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McDesi at Kasi

New Indian spot in Hillcrest serves curry fast food style

Naked Pizza tried to simplify ‘za with iPhone apps and pictographic menus. While the PB franchise is still in operation, the Hillcrest branch didn’t last very long in the tough-to-fill spot on Fifth Avenue. Now, Kasi is trying the same trick with Indian food and they’ve picked the former Naked Pizza spot to expand their North County business into Uptown.

The simplistic menu offers mainstay Indian curries, rice, salad, naan, and tandoori chicken. That’s it. It’s a streamlined, nearly fast food approach to Indian cuisine that’s not without its advantages.

For starters, the menu’s been restricted to the most popular dishes from globalized Indian cooking. There’s chicken tikka masala, saag paneer, and aloo gobi for days. Maybe that’s not the most “authentic” selection, but it’s definitely what people like the best. And the kitchen’s preparations of those dishes is spot on. McDesi at it’s finest.

I tried the chicken tikka masala and some curried chickpeas, $8 for a combo plate with basmati rice, both of which were excellent in their way. Sort of spicy and very rich, the curries made a filling meal. Served lighting fast, it was an awesome alternative to a burrito. When you boil it down, westernized Indian cuisine bears the same relationship to its native food as burritos do to Mexican culture. It’s syncretic fusion cooking at its best (and worst) but there’s a certain appeal to that.

While I wouldn’t call it a destination restaurant, for a quick bite to eat there’s a lot of advantage to choosing curried vegetables over a California burrito or In ‘n’ Out every now and again.

3803 5th Avenue
619-295-8555
Su-Th 11-9
Fri-Sat 11-10

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/jan/21/38707/

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Naked Pizza tried to simplify ‘za with iPhone apps and pictographic menus. While the PB franchise is still in operation, the Hillcrest branch didn’t last very long in the tough-to-fill spot on Fifth Avenue. Now, Kasi is trying the same trick with Indian food and they’ve picked the former Naked Pizza spot to expand their North County business into Uptown.

The simplistic menu offers mainstay Indian curries, rice, salad, naan, and tandoori chicken. That’s it. It’s a streamlined, nearly fast food approach to Indian cuisine that’s not without its advantages.

For starters, the menu’s been restricted to the most popular dishes from globalized Indian cooking. There’s chicken tikka masala, saag paneer, and aloo gobi for days. Maybe that’s not the most “authentic” selection, but it’s definitely what people like the best. And the kitchen’s preparations of those dishes is spot on. McDesi at it’s finest.

I tried the chicken tikka masala and some curried chickpeas, $8 for a combo plate with basmati rice, both of which were excellent in their way. Sort of spicy and very rich, the curries made a filling meal. Served lighting fast, it was an awesome alternative to a burrito. When you boil it down, westernized Indian cuisine bears the same relationship to its native food as burritos do to Mexican culture. It’s syncretic fusion cooking at its best (and worst) but there’s a certain appeal to that.

While I wouldn’t call it a destination restaurant, for a quick bite to eat there’s a lot of advantage to choosing curried vegetables over a California burrito or In ‘n’ Out every now and again.

3803 5th Avenue
619-295-8555
Su-Th 11-9
Fri-Sat 11-10

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/jan/21/38707/

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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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