Adya Is Doing Good in the Community - CLOSED

 Adya 

4213 Campus Drive

Irvine, CA 92612

I really like to show support to restaurants that have a conscience. Most restaurants do way more for the community than just nourish us. Think back to your childhood and the local pizza parlor that sponsored all those local sports teams posted proudly on their walls. Many other restaurants provided coupons in the now-forgotten Entertainment Book, which allowed many non-profit groups to raise money for new sports equipment, uniforms, or fund outings for kids. 

This spirit of giving has brought us to Adya in Irvine. Back in mid-May, Adya donated one hundred percent of its weekly sales to COVID-19 relief efforts in India. At the end of the seven days, they raised $29,100 for the American India Foundation, which will be used to provide portable hospitals in hard-hit India. Katie and I decided to do our part and headed to Adya, one of our favorite Indian food restaurants in OC.

Adya is an Indian street food restaurant that utilizes local ingredients to create modern Indian cuisine. Chef Shachi Mehra opened the first Adya at the Packing House in Anaheim seven years ago, and two years later opened this second spot at the very popular University Center, which is tucked neatly into UCI. Chef Shachi was the opening chef at the critically acclaimed Tamarind of London at Newport Coast and, more recently, was triumphant on the TV show Chopped. Joining her as a partner at Adya is Chef Sandeep Basrur, who gained prominence as one of the best Indian chefs in Northern California. Quite a team these two have become. 

Every time I eat at Adya, I am amazed at how much lighter their Indian food is than others we have tried. However, they don't sacrifice the bold flavors and spices you have come to expect from Indian cuisine. Their menu features a quartet of starters: pavs, kathi rolls, kebabs, curries, and, of course, everyone's favorite, naan. Let's find out our thoughts while we do some good for the people of India. 

It's nearly impossible to visit an Indian restaurant and not gobble up copious amounts of naan. It's even harder when Goat Cheese Naan ($5.99) is offered. Katie zeroed in on this, and after our first bite, we were hooked. I'm not the biggest goat cheese fan, but the tart, earthy cheese flavor went well with the well-made, leavened flatbread. 

Since we visited New York way too long ago, Katie has been looking for a Chicken Biryani ($13.49) that would rival the one she found on the street there. This biryani was offered as a special on the evening we visited, so she gave this one a shot. She loved the moist chicken and sauce here but felt the rice-to-chicken ratio was way off, as all left after getting halfway through this was rice and a little bit of sauce. Still a very comforting dish, but it needed to be better to supplant the one she had on the East Coast. Her search continues.  

You can call me basic all you want, but my favorite Indian meal is Chicken Tikka Masala ($13.99), which most novices get at Indian restaurants. No apologies; I enjoy this dish with its flavorful spiced curry sauce bathing in the cubed chicken. This version was nicely done with the masala sauce covering the tender poultry pieces on a basmati rice bed. For an extra $4, I made it a thali, which I'd describe as an Indian combo meal. I added a small green salad, butter naan, and some delicious cucumber raita, which went well with my and Katie's leftover rice. 

The food at Adya was just as good as I remembered. The flavors are bold, the spices are prevalent, and it is comforting. Their portion sizes are a little out of whack compared to their price point. We had way more rice than chicken at the end of our meals. Service this evening was fine, but be aware that this is a pretty small restaurant, with only two tables inside and a few tables out in front of the restaurant. During peak mealtime hours, call in your order and take your food to go, especially on chilly evenings, like when we visited Adya. I'm glad we could do a small part to help the people of India by eating at Adya during their weeklong event. Still, I'm way happier that there are restaurants like this that want to not only fill our bodies with excellent food but also want to do some good in the world. 

Out of five sundials (because the largest sundial in the world is located in the town of Jaipur, India, and measures an imposing 90 feet tall), five being best to zero being worst, Adya gets 3 sundials. 

For more information about Adya, head to their website here: https://adyaoc.com/#home