A quick bite at Mahek in Ann Arbor

Chicken Tikka

Joe asked what we were going to do for dinner. I said that I was going to cook Ethiopian, but I had realized that I didn't have enough onions. (Ethiopian dishes use a lot of onions — at least the ones I cook.) It was a beautiful Spring night, so we went out and bought some onions, and because it was a beautiful Spring night we kept driving through town until we found ourselves going up Washington. I pointed at Mahek and asked "Feel like Indian?"

"I was just thinking the same thing."

Mahek occupies the old Shehan Shah spot, and we had both been meaning to get here since the conversion and had high hopes for good food.  And we were not disappointed.  We only tried three dishes so this is hardly a full review, but we were happy with what we had and want to share.

We started with an order of Gobi Manchurian, sort of the iconic Indian-Chinese dish. Battered califlower is fried and coated a in a spicy sweet soy-based sauce. Compared to versions I've had elsewhere, Mahek's version had a thicker batter, a "wetter" sauce, and the sweet seemed to be missing. But it was spicy. This was my least favorite dish of the night, in large part because I prefer a drier dish with the sweetness I've had with other versions.  (Joe liked it, though.)

Mahek's menu warns that their "hot" really is "hot", and they aren't bluffing. We ordered the Gobi Manchurian as "medium", and it was as spicy if not spicier than the average "hot" is at most restaurants in Ann Arbor.  We haven't tried the actual "hot" yet.

Gobi Manchurian

For our mains, we ordered Chole Batura and a Chicken Tikka and naan.

I first fell in love with Chole Batura at the now-gone Mysore Woodlands, so when I saw it on the menu at Mahek I knew immediately what I wanted. Chole is a spicy Punjabi chickpea dish (aka Chana Masala), and batura is a soft deep-fried bread. Mahek serves theirs with a raita, which is delicious on the chole, and a mixed achar (salty-sour pickled condiment). By the way, the chiles in Mahek's achar are not as hot as they look, so if you can eat medium-hot spicy food then you can eat the chiles in the achar. I was very happy with this dish, which is a good thing because as you can see, it's a sizable portion, which supplied me with lunch for the next day.

Chicken Tikka (Tandoori-style chicken breast) is not something we normally order, though I think we'd order it more often if it was always as tasty as the dish we had at Mahek. The chicken was surprisingly tender and moist, and — bonus for those of you who don't like chicken on the bone! — it was boneless.

Chole Batura

The verdict: definitely worth going to again and experimenting with the menu. Mahek also has a lunch buffet. If any readers out there have tried their buffet, we would love to hear about your experiences.

Mahek
212 E. Washington
Ann Arbor, MI
734.994.5972

Open 7 days, with lunch buffet available everyday

Comments

[RovingFork]

The buffet is very good, and it has a nice rotation of items from day-to-day and week-to-week. Butter chicken and tandori chicken are mainstays. My only complaint would probably be the naan, which never holds up well in a steam tray.

[Alex]

I like Mahek, but I had a disastrous carry-out order from them once. They had stacked the containers on top of each other, and the lid of one of the dishes was too weak to withstand the pressure. It cracked, and curry was everywhere. Rather well took the convenience out of carry-out.

[John S.]

My wife and I are big fans of the lunch buffet -- more so than the dinner service (which can be slow and the food is often cold). The spread has been changing, however, and though it is still well-priced (and often includes many unfamiliar but delicious vegetarian dishes), they have scaled back some of the things that made it special. They still have chai and a nice cardamon scented rice pudding, but I haven't seen the mango juice and nonchicken based meat dishes lately. It is certainly growing more popular and this often means one is fishing through the saag paneer for the cheese or the butter chicken for a piece of chicken. Still, at $7.99 (I think), one can hardly complain. More expensive on the week-ends, but more variety and worth the extra couple of bucks. A quick question: how much should one tip at a buffet?

[Joe, Kitchen Chick's husband]

I tend to tip 10-15% at buffets, 20%ish at meals.

[Alex]

As a former server, I agree with the 10-15% mark. You can also alter it a little based on how much the server does. Is it a buffet where you poor your own drinks, clear your own plates, and never interact with a server? If so, 10% is probably too much. If the server actually serves you (greeting, drinks, clearing table, etc.), then you might trend upward.