Cafe Tandoor - Nice Indian Food in Aurora

Wanted to give a quick review of Cafe Tandoor in Aurora, where I had dinner on Saturday.  Cafe Tandoor started on Taylor Road in Cleveland Heights and has been one of the better Indian restaurants for a while.  With the opportunity to eat there using a Groupon (link for Groupon is here) it seemed like a good opportunity to check out how they are doing.

I choose the Aurora location because I was meeting a friend from Akron.  Located at 96 Barrington Town Center, Aurora, OH 44202 (map is here) in the shopping center at the intersection of Routes 43, 82 and 306, this location of Cafe Tandoor has a nice if fairly unremarkable decor in its medium sized space.  The service was very good and friendly.

The menu is the same at all three locations (you can see it here), with a nice variety of dishes.  We ordered the Bombay Fish Curry and the Aloo Gobi along with sides of Saffron Pullao and Nan.  The Bombay Fish Curry was nice, with a slightly sweet flavor, although the fish had a slight fishiness that is unusual for catfish.  The Aloo Gobi which is Cauliflower and Potatoes in a nicely seasoned sauce, was expertly cooked and very flavorful.  We had requested that these come out Medium spicy, unfortunately, we found them rather mild to our palates.  The Saffron Pullao was nicely cooked basmati  rice, but I had trouble detecting any of the promised saffron.  The Nan was good, with a nice contrast between the crispy and chewy sections.   Portions, especially on the main entrees were a bit small for the prices charged, especially since you have to pay extra to order the rice and bread on the side.

Based on what I had heard, I had high expectations for Cafe Tandoor, unfortunately Cafe Tandoor fell a little short.  I had a nice meal with wonderful company.  The flavors were good, but not outstanding or packing the impact I was hoping for.  In my opinion, Cafe Tandoor, while good, is not quite worth the prices they are charging.  Maybe it is the Aurora clientele, but they went very light on the hot spices and I expect Indian food to pack a punch.  If you have an urge for Indian food and Cafe Tandoor is nearby, it is a decent choice, but given some of the other options around Cleveland, it would not be tops on my list.