We Try "One of India's Most Popular Chain Restaurants"

Verdict: it’s Indian food done right. It’s swanky. It will fill you up. I’m confused.

I wanted to catch up with my friend who doesn’t like fish, spicy stuff, or cheese. Said we should go get food. That’s quite a few restrictions.

What is one to do?

Well, I started like I always do: an extensive Yelp search on the city we’ve chosen to meet in. In this case, Tustin. 

I wasn’t really finding anything that caught my eye, so I took to OC Weekly, which usually has some good finds compiled. Eh. 

It wasn’t until I saw this headline in the Register that I was finally sold:

“One of India’s most popular chain restaurants gets a second OC location.” 

They were talking about The Yellow Chilli, if you didn’t figure that out already.

But okay - I didn’t know there was even a first location (which is in Buena Park) but if it’s good enough to have a second location, I assume they’re doing something right. 

I was also intrigued at a place that’s earned the title of “India’s most popular chain restaurant.”

They also said Chef Sanjeev Kapoor was India’s Wolfgang Puck so...

As far as my friend not liking spicy food...well, we’ll just ask for mild spice levels, I thought.

This place was hard to find, as far as Google maps was concerned. And a sign on the directory that said “coming soon” was concerned as well. But it’s really just right next to the movie theater, although we had to do some wandering around first.

That got us nice and hungry for our eating adventure.

When you walk in, you’re greeted with vibrant yellow couch seating across from cute, cushy dark blue chairs. The contrasting colors go nicely together. You also get a pristine bar stocked with any alcohol you could ask for, and a few tables with semi-circle couches for seating instead of chairs. That was my favorite touch.

But, it is located in the District at Tustin Legacy. For me, this place is very Irvine. So planned, to a T. So modern, so meticulous. The decorations were beautiful, including hanging task lighting and an expansive painting against the back wall. Stil, they’re so planned out. When I think Indian food, I think comforting, eclectic, and sometimes messy. This place is gorgeous, but automatically had me thinking, where am I?

Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s just this: when I think of “chain restaurant” I think of Islands or BJs or even Del Taco. I wasn’t expecting this level of sophistication. I thought maybe The Yellow Chilli was going to be Indian food’s answer to plain old Chili’s (I want my baby back ribs.) But no. You can order cocktails and wine and the dishes are all about fifteen to twenty dollars. Is this how they do things in India? Or is this just a spin on a classic?

This led me to research the restaurant’s counterparts online. Most of The Yellow Chilli’s in India are in malls or food courts. It’s still Master Chef Sanjeev Kapoor, but the set-up seems to be much less fancy. I’m thinking this might have to do with the Irviney-ness of the area.

Had I not known about it being a chain restaurant, I would not be confused. As it is, I just want to know the food was good. It was.

The menu was impressive. It was literally a book.

Which might make you go “ah! Too many choices!” Which is probably true when it comes to Cheesecake Factory, but here, it was just right. The pages are thick, and there are just enough choices to give you a good amount of options, but not overwhelm you.

I made a basic choice and went with the butter chicken. My friend (not pictured, I promise I don’t go to Indian restaurants, order heapings of food, then try to pretend it was a meal for two) got the tiki masala. As promised, she asked for it to be mild.

When I was delivered my butter chicken, out loud I said “yesss!” because it was big. Who doesn’t want a big heaping of butter chicken?

Not my friend, it turns out. Her masala was too spicy for her, even when it was ordered mild. Which was a real bummer. But also. I got to take it home after she suffered through half of it. So, a sad win for me.

The butter chicken was delectable. We ordered garlic naan and rice (which is extra charge, by the way, so watch out) and honestly I wouldn’t even have needed it, my butter chicken was so creamy, with the spice just right. 

I also got myself a cocktail, and for the life of me I can't remember the name of it. So take 50 points from Slytherin (my house, thank you very much.) It was passion fruit flavored, and the perfect amount of refreshing for a super hot day.

So. If you’re faint of heart when it comes to spice, this might not be the place for you. But if you want to get a little classy while still going face deep into a bowl of butter chicken, you can do that, too.