Located just outside Boston in Somerville, Massachusetts, Dosa-n-Curry (formerly known as Dosa Temple) offers the area authentic Indian cuisine as well as some fusion dishes. As vegans we decided to try a meal at this vegetarian, vegan-friendly restaurant while we were in the Boston area with my mother, who is vegetarian, and Mindy’s Mom, who eats meat. We all left the establishment with full tummies and a smile on our faces.
Dosa-n-Curry dining area
Atmosphere
The dining hall was split in two both sides were rather dark with little natural light. We were guided towards a one of the diner-style booths and handed large menus with lots to choose from. The decor included framed pictures of temples and holy places in India and we found the atmosphere to be casual and relaxed.
Tomato coconut soup
Menu
The menu was so extensive that it was hard to choose what to order. Selections included appetizers of vegetable pakoras and medhu vada (deep fried crispy spiced lentil donuts), soups such as hot and sour vegetable soup and mysore tomato rasam (spicy tomato and tamarind), traditional vegetable dishes, a large selection of breads, noodle dishes and a variety of drinks and desserts. One of the most impressive aspects to the menu was the dosa section featuring a wide variety of dosais from the sada dosai to the mysore masala dosai to the onion rava dosai. This piqued our interest so much so that everyone at the table ordered a different kind of dosai.
Spring dosai served with sambar and chutney
I ordered the podi masala dosai, which had a nice flavorful kick to it since the potato filling was coated with a healthy amount of spicy chili powder. Mindy and her mother decided to share the spring dosai stuffed with cabbage, carrot and potato. The paper dosai, which is what my mother ordered, looked the impressive just because of the sheer size of it!
Inside view of the paper dosai
It was hard to find room for the impressive paper dosai
Vegan
Although this is a vegetarian restaurant, there are many vegan options on the menu which were all clearly marked for easy selection. Before arriving at the restaurant, I reviewed their online menu and noticed a few mistakenly-marked vegan items. For example, the roti was listed as vegan but the description included butter, so I recommend double-checking with the waiter or waitress before ordering. I saw no discrepancies on the physical menu once at the restaurant. We also had no difficulty regarding veganism at the restaurant.
Podi masala dosai with various sauces – I loved them all!
Service and Prices
We found the wait staff to be prompt and very knowledgeable about the menu. What stood out to us was the friendliness of each waiter/waitress who served us. They were very personable and seemed to enjoy talking to us about their country of origin (we spoke with a waitress who had just arrived from Punjab, India and a waiter who was from Lhasa, Tibet). The wait staff at Dosa-n-Curry definitely exceeded expectations and made dining at their restaurant a true experience.
The prices were reasonable and comparable to other restaurant choices in the area.
The next time we find ourselves planning a trip to the Boston area, we will be sure to include at least one meal at Dosa-n-Curry, preferably on a Tuesday night, which is dosa night, when you can try as many dosas as you’d like for just $16.