Lunch Ladies: Kohinoor
From the sweet rice pudding to the savory entrees, the lunch special at Kohinoor is a well-rounded meal option.
The Lunch Ladies enjoyed discovering the full flavors of Kohinoor's Indian Cuisine in Orem. CREDIT: Sylvia Abbott
The lunch special offers you a variety of tastes and textures all in one meal. CREDIT: Gabrielle Harris
Kohinoor is conveniently located on 75 S. State Street in Orem. CREDIT: Jennette Esplin
Fall weather makes me think of warm, inviting aromas, enticing spices, and tantalizing tastes.
Perhaps it’s the onset of pumpkin pie-piced delights, caramel eggnog, and cranberried crazes that get my taste buds wanting, nay, demanding, more than the commonplace flavors they are used to, but once the mystical season of fall hits, I just want to experience new bursts of flavors and foods.
I don’t want to settle for my same old baked potato, scrambled eggs, or spaghetti any more; my mouth knows there is more out there and it begins watering, determined to discover the spiced, the satiated and the scrumptious!
So when this type of hunt begins, should the lunch hour deliver any less of a reward? I think not! So gauntlet thrown, we offer you a restaurant recommendation to enchant your palate and live up to all the current season deserves. Because while many restaurants can deliver on deliciousness, it is a rare breed that can stand up to the test of fall flavor.
So this week, the Lunch Ladies suggest to you Kohinoor in Orem. This restaurant lets you experience authentic Indian cuisine with complex flavors, vibrant colors, and bold spices. And the lunch special specifically gives you a chance to combine the richness of a variety of dishes into one fully developed meal.
Here’s how it works: For $9.95, you get to select two entrees from six options. You also receive rice, naan (bread), cucumber raita (yogurt), salad, papadam (wafers), and kheer (rice pudding). Each of these items is uniquely seasoned, often garnished, and accent one another in a harmonizing, yet contrasting way.
On our recent visit to Kohinoor, the Lunch Ladies had a great time. Here is what we enjoyed:
Sylvia: Lunch Special — Chicken Ananasi and Chana Masala $9.95, Peshawari $4.50
Awwww Indian food, definitely one of my favorites! I love all the flavors, spices and textures that are so different from my everyday food. My choices for the lunch special were Chicken Ananasi and Chana Masala. But I was most looking forward to the Peshwari; it’s Indian bread stuffed with a mix of coconut, raisins and cashews — yum! Everything was so delicious and I really like how Kohinoor presents its meals; the perfect portions.
Jennette: Lunch Special _ Shrimp Vindaloo and Lamb Mushroom $9.95
I chose to have the lunch special today, because it looked like you got to try a variety of foods and I loved that. For my two entree choices I chose Lamb Mushroom and Shrimp Vindaloo. The Lamb Mushroom consists of boneless lamb cooked with fresh mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, garlic, ginger and other spices. This one was my favorite. The Shrimp Vindaloo, shrimp cooked with potatoes, onions, tomatoes, garlic, ginger, vinegar and spices, was good as well, just not as good as the lamb dish in my opinion. My favorite part of the lunch special was the kheer (rice pudding). Kohinoor does serve Coke products but I was too busy enjoying the food to think about Diet Coke!
Gabby: Lunch Special — Chicken Masala and Shrimp Vindaloo $9.95
I loved the combination of the entrees and sides. I especially loved that I could actually eat the papadam being made of lentil flour. It was a thin, crisp, savory type of cracker, and tasted great dipped into the sauces. I also really enjoyed the tangy taste of the cucumber raita with the side salad. It was a great offset to some of the more savory flavors. The Shrimp Vindaloo, had big chunks of potato, plump firm shrimp, and a very strong tomato-based sauce reminiscent of a warm tomato soup. The flavorful, slightly salty Chicken Masala was so impeccable in my mind that I actually made sure I spread out its consumption throughout my entire meal, ensuring I didn’t devour it too quickly. And being able to finish it off with a final few bites of sweet, distinctly spiced kheer was a final exclamation point to the lunch hour!
Lyndsi: Lunch Special — Chicken Masala and Mattar Paneer $9.95
I love having variety in my meals, this way you aren’t eating the same flavor bite after bite. If you are like me, then the lunch special at Kohinoor is exactly what you are looking for, since there are six options for your entrée and you get to choose two. And Kohinoor has a couple of menus it rotates for lunch so you can keep going back and trying something new. This trip I chose Chicken Masala and Mattar Paneer to go with my delicious sides. Chicken Masala is one of my go-to items but the Mattar Paneer was a new one for me. The main ingredient is large pieces of homemade cheese, similar to mozzarella. It is so good coated in a creamy curry sauce. So next time you need a little variety head over to Kohinoor for lunch!
Well I think we’ve illustrated why we can confidently recommend Kohinoor as a great restaurant option for your next lunch hour. If you are anything like the Lunch Ladies, you will enjoy the variety of options and flavor and seasoning combinations that can all be experienced in one meal. So don’t let your taste buds down this fall season, they know the festivities have begun, and simply won’t settle for blasé anymore!
Kohinoor, 75 S. State St. Orem. Lunch hours: Monday to Friday 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Dinner hours: Monday to Friday 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday noon to 10 p.m. Closed Sundays.