Raja's Indian Cuisine

• Cuisine(s): Indian
  Hours: Sun 11:30am-4:30pm, Mon-Sat 11:30am-6pm
  Price: $$
• Payment Types: cash
  Attire: Casual
  Features: Takeout
• Serving: Lunch
  Reservations: Accepted
  Parking: Meters

Description

Décor is unassuming at this downtown lunchroom -- it's basically a hole-in-the-wall, albeit a clean and cheerful one -- and most of the roughly dozen dishes served daily are steam-tabled, not made to order. Still, since most Indian food is relatively slow-cooked rather than quickly stir-fried like that of most other Asian nations, it survives steam-table simmering quite well. Raja's $4.69 combination platter is among downtown's tastiest lunch options, and there are three South Indian house specialties found neither on the steam table nor in any other Miami-Dade Indian restaurant: dosai, uttapam, and idli. These mouthwatering ground-rice pancakes are served with a choice of several stuffings and/or toppings (the rolled potato-filled masala dosa crêpe and the thicker onion-packed uttapam are particularly good) plus sides of sambar (a soothing vegetable-packed puréed lentil dhal) and spicy/sweet coconut chutney; among the few made-to-order items, they are well worth the ten- to twenty-minute wait.