Indian Takeaway: Injoy Street Food

Findlay Market is renowned in Cincinnati for being an open-aired incubator to many a fledgling restaurant entrepreneur. One of their latest products is Injoy Street Food, an "Indian-inspired" business launched two years ago by three friends who peddled their tikka masala and saag dishes from a two-wheeled cart every weekend there. Now the trio have their own corner brick-and-mortar location in Over-the-Rhine, a stone's throw from Salazar's.

Injoy takes a fast-casual approach to its health-conscious menu, offering wraps, tacos and 16-ounce or 24-ounce bowls that can be filled with a variety of fresh ingredients. They also offer garlic naan, daal soup and sweet or savory samosa "bites."

Chipotle customers will be familiar with the routine: select a rice or quinoa base, then work your way through the sauces (tikka masala, vindaloo or saag), proteins (chicken, Aloo Gobi or tofu), sauteed vegetables and other optional toppings. Prices range from $8-$11.

We stopped by for a quick dinner, noting that the vast majority of patrons get their food to-go, as there is very limited seating along the windows. My girlfriend and I both chose the 24-ounce bowls, which strangely seemed the same size as Chipotle's 16-ounce bowls. Our toppings were similar save the proteins; my girlfriend chose the tikka masala sauce topped with chicken, while I opted for the tikka masala and aloo gobi, a vegetarian combo of sweet potatoes and cauliflower. We completed our bowls with rajma, a mixture of kidney beans, tomatoes and onions, along with pickled onions, cilantro and spiced peanuts.

chicken tikka masala w/garlic naan

tikka masala w/aloo gobi

The curry-infused dishes were bright and mildly spicy, with welcome acidic punches from the pickled ingredients. It all married well with the creamy, heavier tikka masala. My girlfriend's hunks of chicken were appropriately tender and I enjoyed the heartiness of my cauliflower and cubes of sweet potato. The spiced peanuts offered a pleasing textural variety to the bowls.

Our side of garlic naan bread came wrapped in tin foil to keep it warm. It was doughy and spongy rather than flat and slightly crispy like the versions we enjoy at traditional Indian restaurants, where they're cooked in a Tandoori oven. Injoy's seemed more akin to a warm flour tortilla, which unfortunately lacked much garlic flavor.

Kudos to Injoy for making the noble effort at saving the environment by offering biodegradable, eco-friendly silverware and containers instead of the plastic stuff.

Overall we were pleased with our first experience. The $24 price tag for two bowls and one garlic naan is slightly more than one would expect vs. a similarly sized meal at Chipotle. Still, Indian food is decidedly more complex and laborious to prepare, so we're no doubt paying a slight premium for that time and effort.

Injoy Street Food fills a hole in the fast-casual arena we never knew we needed, challenging other local competitors for the venerable quick lunch and quick dinner crowds.