Surprisingly unmentioned in guide books and expat magazines in Saigon, Akbar Ali has been around for a good number of years and serves a smashing chicken curry.
Akbar Ali is located at 240 Bui Vien, in the Pham Ngu Lao (backpacker) area of Ho Chi Minh City.
I have to say, Akbar Ali is our most frequented Indian restaurant in this city. Not too expensive, not too tourist-ized – and by that I mean, the food tastes authentic. There’s enough spice, and it’s not all hot, which wins a point, especially from me.
The chicken do pyaza, I must say, is my favorite dish at Akbar Ali. Chicken do pyaza is a spicy chicken curry made in yogurt, with lightly sauteed onions for texture. Every single time I’ve had this dish at Ali’s, I’m left smacking my lips and licking my fingers clean in my mouth.
The tandoori roti here is cheaper than most Indo-Pakistani restaurants in Saigon, at 14,000 dong per roti. Roti is a healthier alternative to naan, which is intensely popular among most non-Indians/Pakistanis that I know. Even at 14,000 dongs, I think breads are way more expensive than they should be, especially at $ restaurants such as Akbar Ali.
I wouldn’t really advise you to venture into the kebab section of the menu here. Despite Ali’s experience (he’s been in the restaurant business for more than 20 years), he hasn’t quite mastered the art of a melt-in-the-mouth kebab. We tried the chicken tikka here and were sorely disappointed. The meat inside was as white as the day it died (sic). With the marinade barely having kissed the outer layers, there was really no flavor to talk about.
On a vegetarian note, there are plenty of options here, and some really delicious ones too. A personal favorite is navratan korma, a healthy preparation full of colorful vegetables (always good to get a dose of vitamins) and enough spice to sate my palate. The vegetables are never too mush, which would really spoil the fun.
Another vegetarian dish, which is actually quite a difficult one to make, is Kashmiri dum aloo – a mildly spiced dish of baby potatoes cooked in a yogurt based curry. Ali adds his own twist to the dum aloo, stuffing the potatoes with crushed dry fruits and spices – not bad at all, but not really what I was looking for.
The ambience works for us because P and Ali chatter on in Bengali about life in Vietnam, but it’s not chic at all. Good value for the money though, and good food for the most part. And they deliver!
3.5 stars I’d say. (the food deserves a four, but ambiance matters too)
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