food that made you do a happy dance? I just did. I’ll stop dancing and concentrate on my review. The food here is good. I mean really good; and you get a lot of it. I had the chicken tikka masala, ams was so impressed that i may have to come back tomorrow for all three meals to try the other menu options. By far the best Indian food I’ve had in Portland.

This food truck. God Bless this food truck and the people in it… They KNOW WHAT THEY’RE DOING.
After a horrid experience with an «authentic Indian cuisine» restaurant I was craving desi food like crazy. I went on a Unilocal spree and just began a crazed hunt for real pakistani food. And thank God I found it.
We didn’t get there before five so no experience with the five course lunch but whatever. I come from SoCal where there are hoards of pakistani and indian restaurants. I didn’t expect a food truck to be the place that could hold competition with that.
I got the Chicken Tikka Masala (requested extra spicy). It wasn’t what I was expecting or what I’ve had in the past but it is not to say it wasn’t good. It was a little different but also great. We paid the dinner price but the portion was generous and the flavor was WOW! I could see the girl cooking it up right on the spot with extra spices and flavors and she knew what she was doing. Different taste than CTM I’ve had but disappointment was nowhere in sight.
I also got the lamb biryani. Now this dish… This one broke all expectations I had. I think this is the best lamb biryani I have ever had anywhere. It was a guy preparing this dish. I asked for a little extra spice; again, they came through. Perfect spice, tender lamb, wonderful flavor, PERFECT salt. The peas were not soft or soggy. They were well cooked but still had a fresh sound of popping on the outside but tender on the inside. Quite impeccable.
And the garlic naan!!! Oh, I cannot even begin to explain the awesomeness of the garlic naan. It tasted good even after we got down to eating a while later and was a little soggy because of they foil (I should have opened it a little bit).
We drove quite a ways and the food was still hot when we got home to eat it. They actually COOKED it and that was obvious because it would have been stone cold had it just been reheated. And also, with desi food, flavor is easily judged by the smell and this smelled REAL. Not just like a spice rack but the lamb could be smelled separately from the CTM (which was served over a decent amount of basmati) and the garlic naan apart from the main courses My mouth watered the whole way home.
Very impressive. Great experience and I’ve seriously been CRAVING it since I had it; going back the first chance I get. They should open up a restaurant. They have a full fledged menu on their truck anyway. They would be raking in profit. Seriously wonderful food, awesome flavor, tender meat, soft naan.

I have been coming here for years!!! I love this place

Good Lunch place.

Because most of the food carts are only open during working hours, I had one chance before back-​to-​back meetings to swing by and grab soooomething… anything. Debated and contemplated and Unilocaled like crazy to figure out exactly what I wanted… and Real Taste of India won out. Couldn’t complain that it was super nearby and good Indian food is on the top of my list.
Got the $ 6 lunch special (vegetarian version) which included a giant naan (doughy and tasty… not as flaky and toasted as others I’ve had, but I loved the doughy texture), basmati rice (which was good, but not the best I’ve ever had), mixed vegetables (peas, potatoes, carrots), channa massala (garbanzo beans – liked the sauce more than the actual beans, but they were good), and dahl tarka (lentils — saucey, over the rice, solid) — all were excellent. Um, portion sizes? RIDICULOUS. I ate way more than I wanted and still had a TON of food left — if I ever get to go back, I would probably ask for less food (even at the same price) just to make sure it wouldn’t go to waste.
I don’t know if this is the best Indian food I’ve ever had, but it was very, very good. And for $ 6?! Yeah, would totally come back.

Who knew that the best indian food I’ll ever have in this lifetime exists in Portland Oregon food cart? The first time, we got the lamb wrap. It’s huge, weighs at least three pounds. Did we inhale it? hell yeah.
The second and last time, (ah, I’m only a visitor you see, if I live here, I could live off this one food cart for all my days– happily) I got the chicken tikka masala. The portion feeds three comfortably. In our case, we ate at 4:30, expecting to eat a lil snack for dinner later. But we never got hungry.
A+ for flavor. No dumbing down of spices here. Legitimately authentic. 100% love was put in the cooking. True highlight of the Portland trip.

