Chutney, a new Reno Indian restaurant

Chutney is an Indian restaurant in the Costco Shopping Center on Plumb Lane. Janet has written before on the board she was following the restaurant's progress during construction and wondered when it was going to open.

It opened last Saturday. There's four Indian restaurants now in Reno and I suspect Chutney will be Janet's favorite. It's probably the most elegant of the four restaurants, but its strong point will be the variety of cuisine. It's both northern and southern Indian cuisine. Plus, the owner is trying a fusion of Indian and Chinese food. When I went in for the lunch buffet today, for instance, they had a chicken chili dish that was strips of white meat chicken and green chili peppers cooked with soy sauce. Not something you normally see in Indian restaurants.

They offer buffets for both lunch and dinner. At dinner, for extra cost, you can order dosa, which is kind of like an Indian burrito, and a type of food from the Bombay area called chaat. Hard core Chowhounds know about Vik's Chaat Corner in Berkeley.

I seemed to impress the female owner with my knowledge of dosas and chaat. I asked her if they might offer Gujarti food. She put her hand on her chest in surprise and her eyes grew big. "I'm from Gujarat!" she said. For a gringo, I was looking pretty knowledgeable about Indian food. Then I explained I was friends with a couple and that the male half was from Gujarat. That would be Janet's DH. Gujarti food is rare in the United States and it would be interesting if they offer dishes regularly.

There was much to like about the buffet at Chutney. It has the biggest variety of food of any of the local buffets. It was well cooked, also.

For instance, the mushroom and peas were great. The peas were not mushy from being overcooked, but had jus the right amount of firmness. And great flavor. The tandoori chicken tasted great too, although it was typical Indian buffet chicken in that there wasn't a lot of meat on the bones. The pakora and the butter chicken were good, too.

Chutney also had shrimp curry. My fellow Reno-area Chowhounds know what a wussy I am when it comes to shrimp. These shrimp had the heads removed but still had the shell. I don't like them that way. But otherwise the shrimp seemed fresh and well cooked.

For dessert they had several items, including a crushed lentils mixed with what I think was brown sugar and other ingredients. It was nice.

The prices are higher than the other buffets. It was about $11 for the lunch buffet and $13 for dinner.

I sense our next Reno area Chowhound chow down will be at Chutney. I want to go back for dinner some time. It will be nice to be able to get chaat without having to go to Vik's in Berkeley.

Chutney Indian Cuisine
1290 E. Plumb Lane
Reno, NV
829-4477
http://www.chutneyindiancuisine.com

It's in the northern block of buildings in the mall. It faces U.S. 395