Eat Athens: Take-out service brings Indian cuisine with 'Love' back to downtown
It's been more than five years since Indian food was available in downtown Athens, which is unthinkable to those who remember the days when Bombay Cafe and Taste of India were in direct competition with one another. Now, less than a half mile from where one of those restaurants once stood, the spices are flowing once again.
Curry Love, a take-out concept from the owners of Munch Hut Deli & Store, began operations on Wednesday, Apr. 10, 2024. Curry Love shares a kitchen with Munch Hut and is run out of the same 175 E. Broad St. location, just a three-minute walk from the former site of Taste of India, which is now a Target store.
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Kat and Felix Ahmed opened Munch Hut in 2021 and quickly became known for offering eclectic and exiting flavors to downtown Athens' late-night dining scene. The couple have been treating locals to their weekly Taste of the World lunches since February, offering a different international cuisine every Friday. Kat told the Banner-Herald that their decision to open Curry Love was inspired by customer response.
"The day we served Indian food, we sold out faster than anything else that we had cooked before," said Kat. "I'm a numbers geek, and the numbers don't lie."
As a native of Trinidad, Kat grew up eating food that was highly influenced by Indian cuisine, but it was Felix's past experience working for an Indian restaurant that most informed the Curry Love menu. Felix recalled catering a three-day Indian wedding where an entire hotel in Atlanta was rented out, and he worked on a crew that cooked food for between 300 and 400 guests.
Curry Love's prices start at $14.99 for main meat and vegetable meals that can be bumped up to $18.99 small pates and $21.99 large plates that include basmati rice, garlic naan and raita dressing. Customers can choose between chicken tikka masala, butter chicken, spicy chicken 65, tandoori chicken, paneer (cheese) tikka masala and chana (chickpea) masala.
When the Banner-Herald visited, we sampled a little bit of everything Curry Love has to offer, including their mango lassi and watermelon mint drinks. The winner was the chicken 65, which struck a just-right balance of flavor and heat, but everything we tried carried the Ahmeds' signature clean homemade taste. The drinks were light and fresh, serving as an ideal compliment to the warm weather.
Curry Love's food is available daily from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., and orders are taken through Munch Hut's app or at munch-hut.com.
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Eat Athens: Curry Love brings Indian food downtown
