Chicken Biryani served with raita (not pictured)
Dahi Papdi Chaat made with flat papdis, potatoes, garbanzo beans, yogurt, and chutneys (partially pictured)
Samosa (left) and Masala Dosa made with potato and served with a sambar lentil curry and chutneys
Rasmalai (left) and Kulfi, a saffron flavored ice cream topped with vermicelli, basil seeds, and a hint of rose
I always forget about Vik's, an Indian cafeteria-style restaurant on 4th and Channing in West Berkeley. I have reviewed it in the past, but I realized that I only covered a couple of the dishes. After remembering their incredible food recently, I stopped by last week with fellow blogger Moriah VanVleet of the über innovative dessert blog, butter, sugar, flowers.
Per usual, we ordered a variety of dishes: the Dahi Papdi Chaat and Samosas as our appetizers, the Chicken Biryani and Masala Dosa for our main entrees, and Rasmalai and Kulfi for dessert. The chaat was as good as I remember—it comes with three combined chutneys to truly bring out the flavor of the dish. The samosa, dosa, and biryani are also exactly what I want from these types of dishes. The desserts were interesting to say the least. The Rasmalai features a clotted cream, while the saffron flavored ice cream came with vermicelli noodles and basil seeds. Both were a bit heavy on the saffron, but I would be interested in trying the dishes with a bit more balance.
They have created an open, distanced seating area in their parking lot I would recommend taking advantage of. I'd also suggest visiting their grocery store while you're waiting for pick up. It's located on the 4th Street side of the building and in it, you can pick up everything from Cadbury chocolate to chai tea.
If you've visited Vik's Chaat recently, what did you try?
Vik's Chaat Corner
2390 4th St., Berkeley, CA 94710
Open: Monday - Thursday 11 - 2:30pm & 5 - 7:30pm, Friday 11 - 3pm & 5 - 7:30pm, Saturday - Sunday 11 - 7:30pm
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