h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

If I remembered the name correctly, the subject of this message is a new, very good Indian restaurant in Lincoln, at 17th and Q. Being a vegetarian, my menu choices were limited to about 10 dishes plus soups and appetizers. However, the Pakoras are fantastic (but ask that they be made smaller so they cook 100% through) and the Navrattan Curry is a new favorite. The naan with cheese, onions and cilantro is just as good as at The Oven--fantastic. I hadn't the room to try the kulfi.

The Oven has a nicer atmosphere, but the food at Shahi is every bit as good, with enough of a difference in spice palette to give you two choices in downtown Lincoln that are equally good.

Caveats--they are a bit skimpy on rice, and charge a healthy amount for extra. Dinner veggie entrees are $10, which includes a somewhat oddly spiced (but still good) Mulligatawny and the aforementioned dusting of Basmati. Their take-out is just as good; I don't know if they serve lunch, or if they do, whether it's a real lunch or Bombay in a bucket.

Do NOT sit near the door outside the three days each of fall and spring, as Nebraska weather is at least as severe as originally mentioned. The leaves are, as I write this, a beautiful mix of green, gold, red and heavy sleet.

They are currently (2002.10.25) overworking a too-small wait staff, but that's to be expected for a new place.

I went there myself, last night. It's another northern Indian restaurant (like all of them in Lincoln), but it's very tasty. I, too, am vegetarian, and I didn't have any problem finding choices on the menu. (That's a really nice feature of Indian cuisine.) The name of the place is Sher-e-Punjab, which the menu assures me is Persian for "lion of Punjab". Shahi, apparently, means "royal".

Mrs. Niten and I shared veggie samosas, navrattan curry, and bread. The curry was particuarly good -- it hadn't been cooked into homogeneous mush, and managed to be nicely spicy but still allowed the flavors of the vegetables to be the focus of the dish.

Unfortunately, it's not any less expensive than any of the other Indian places in town, despite being far less atmospheric than, say, The Oven.

The wait staff was friendly and helpful. On the whole, I don't have any problem recommending the place.

Having experienced Udipi, an all-vegetarian Southern Indian restaurant (and, I'm told, part of a chain), in Kansas City, I've become somewhat jaded about Indian food in Lincoln. Udipi is good, really good. The food is reasonably priced, ALL-VEGETARIAN, and good. Did I mention it's good? It's the place I have to eat in KC. Lincoln, now rife with northern Indian places, could really use something like Udipi for contrast.