Burn, baby! Burn!
Peacock inferno
by Clay Fong (buzz@boulderweekly.com)

I don't want to set the world on fire," sang The Ink Spots back in 1941. Unfortunately, many ethnic restaurant owners have taken these lyrics as sage advice and toned down the spice when translating dishes for American palates. Indian cuisine is especially susceptible to this problem; a friend had to dine at a restaurant several times before convincing the owner to de-neuter the vindaloo and kick it up to a pleasingly incendiary level.

For those seeking a higher spice quotient in their Indian dining, South Boulder's Royal Peacock is a worthwhile stop. Its lunchtime buffet is reasonably priced, although with a slightly smaller selection than other restaurants in town. However, this restaurant does more with less at lunch as it prizes depth of flavor over quantity.

Frankly, I'm ambivalent about Indian buffets. Although they're filling and inexpensive, they're also the most likely place to experience watered-down dishes, as chefs must accommodate the lowest common denominator when it comes to tolerance for heat. The concept of a buffet is also more of an American construct than an Indian one. An Indian worker or student is far more likely to eat a meal cooked by a family member and delivered to them via bike messenger than sample a subcontinental smorgasbord.

At the same time, a buffet can provide telling insight into a restaurant's attitude toward freshness, quality and service. Buffets where curries languish for hours on a steam table bier or where the tandoori chicken goes unreplenished betray a restaurant's indifference. Fortunately for the lunchtime crowd, Royal Peacock keeps a vigilant watch on its offerings, which has contributed to its popularity with neighborhood workers.

Upon entering this darkly intimate establishment, the scent of incense permeates the air to the extent that one neighboring diner termed it "overwhelming." Outside of that, however, the atmosphere and staff are both uniformly warm and welcoming.

Like most Indian restaurants in America, Royal Peacock's menu draws heavily on the cuisine of Punjab, which straddles Northern India and Eastern Pakistan. Known as the granary of India, this is an agriculturally rich region noted for rice and lentils. Unsurprisingly, Punjabi cuisine is working people's food, designed to satisfy appetites sharpened by toiling in the fields.

Certainly the staple buffet items live up to this reputation. There's plenty of toothsome rice, available as both a side and in a kheer pudding scented with clove and sprinkled with pistachio. There's also mixed vegetables, stew-like dal lentils and a competent but somewhat unassuming chicken curry. My lunch partner noted the absence of fried pakora vegetables and samosa turnovers. "It's probably just as well; otherwise I wouldn't have room for all this naan bread," she said, popping a piece of hot and buttery naan in her mouth immediately after the server delivered it to our table.

The tandoori chicken, which some wags have called Punjab's national bird, is a true feather in this peacock's cap. It says something about the kitchen when it cooks and replenishes the chicken in small batches, ensuring that it stays consistently hot and moist. As a matter of taste, the bird is tangy with yogurt and garam masala, the classic spice blend, without overwhelming the taste of the chicken. On the more soothing side of the equation, the saag spinach is full-bodied and satisfying. While it lacked the cheese of a saag paneer, the use of cream makes Royal Peacock's version extraordinarily rich.

Although the food here is satisfying and well-executed, part of me knows the kitchen is capable of more than what's on display at the buffet. The spicing of Royal Peacock's dishes hints at a deep understanding of the interplay between flavor and heat, and some dinner choices, such as tandoori wild boar, indicate an admirable adventurousness. Bringing these elements to a lunch buffet could transform a solid experience into an outstanding one. Granted, much of what's offered at ethnic restaurants is greatly driven by what customers want, or at least what restaurant owners think they want. But it would be a beautiful thing for a place like Royal Peacock to push the envelope a bit further with more experimental choices and spice, and set the world, or at least the buffet, on fire.

Clay Fong is co-author of The Gyros Journey

The Royal Peacock
5290 Arapahoe Ave.,
303-447-1409

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