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Worcester dining veterans may remember Sweetheart,
the superb Indian restaurant once located on
Shrewsbury Street where one can now find the
Zipango American Sushi Bar. Sweetheart won "best
of Worcester" awards consistently, and was my
favorite place to go for Indian. When they closed
some time ago, my friends and I were despondent -
but rumors quickly spread that the proprietors
would be opening a new restaurant on Shrewsbury
Street sometime soon.
As it turned out, the original owner of Sweetheart was retiring; much
to our good fortune, other members of his family
have taken up the reins and opened Surya - a
delightful reincarnation of the great restaurant
that Sweetheart was.
On the evening of
4/3/2002, several of my friends and I found
ourselves at their door. Since we frequent the
establishment often with lots of our crew, we were
warmly greeted by the young owners.
Everything about the interior of the restaurant is
geared towards Indian culture, and has a fun and
comfy feel to it - from the ostentatious flashing
"Supya" light-brite sign to the moving waterfall
picture.
Though the menu doesn't change
often, and specials are not to be found here,
there's a terrific number of items to choose from.
This time, being in the mood for vegetarian fare,
I ordered the Shahi Paneer with hot spices. One
thing that I've always liked about the food here
is that the spiciness is always consistent - and
if you ask for it hot, you actually get it hot
(which is no mean feat where I'm concerned, as I
enjoy very spicy foods).
Nan is prepared
quickly and arrives fresh and piping hot at the
table as soon as it's ready. The coconut soup is
also a nice treat, being a pleasant mix of sweet
and savory without being too much of either; and
the rose milkshake is a unique experience that
must be sampled to be believed. Everything in
this meal was really quite tasty and filling, and
was exactly what I expected.
Surya has
performed consistently well in all categories on a
regular basis, earning it a "Great" status - solid
scores of 8 across the board. It's the only place
in the area I think of when I want to get myself
some curried goodness.
UPDATE: Surya offers a 15% discount on dinner
with student ID or with an ad from Pulse magazine,
a free Worcester college rag. This earns Surya an
additional point in the "Portions" category!
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