This past weekend, My friends and I stepped out of our comfort zones and tried Gopuram Taste of India. One of my favorite things to do is to go to new places and try foods I haven’t tried before. I was excited when I moved to OKC from home because there were so many restaurants I had never been to before. I have had Indian food before; it’s actually one of my favorite types of food. However, a couple of people in my group had not. So, I really wanted to see how they liked this new taste.
Gopuram is located at about Meridian and 23rd in the Windsor Hills Shopping Center, 4559 Northwest 23rd Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73127 .Don’t forget there is some construction along 23rd so if you are coming from campus, take Meridian to 23rd.
We were immediately greeted by a wonderfully fragrant smell as we entered the establishment. After taking a few seconds to let the smell waft in and around our noses, we remarked at the décor, the first thing that caught my eye was a wonderfully crafted statue of the Indian god Ganesha. The carpet was also a deep shade of red, which immediately made us feel like celebrities walking down the red carpet, listening to the cacophony of camera flashes and voices cooing at us. This did not actually happen; it was all in our heads or maybe just in mine. After standing there for a few seconds, we were greeted by our waiter, and he ushered us to a table.
To our surprise, this was actually a buffet and not an order and dine kind of establishment. This seemed perfect, what better way to try some new food than at a buffet? Although, one drawback of a buffet is that they prefer quantity over quality. I did notice that this food was good, but not the best Indian food I’ve ever tried. It was a buffet though, so that’s to be expected. Nevertheless, it was still very good and was a great starting point for anyone looking to try Indian food for the first time, especially for people who are vegetarians, as almost half of the food that was available was vegetarian.
It is also a very affordable option. It was 12.95 for an all you can eat buffet.
It was good too; some places have a vegetarian option to appeal to people who can’t or won’t eat meat, but you could tell that they put a lot of effort into their food. Some things I especially enjoyed were the spinach pakoras, which was like a fried ball of spinach. The basmati rice was fantastic. It was light and aromatic, almost like eating air. I couldn’t remember all the names of the sauces, but I didn’t have one I did not like. The best part, the crown jewel, was the bread. So so beautiful, both in taste and in texture. When dessert came, we had our fair share of rice pudding, which was the highlight of the night.
Overall, this restaurant was very good, I thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent here and would definitely recommend any wanting to try Indian food to please get their start here.
If I were to give this restaurant a score from 1-10, I would give this place a hard 7 ½.
[author image=”http://echo.snu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/IMG_6205.jpg” ]Danny Smith, Staff Contributor
Danny was born and raised in Shreveport, Louisiana and has a major in Elementary Education and a minor in Multi-Cultural Studies. He enjoys sleeping, trying new foods, listening to his records, and most importantly, taking naps. He hopes to one day teach elementary school children over seas.[/author]