ShangriLa, The Curries of Suwon part 6

The newest addition to the Curries of Suwon series is ShangriLa, located on the main road leading to Ajou university. If you read my review of Kasam then you know that I think it’s quite good. It seems that they are the owners/operators of ShangriLa…so good news!

Basically, ShangriLa is like a nicer version of Kasam. Kasam tends to be very utilitarian and the decor isn’t much to write home about. The food, though, is excellent. I asked if the recipes were the same as Kasam and they told me “it’s a different chef,” but at least what I ordered (Butter Chicken Curry) tasted very similar to the same dish from Kasam, maybe just a bit less spicy, and the naan was identical…so yeah, I think the recipes are probably the same. The menu is a good bit smaller than Kasam’s and resembles a sort of “greatest hits” version. You won’t find some of the less popular curries. Instead, they’re offering 5 vegetarian, 5 chicken, and 5 lamb curries. The prices are the same as Kasam and you can get a curry and a naan for about 11-13,000won.

While Kasam is super delicious, it’s not exactly the kind of place you’d want to go on a date or anything. In this way, ShangriLa is a big improvement. The restaurant’s interior is much nicer than Kasam’s. There are booths! It just seems like a nicer restaurant in general and sort of meets the standard of a normal mid-priced restaurant in Korea.

Anyway, I am a diehard Kasam fan, but thought ShangriLa was quite good as well. I think it’s definitely worth a visit and encourage you to support awesome Indian/Nepalese cuisine in Suwon. I also like it because they gave us free stuff.

Directions:

On the main road leading to Ajou University, look across the street from the KFC. It’s above the Tom n Tom’s coffee and the GS 25 on the 3rd floor.

Ayesha, The Curries of Suwon Part 3

Here is my third installment in “The Curries of Suwon” series, in which I am attempting to give every Indian/Nepalese/Pakistani restaurant in Suwon a fair shake. In part 1, I reviewed Taj A Taste of India in Yeongtong. It was nice, but a bit over-priced for the common man. In part 2, I went to Kasam at Suwon station. I asserted my belief that it was the best curry in town and brashly implied that all the people who like the big curry joint wouldn’t know a good curry if it smacked them in the mouth. Now we’ve come to Ayesha.

Ayesha is one of the under-appreciated curry options in Suwon and I think it’s poor location could play a part. Most people I know didn’t even know it existed. I’ve only been a few times and it’s always been good. Even 10 Magazine gave it a positive review a while back. I went last week with a couple of friends and we were the only people there. The decor is pretty minimal and it can only seat about 12-14 people, but the food is amazing (probably because it can only seat 12-14 people). One of the Kasam diehards said that he believes it to be better than Kasam, but I just think it’s number 2. The menu is pretty standard and has an equal number of vegetarian and meaty options. I got the Chicken Makhani and asked them to make it a bit more spicy for me and boy did they. My friend got the mutton curry and said it was great. The food is really nice and the flavors are more complex than most of the other places in town, but the downside is that it’s a bit greasy and the portions are a bit smaller than the other places as well. One of the best things I liked the most is that they avoid the pitfall of making their curries sweet. You can have sugar in a curry, but it shouldn’t taste like candy. The naan that you get is massive and has a nice char that really sets it apart from some of the other naans I’ve had. We split a basmati rice, which was really cheap, but you really don’t have a lot of curry left over to mix it with. The price was definitely right though. You could have a curry and a naan for 10,000won which is not bad at all.

As other places will mention, you can also buy some dry goods from their little mini mart that takes up a side of the restaurant. So you can get your basic lentils, ghee, microwave meals, spices, and even lamb. I really intend to go here more often. The more popular places will be open indefinitely, but it’s the little hole in the wall places that need to be frequented in order to preserve uniqueness and variety in the city. Three years ago, the restaurant I now loathe was pretty crummy and no one ever went, but eventually it grew to be “the” curry place. Anyway, you can go to those big places any time you want, but help out the little guy too and be glad you did, because the food is great.

To get there, you can cross the street on the bridge from AK plaza and go right. Take a left at the U+ shop. It’s also the alley behind the bus stop. The 10 magazine article also has directions, so check there if I’m not being clear enough. I’m putting a picture of what the street looks like and the shop front. Ayesha also has a blog that hasn’t been updated since 2009 if you want to see some pictures of the interior. I highly encourage you to try this place and preserve the uniqueness of Suwon’s curry scene.