This very modest Indian cafe is a case study in how sparse a restaurant's trade can be while still remaining open. Known mostly to people who travel from Veterans to Airline on Cleary and to a small but loyal group of regulars, the Tandoori Chicken is supported by a few handsful of customers for its buffet lunch, and a scattering of dinner-seekers.
The Tandoori Chicken began in 1995 the food court at the Elmwood Mall. After that environment faded away, the restaurant moved to the dramatically different, one-floor-up clubhouse of an old blue-blood social club across from the Roosevelt Hotel. That was a tough marketing proposition. In 2007 it made a drastic location change to its present location in Metairie. All along it's been the same owners and staff--Mohan Singh and Sukhdarshan Singh, who with their families do everything.
It's a very modest square room in a secondary mini-mall, surrounded by a motley assortment of businesses. Nobody goes to the Tandoori Chicken for the atmosphere.
The tandoor is, obviously, the center of the operation. It's a super-hot clay-pot oven (the ancestor of the Big Green Egg) that roasts everything very quickly. Ascertain that any tandoori dishes will be made in the actual tandoor right then and there. Also, combinations are available that bring out a good, logical complete dinner at a reasonable price for several people.
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