RESTAURANT REVIEWS: River Market's newest tenants, The Indian Feast + Old Mill

The Indian Feast is spicing things up at the Little Rock River Market’s Ottenheimer Market Hall.
The Indian Feast is spicing things up at the Little Rock River Market’s Ottenheimer Market Hall.

The newest tenants of the River Market's Ottenheimer Market Hall might be next to each other, but they are continents away when it comes to cuisine.

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The Sunflower Veggie is a vegetarian option at Old Mill Bread & Flour Co.’s satellite location in the Little Rock River Market’s Ottenheimer Market Hall.

There's The Indian Feast, serving fragrant curries and kormas. And there's a new satellite location of west Little Rock's Old Mill Bread & Flour Co., serving classic American sandwiches on their signature breads, as well as salads, soups, breakfast and baked goods.

The Indian Feast

Address: River Market’s Ottenheimer Market Hall, 400 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock

Hours: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday

Cuisine: Indian

Credit cards: AE, D, MC, V

Reservations: No

Alcoholic beverages: No

Wheelchair-accessible: Yes

Carryout: Yes (501) 476-4007 facebook.com/theind…

Old Mill Bread & Flour Co.

Address: River Market’s Ottenheimer Market Hall, 400 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock

Hours: 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday

Cuisine: Breakfast, sandwiches, soups, salads, baked goods

Credit cards: AE, D, MC, V

Reservations: No

Alcoholic beverages: No

Wheelchair-accessible: Yes

Both offer appealing options for downtown diners seeking a fast and flavorful bite.

THE INDIAN FEAST

Finally, Indian food is establishing a presence downtown. First, Banana Leaf transitioned from a food truck to a brick-and-mortar location in the Simmons Tower, Capitol Avenue and Broadway, late last year.

And now there's the Indian Feast, a promising River Market eatery to quench curry cravings that used to require a drive out to a west Little Rock buffet. Oh, we'll still make those Star of India and Taj Mahal treks. But work duties often require quick carryout.

There are menu screens above the counter, but the easiest and most appetizing way to order is to admire the aromatic selections of the day in the glass display. When the lovely server explained that their daily lunch special is a choice of two entrees, rice and naan for a reasonable $8.99, that was all we needed to know. We never elected to order another way, but for those who wish to, entree prices range from $8.99 for Vegetable Biryani to $14.99 for Lamb Vindaloo. Various kinds of naan ($1.99-$3.99) are available, as are a few appetizers ($2.49-$6.99) like Samosas and Seekh Kabab.

The days we visited, chicken and vegetable selections dominated, although the Feast also serves some lamb and goat.

Our first visit, a friend and I each ordered chicken dishes as a first entree: Chicken Curry and Chicken Tikka Masala. For our second entree, we each selected the Vegetable Korma. If that wasn't enough food, our foam containers were further weighted down with generous portions of rice. On top of all that, we were given large pieces of naan bread. The Indian Feast is true to its name.

Both dishes featured tasty chunks of chicken in plush sauces -- the Tikka in a tomato cream, the other in a zesty curry sauce with potatoes. The dishes had a kick and warmed us up plenty on an already hot day when we elected to eat outside. The creamy korma was a nice, not too heavy complement. And the puffy naan ensured we didn't miss so much as a drop of sauce.

On my second trip, I ordered yet another style of chicken, the Manchurian. This one -- a tasty medley of lightly fried pieces of chicken and bell peppers -- had a bit more bite than the others. Or was it that my second entree, the Chole or the heartily spiced (we detected cumin and turmeric) curried chickpeas had more bite? Either way, this meal, tempered with the rice and naan, caused more brow sweat. That's not a complaint.

OLD MILL BREAD & FLOUR CO.

Relatively speaking, Old Mill's menu might be more mild (well, not if you elect the delish Rotel 4 Cheese bread), but it's not boring. And that's because sandwiches ($6.89-$7.89) are served on the bakery cafe's lively specialty breads.

Old Mill also serves soups ($4.25 cup, $5.25 bowl) and salads ($7.89). But we couldn't bear the thought of soup on recent sweltering days. And ordering salads at gluten-full Old Mill just seems sad.

The Pimento Cheese sandwich ($7.89) offers a choice of bread. My first pick, the Rotel 4 Cheese, was out. Instead, the soft, subtle Spinach Feta bread nicely embraced the sharp cheese spread, though perhaps something else on the sandwich (lettuce, tomato, etc.) or the seedy Sesame Sunflower bread would have made the texture more interesting. Adding chips -- a bag of Miss Vickie's Jalapeno, because we couldn't have the Rotel bread -- and a drink costs $2.99.

I was expecting a semi-sweet or fruity Chicken Salad sandwich ($7.89) -- after all, it incorporates Cranberry Pecan bread. So I was surprised by the salad's slightly sharper nature, the result of unexpected bits of colored bell peppers. Still the sandwich, dressed with frilly lettuce and a fancy toothpick, worked.

Featuring cream cheese, greens, tomato, red onion, black olives, provolone and light ranch dressing on Sesame Sunflower bread, the Sunflower Veggie sandwich ($6.89) seemed like a perfect pick for a hot day. But the result was just basic. A thin, almost undetectable layer of cream cheese did little to help the rather dry, crumbly bread (which I've had before and remember as better), and the sandwich had little flavor beyond the sting of red onion.

But this didn't leave a bad taste in my mouth. Old Mill sometimes includes a lagniappe with its meals. One day we got a sample of Fruit & Nut Granola bread. And this day I opened our box to find not only a 20 percent off coupon but an extra slice of bread, as well as a winsome white-chocolate-macadamia-nut cookie-- a reminder that Old Mill also serves a variety of baked goods and breakfast items. Beyond a few loaves of bread, there are items like cookies, muffins and cinnamon rolls -- quantities vary.

As this is a satellite location, it's best to call ahead and order something if you have your heart set on it.

Carryout: Yes (501) 350-2144

Weekend on 07/28/2016

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