Meet Your Merchant: Indian cuisine adds a little spice to Carson

For the owners of India Feast, an Indian restaurant that opened on East Winnie Lane last fall, there are only two things that matter.

"All you think about is the food and the customers," said Amarjeet Singh, 30, who co-owns India Feast with his brother, Surinder Singh, 50.

The Singhs hail from India and made their trek to Carson City last year after Surinder came to Northern Nevada to help a friend move.

"I came here to visit my friend," Surinder Singh said. "I came with him to move his stuff to L.A. and then we see this place, and next thing I decided I can open the restaurant."

Surinder Singh ran another restaurant by the name of India Feast in Los Angeles for 15 years before coming to Carson City.

He came to the United States from India in 1993. Amarjeet Singh had been in Poland for the last six years studying hotel management.

Today, they're both hoping to grow the restaurant in its new home.

The brothers serve up a daily buffet for $7.95 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. From 5 p.m. to closing, they offer a dinner menu.

They serve Punjabi-style cuisine, a region of north India, such as Tandoori chicken, which is marinated in yogurt and roasted over hot charcoal in a clay oven.

Other dishes include a number of curries, lamb biryani - a basmati rice dish with cooked lamb, herbs and spices - and vegetarian specialties like alu vindaloo,

which are potatoes with seasoned tomato gravy.

They also serve a variety of Indian breads like chaptai, garlic naan and puri.

Carson City is small compared to the Southern California metropolis where the first India Feast opened its doors.

"It's not easy to find stuff here for the kitchen," Amarjeet said. "We have to go to Reno all the time to get some beer."

They serve Kingfisher, an Indian lager, though Surinder Singh said there are more than 100 Indian beers they could sell, just not in Nevada because local distributors don't carry them.

Regardless, most of their attention is directed toward customer service and preparing food all day.

"We have to take care of the customers," Amarjeet said. "In the morning, we prepare the buffet and prepare the food. It's not an easy job."

Surinder gets to the restaurant at 9 a.m. to prepare for the daily lunch buffet.

Amarjeet Singh said he and his brother are hoping to open another restaurant soon, possibly in Reno or Lake Tahoe.

"But first let's see if it works well here," he said.