Naan Center - Indian restaurant with Dal Bhat

Today is the last day of August, and it’s still hot. I felt like eating curry again and went to Nan Center for the first time. As the name implies, this restaurant features various kinds of naan bread. In addition, they provide a free refill of plain naan bread and rice during the lunch time.

As I like naan bread, I intended to have a lunch set with naan bread. But I changed my mind when I saw the menu in the restaurant. I became interested in a set called Dal Bhat. It seemed to be a special menu item as it requires reservation, and only six portions are provided in a day. I asked a staff member if it was impossible to order it on the spot. Luckily, it was ok, and she let me choose one option from several kinds of vegetarian curry (some of them might be vegan) as I said I’m a vegetarian. It was very kind of them.

Whenever I come to an Indian restaurant, I can’t help but choose hot chai for drink. It was served first with salad, but I could have chai later If I had requested. The salad had orange-colored dressing. It was the same as in other Indian restaurants, but the volume seemed to be a little larger.

I was very excited when the main dishes of the set were served. As the curry option, I chose Kwati or curry with seven kinds of beans. In addition, there were Fry, Dal, Achar, Papad,

and a large portion of Basmati rice.

In this restaurant, you can choose the level of hotness of the curry, and I chose medium from six levels. But separate spice was also served to add to curry in case it wasn’t hot enough.

I was curious about it and add some to Kwati before tasting it. It was hot, and I ate it with rice, sweating. My tongue was tingling, however, I was very glad to have a substantial meal. Seven kinds of beans surely gave me much protein. The other curry Dal also contained many beans. It was as mild as similar curry in other Indian restaurants, but I noticed the distinctive flavor of ginger that stimulated appetite.

I’m not sure, but Fry seemed to be stir-fry mizuna or potherb mustard. It was simply seasoned with salt and some kind of spice that was relatively mild. On the contrary, Achar, the red pickles, had a strong flavor of chilli pepper. Papad, the little cracker, was thin and crispy. Maybe it goes well with beer.

According to some websites, Dal Bhat is a traditional Nepali meal. I liked it very much. The staff member was kind and asked me if the curry was too hot as I poured additional water into the glass from a pitcher on the table. I needed to drink much water, but the curry was so good that I’d like to try some other kinds as well, with the same hotness. I have also come to like Basmati rice. To my mind, rice goes better with bean curry than naan bread.

Naan Center
Address: 2-25-25, Mukojuku-cho, Naka-ku, Hamamatsu-shi, Shizuoka
Tel: 053-462-2277
Open hours: 11:00 – 15:00 (L.O. 14:30)
                     17:00 – 22:00 (L.O. 21:30)
Closed: Thursdays
Access: Take Bus #6 from the bus terminal and get off at Mukojuku-cho (4-minute ride)