Dongseong-ro Asian restaurant tandoori pizza lunch: Rama & Babana

I walked over to Rama & Babana, a well-known Dongseong-ro restaurant, to have lunch with a friend.

The restaurant is tucked into the Tongsin-gol alley of Dongseong-ro, so I followed the paved walkway to the building's entrance stairs. The sign was clearly visible through a large glass window, so I found it right away without wandering around.

Rama & Babana Address: 68 Dongseong-ro 3-gil, Jung-gu, Daegu, South Korea, 2nd floor Phone: 053-255-0810 Hours: 11:30 - 21:30, last order 20:45 Parking: No dedicated parking; nearby paid parking lots available

Inside Rama & Babana Dongseong-ro: second-floor window seats and tables

Rama & Babana Dongseong-ro Main Branch is on the 2nd floor of a building in the Tongsin-gol alley. Climbing the stairs and opening the door, I could see the kitchen shelves and counter space at a glance. The grid-glass wall was packed with autographs from celebrities who've visited, which caught my eye.

The dining area had neat square wooden tables set up for facing seating. The city view stretched out beyond the floor-to-ceiling window, so it didn't feel cramped at all, and we picked a comfortable empty seat.

We tapped through the tablet kiosk set up on the table and picked out our lunch together. We added beef curry, mie goreng, pizzeria tandoori, and a cold canned cola to the order.

Beef curry at Rama & Babana: big chunks of beef and potato

Rama & Babana's beef curry came out first, piled high in a silver sauceboat alongside a round plate of white rice. Scooping into the curry with a spoon revealed big chunks of beef and potato, plenty of them.

Mashing the chunky beef and potato with a spoon and mixing it into the rice gave a rich, full flavor. The curry sauce had that distinctive fragrance, and paired with rice, we got to taste all the big pieces evenly.

In between bites, we sipped cold cola poured over ice, letting the sweet fizz cool us down. After enjoying the beef curry together, we moved our hands toward the shallow pasta dish set down next.

Can you order the mie goreng mild? Yes, and it is full of plump shrimp

Rama & Babana's mie goreng lets you choose a milder spice level when ordering. My friend can't handle spicy food, so we asked in advance for it mild, and while we were still eating the curry, the mie goreng arrived, noodles coiled up on a shallow white plate.

Mixing the fried noodles with chopsticks, the shrimp inside looked plump and full of meat. Since it was cooked mild it wasn't spicy at all, but the seasoning in the sauce was a bit strong for my taste.

We enjoyed the plump, springy shrimp along with the noodles soaked in seasoning. After picking up the fat shrimp one by one with our chopsticks, we moved on to the freshly baked pizzeria tandoori.

Pizzeria tandoori: crisp all the way to the end of the crust

The last dish to arrive was pizzeria tandoori — cheese and sauce spread on a thin dough, served on a wide plate. I've always loved the crust when eating pizza, and this one was crispy right to the edge, which I really loved.

I got so absorbed in the crunchy texture that I ended up eating without noticing my mouth had gotten a little cut at the corner. That's how crispy I kept biting into the crust without realizing — the pizza just suited my taste that much.

The combination of tandoori chicken and soft cheese suited us so well that we finished the whole pizza without leaving a single piece. We wrapped up a hearty lunch enjoying the crispy-crust pizza together with my friend.

What to order at Rama & Babana in Dongseong-ro

• Beef curry loaded with chunky beef and potatoes
• Mie goreng with plump, meaty shrimp and noodles
• Mie goreng pasta with adjustable spice for a milder option
• Wood-fired-style pizza topped with cheese and tandoori chicken
• Pizza baked crispy right to the very end of the crust, like a cracker