Recently, I ate something delicious in downtown Renton, and if you have passed down 3rd Street, you have probably seen it before.

Across the street from Piazza Park and nestled next door to the Australian fish and chips joint, Salty Blue, is the scrumptious Indian food restaurant, Rice-N-Curry.

Upon entering, I got the sense that Rice-N-Curry was a very clean and humble venue. They seemed properly prepared for the take-out market as many restaurants have grown to be through the pandemic. There was not a lot of nonsense or decor inside the restaurant — and that is because they are prepared to let their food speak for itself.

Their menu consists of a lot of the Indian fare you would expect at an Indian restaurant in the U.S. with dishes like butter chicken and crispy fried samosas stuffed with potatoes and spices.

Owner Gurminder Kaur said she learned many of the recipes from her mother. They take a lot of time and care to prepare, with some meat dishes requiring days of marination time.

The menu includes dishes like palak paneer — paneer cheese in a stewed spinach with cumin, garlic, tomatoes and all-spice. Rogan ghosht is a lamb gravy cooked with fried onions, tomatoes and aromatic spices. Chicken seekh kabab is minced chicken seasoned with various spices and formed on skewers before cooking.

I ordered biryani chicken, a marinated chicken and rice dish seasoned with saffron and yogurt that I was familiar with, paneer kabab — fried paneer cheese patties with spices and herbs — as well as bhindi masala, an okra dish cooked with onions and spices that I had never tried before. Of course, I ordered regular and garlic naan flatbread to enjoy on the side.

My meal, served to me by a very friendly and helpful staff member, was delicious, comforting and was more than enough to share.

The biryani chicken had tender pieces of chicken with delicious long-grain saffron rice that had a great mouth-feel. The bhindi masala okra had a smoky spiciness paired with the unique soft texture of the stir-fried okra. The naan was as tasty as ever and the paneer kabab was a nice crispy and tender surprise.

I look forward to trying many of their other traditional Indian dishes and I recommend that others go to Rice-N-Curry to try some new things as well.