Love all these food carts Portland has; we in Seattle are behind the curve, I’m afraid!
This location, this «cart ‘hood» isn’t as arty as the one on SE Belmont, but ’tis a better cart ‘hood than the one on Washington and 10^th, where there are no benches. Nowhere to sit at all. You’d either have to get into your car, if it’s nearby, or go back to your office — or sit in the sun, leaning against a building, which is what I did. On the sidewalk. Elegant it was not.
So — Real Taste of India, and the carts that share the block with it — have nice benches nearby. I sat next to a really friendly guy who told me all the dishes he recommended from the cart he’d patronized.
I told him all about the samosas I had, and how they’d rolled the dough right in front of my eyes. Talk about fresh! Also let him try both my chutneys (the flavorful thick sauces that come with most Indian food). Had a lovely time with my new and very temporary friend, and had a lovely time with my 2 for $ 3 filling and fresh samosas. Ahhh… a nice end to my Portland visit!

The lunch special was pretty good, with some really good chicken tika masala and just about the best nan ever.
They have a daily lunch special with veggie and meat options (usually chicken) for $ 6 at the time I write this. It comes with three dishes and nan. I got the meat today, which included chicken tika masala, chicken vindaloo, and a chickpea curry (sorry, don’t know the name). The tika masala and chickpea curry were excellent and flavorful, though not hot and spicy by any stretch. The one disappointment was what I assume was meant to be vindaloo, which was a whole drumstick over rice, but both the chicken and rice were intensely dry to the point of being almost inedible and impossible to swallow without some of the curry added. This made me consider 3 stars… but the nan… the nan was soooooo good! Some of the best, stretchiest, toastiest, tastiest nan I’ve ever had.
Probably 3.5 stars would have been the more appropriate rating, but I felt 3 would have been a bit on the «mean» side considering how good the curries and nan were.

The cart was closed, but the owner made me a burrito anyway. I had the lamb one. He also gave us some extra food to take home for free. He was very nice and the food was excellent. I will definitely be back.

I love Indian food, especially the spicy dishes.
An older woman, perhaps of Indian descent, operated this cart solo. Not much of an inviting demeanor from her on this visit. Could be language barrier, could be strong work ethic, could be other real-​life matters.
Just about every day, this cart will have a lunch special from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., a five-​course meal that’s about $ 6. Usually rice, naan, and three entrees. There are separate meat and vegetarian lunch specials.
I got the Chicken Vindaloo ($ 6). Requested it extra spicy, even though it would already start out with a kick. It’s a garlic-​based sauce, with a lovely dark orange-​red color. Generous chunks of chicken and potato here. A bed of basmati rice on the bottom, then the chicken vindaloo over the top. Simple, but a heaping portion!
The sauce just blew my mind. For me, it was the ideal balance of flavor and spicy heat. That garlic comes through, but doesn’t get too overpowering. The potatoes were cooked perfectly, very soft. Chicken was juicy. The rice was perfect, ’nuff said.
Overall, this was a great vindaloo that I would eat over and over again. There’s even a lamb vindaloo option that sounds equally awesome.
The menu is huge. Easily over 50 options on the darned thing. But maybe I will opt for one of the lunch specials next time so I can try several more dishes and their naan. Pretty darn close to five stars in the meantime!

This cart offers a pretty good lunch deal in either ‘meat’ or ‘vegetarian’ style. Each of them comes with 5 items for $ 6 and the food is plentiful. The naan that you get here is BIG and you’ll have plenty of bread for the entire meal. They also have a special ‘tofu’ menu (though I haven’t sampled any of it).
Today I got the ‘Chicken Vindaloo’ (requested spicy) and naan. The total meal cost me $ 7. I’m not sure why naan isn’t included in the meal price but it isn’t (unless you do the lunch special) so I paid the extra $ 1 for the big ol’ piece of bread. The vindaloo came with potatoes and chicken and had a good flavor to it. The ‘spicy’ was more of a medium and it would have been better if they upped it a notch or two but overall it balanced well. Finishing the meal can be difficult (it’s that large).
While I did enjoy the experience and found the food yummy and plentiful I wouldn’t go above 3 stars because I haven’t found anything extraordinary that really stands out to me above any of the other Indian style carts. It’s the type of cart I will stop at again and grab food if I’m in the area and feeling like Indian but it’s not the type of place that I would make a special extra long walk to get their food.

