GRUB 411:

• SOUTHERN SPICE: (official website), 143-06 45th Ave, Flushing, NY 11355; Phone:(718) 359-3486
• TYPE: Authentic South Indian cuisine
• PRICE: $½   (we were a dinner party of 15, and it was only $30 each)
• QUICKVIEW: Was dragged out here by a bunch of my Indian friends, which was a huge endorsement.  Savory, spicy and deep flavors, WITHOUT being overly salty.  Deep, slow cooking has allowed this unassuming restaurant to make a lasting culinary impression.
• SPECIAL NOTES: It’s BYOB.  Also, they offer lunch buffets every day from 12pm – 3pm
• SEOULDIVA SAYS: ♥♥♥♥¾ / ♥♥♥♥♥

FULL REVIEW:
It was the Saturday after our big snowstorm, and a bunch of my Indian friends planned an outing to South Flushing to eat some Southern Indian cuisine. Now you know that when anything’s reppin’ the South Side of any place, it’s “go hard or go home!”  Southern Spice was no exception.
We all took our respective cars or Zipcars out to Southern Spice.  Not easily accessible by public transpo, this restaurant is located right behind the Ganesh Hindu temple, so you know it’s gotta represent!

This is a casual, hole-in-the-wall kinda place. The kind of place where they don’t have to overcompensate with decor, because they know their food is THAT badass.  Chef Sridhar Rathnam used to own Madras Cafe in NYC, before decided to move his establishment to Queens.
The food was EXCEPTIONAL.  Chef Rathnam stayed true to the art of slow-cooking, allowing the flavors and spices to deeply penetrate the heart of each and every dish.
KEY: everything was rich and flavorful, but not salty.  Often, I think restaurants think adding salt will amp up the flavor profiles of dishes.  Not so at Southern Spice.  It’s true flavor and care that shines through each dish.
SPICE NOTE:  some of their dishes are not for the Spicy Shy. Rest assured some dishes pack a powerful punch, so be cognizant when ordering.
MENU:

• Appetizers & Biriyani
• Meat Entrées
• Vegetarian Entrées, Breads and Sides
• Beverages and Desserts

Here’s a plate-by-plate of our fantastic feast!
APPETIZERS:

• IDLIES: steamed lentil & rice dumplings, served with sambar and chutney. The Idlies actually reminded me a lot of Korean dduk, which is also a rice “dumpling”.  The sambar (vegetable stew) was delicious w/ a little kick at the end.  Don’t think the other bowl was “chutney”, but I think it was a lentil purée of some nature.  Personally I didn’t quite understand the lentil purée, but it was my first time having this and it was delicious. If I were home sick on a cold winter day, I’d want to eat an entire bowl of that sambar all by myself.  SEOULDIVA SAYS: ♥♥♥½ / ♥♥♥♥♥

• SAMOSA CHAAT: vegetable samosa with chickpeas and tri-color chutneys. I think I can safely say: “Anything’s better with Chick Peas.”  These looked like the Indian version of Nachos on the table, but they were far from it. The samosas themselves were delicious & homemade.  The seasoning was less pungent than other samosas I’ve tried, but in a good way; they strong enough to get a sense of flavor, but mild enough to let the taste of the vegetables come through.  The chutneys slathered on top did make the samosa shells a bit soggy, but it wasn’t tragic.  SEOULDIVA SAYS: ♥♥♥♥ / ♥♥♥♥♥

• NEER MORE, diluted yogurt drink with tempered spices. My friend ordered this — she said it’s like a watered down Lasse, except instead of fruit flavors, they add spices.  I didn’t try it, but I wanted to share b/c I’d never seen it before!

ENTREES:

• KERALA CRAB CAKES: in a mild coconut sauce. I didn’t know crabcakes were such an indigenous Indian dish, but I see them often on menus.  As far as crabcakes go, they were extremely meaty and well-seasoned, but there was nothing holding them together.  As soon as you dug your fork into the cake, it crumbled a bit.  Coconut sauce was neither here nor there.  I think a little acid would’ve brought the flavor of the dish a little more, and it was lacking that.  SEOULDIVA SAYS: ♥♥♥ / ♥♥♥♥♥

• PAPPU KOORAKU:  spinach and lentil mash (VEG). The description and the  appearance hardly does this dish any justice.  It was hearty, spicy from garlic, and overall — it rocked my world.  I would have bathed in it if I could.  But the texture definitely seemed a little too “mashed”.  Would have liked less “mashing” and more “meshing” of the 2 veggies. Texture can make or break a dish for me.  SEOULDIVA SAYS: ♥♥♥¾ / ♥♥♥♥♥

• TARKHA DHALL: seasoned, slow cooked red lentils. I was never a huge dhall fan — but clearly because I’ve never had it prepared right:  by far the best dhall I have EVER tried in my LIFE. Thick, hearty and bursting with flavor (garlic — yes, please!).  I could have this dhall + naan for a meal and be blissfully happy.  SEOULDIVA SAYS: ♥♥♥♥♥ / ♥♥♥♥

• CHICKEN 65: Chennai’s special spicy chicken with southern spice and curry leaves. While I’m highly skeptical that “Chicken 65″ is an authentic Indian name for this dish — I don’t care.  It’s damn good.  In a way, it kinda reminded me of a dry-rub jerk chicken dish.  But as I mentioned before: when they say “spicy”, they mean it!  This dish was too spicy for some of my cohorts.  Lucky for me, I have an asbestos tongue. So for me, this was one of my favorites.  SEOULDIVA SAYS: ♥♥♥♥♥ / ♥♥♥♥♥

• MUTTON CHETTINADU CURRY:  goat with masala gravy. Unfortunately I’m not a mutton/goat/lamb/veal/other meat lover, so I didn’t try this dish.  But it was one of the chef recommendations.

• ALOO GOBI (minus the gobi). This wasn’t on the menu, but the closest way of describing this is “Aloo Gobi, Minus the Gobi”.  Regardless, it was delicious.  Sauce was flavorful, potatoes were cooked-through (but not soft).  SEOULDIVA SAYS:  ♥♥♥♥ / ♥♥♥♥♥

• OKRA: This wasn’t a dish on the menu, and I’m mortally upset by this.  First, let me preface by saying: I HATE OKRA.  Every time I’ve had it (mostly in gumbo), the texture has been slimy — a slime that’s punctuated by those hard seeds.  Well, hallelujah, I’m an Okra Convert! I think this was my favorite dish of the entire meal because it brought me over to the other side.  From what I could tell, the Okra was pan-fried with spices — not slimy at all — plump, juicy and vegetable-like.  THE absolute best part were the crunchy fried lentils in the dish.  SEOULDIVA SAYS: ♥♥♥♥♥ / ♥♥♥♥♥

DESSERTS:

• PAYASAM:  vermicelli and tapioka pearls in spiced milk. This was a lovely non-cheese way to end the meal.  A lot of Indian desserts tend to have some sort of cheese base, so it’s limiting for me personally.  Milk doesn’t seem to bother my lactose-intolerant stomach as much.  I was really digging on the Tapioca pearls, but the Vermicelli noodles threw me off a bit.  Milk was perfectly sweetened with a touch of spice.  SEOULDIVA SAYS: ♥♥♥½ / ♥♥♥♥♥

• RASSAMALAI: dessert pastry made with cheese, in syrup.  Didn’t get this dessert, but it’s quite traditional.  Not sure if it was extraordinarily tasty from Southern Spice.