After driving circles in the dark and almost wrecking twice, my roommates and I finally found the Indian restaurant we had been sent out to discover: Sizzler Cuisine of India. In the short three months that I have been a Jackson resident, I have heard about this restaurant at least once a week, so it was time for me to check it out.
I had never experienced Indian cuisine before, and frankly, I enjoy my comfort zone when it comes to food. I was starting to feel out of the loop, though, so I gathered many different opinions and set off to this new territory with precise instructions on food, drinks and even booths.
The restaurant is small and dark from the outside, so trying to find it at night was not a good decision. But if you don’t wreck like I almost did and find a hidden building on Old Hickory Boulevard with a red sign that reads “Sizzler”, you’ve reached your destination. Once inside, the restaurant is nothing like its outward appearances. It is painted with an overwhelming amount of bright colors, but strangely, it works.
Besides the extremely enthusiastic waiter, the first sight as we walked into the restaurant was an equally enthusiastic and upbeat Indian music video. With bright colors, strobe lights, and belly dancers flying all over the screen, my roommates and I sat in a hypnotic trance. I wish I could say we bonded as roommates, but I’m pretty sure we only said a few words to each other, then went back to staring at the monitor hanging on the wall.
Once our waiter pulled us back into reality, we ordered two butter chickens, one chicken tikka masala “as mild as it comes,” and three baskets of naan bread.
There was a brief moment when our waiter brought out two pots of deep red and mustard yellow colored soup-looking substances where I seriously reconsidered my decision to partake in this meal, but we had reached the point of no return. Finally, I took a leap of faith and shoved a whole piece of chicken into my mouth only to realize my boldness had come at a cost after the chicken scorched the inside of my mouth (I’m still recovering).
After blowing on it for five minutes, I decided to reattempt the butter chicken. Surprisingly, once I could look past the bright yellow color, it was quite satisfying. The chicken was tender, the sauce was smooth and creamy, and the naan bread was among the most delicious things I’ve eaten this year.
I have an extremely low tolerance for spicy foods, so the one downfall for my first Indian cuisine experience is that I ended up eating a few bites before my mouth was screaming for water, and after four glasses, I finally gave up. If you’re one of those “smother the hot sauce on every meal” people, though, then Sizzler is definitely your go-to place.
Here’s some tips for others like me who want to broaden their horizons and try out Sizzler:
1) If spicy food is not your thing, you may just want to stick with the naan bread, but that’s okay because…
2) naan bread is heaven in a basket, so order as much as you can afford.
3) Consider sharing your meal with a significant other or a stranger (whichever you’re more comfortable with) because the portion sizes are large.