Two weeks ago, I was heading for an afternoon meeting when I realized I had only ingested two sticks of gum and a latte. I had a few extra minutes and was having a jones for comfort food. I hit Food Cart Row and checked out Real Taste of India.
Being fairly handy in my own kitchen, I have an awesome recipe for Vindaloo that I like to measure against other commercial kitchens. I ordered their vindaloo and paid my $ 6 plus tip, and five minutes later was handed a bag that weighed about 5 pounds containing comfort food.
The vindaloo was incredible. And I didn’t get gringo’d. I actually got spicy when I asked for spicy. I ate that meal for 30 hours — snacks, breakfast, lunch again for $ 6. And it came in a bio-​friendly container. Go Portland.
This is a great review so far if you consider I wolfed down every bit of that meal. But from a purely foodie perspective…
The rice was plump and not dry. It retained the right amount of moisture without being one bit mushy. And there was about a pound of it.
The meat was tender throughout and well cut, although the cubes were huge.
The sauce, well… shoot…the sauce… the coriander and turmeric were almost perfectly balanced. The cinnamon was spot on. I would have done just a little less on the turmeric. But eh.
Next time I have $ 6 burning a hole in my pocket when I’m heading downtown, I’m going to go there hungry, and head straight to Real Taste of India.

This was one of my first trips to a cart village west of the Willamette. I set out for Tabor (having heard tons of positive hype, but never having been), which was closed. I took a chance and went here BLIND (I resisted consulting Unilocal on the phone). Here are my findings:
Get the special.
+ It’s 6 bucks. (you CANNOT cook this at home for cheaper than this)
+ You get multiple things.
+ There are meat and vegetarian versions of it.
+ Includes rice and naan (which are just as good as the Indian restaurants that charge you a couple bucks EACH for these two things that should come with the meal)
+ Food comes out FAST.
— Food is NOT spicy, at ALL (this could be a plus if you love Indian food but are a capsaicin midget). But, given the previous point, I understand why this is the case.
— The quality of the food (again, barring rice/​naan) is not as good as you’d expect at a good full blown Indian restaurant (it IS as good or better than an average Indian joint)
— CASH ONLY. Being a cart is no excuse; I’ve seen it done before (e.g. Brunchbox)
+/​-​you smell like curry

FTR on this? Really? Is everyone just confused about the difference between the New taste of India and the Real Taste of India? Yes, I agree, it can be confusing. Well, this NEW review is about the REAL Taste of India, not the NEW Taste of India, and not just the Taste of India… got it?
I have been to this joint a few times now, and I have really been on the fence on how to review it. The menu must come from «The Standardized Indian Cart Menu Association» or something, because it has pretty much all the same dishes that new Taste of India has, and that the original Taste of India had when it rocked the spot up on SW9th and Alder. This includes the usual $ 5 veggie/​meat specials that have 5 options plus naan, and then the standard list of chicken curries, lamb curries, and tofu/​vegetarian curries.
Everything runs in the $ 5-​$ 7 range (more for lamb) and the portions are over-​filling. 2 people could get comfortably full off of one meal. As I write this, I am listing sideways at least 6 degrees or so from the weight in my stomach after having eaten a whole Chicken Vindaloo in one fell swoop.
So here’s how I rate these Indian carts. Since they are all pretty much the same, I have a litmus test — Chicken Vindaloo. Chicken Vindaloo is a hard dish to do correctly. Most places screw the pooch when it comes to this dish, so if a cart can really do that vindaloo that they do so well, then they get many stars in my book.
This is one of those carts. It is by no means the best, and I mean that in a very serious way. I really miss the 9^th and Alder Taste of India… really bad. Bigger portions, cheaper prices, better Vindaloo. But since I have no way of going back in time to order lunch for the now, I will stick with the Real Taste of India.
This is some good Vindaloo folks. But don’t take my word for it, try yourself. It is quick, cheap, and generous, so there’s really not that much of a gamble in it for you.
I can’t vouch for the $ 5 special, since I never get that one. I have had the garlic naan and I was not super impressed. I do see a ton of peole ordering the special, but that really tells me nothing, as I see tons of people enjoying the slow death of McDonald’s on a daily basis.
So add this to your ever-​growing «carts I gotta try» list.