Sangsu Indian restaurant with kids: mild mutton korma, Deli India

After a weekday evening of playing a dance-mat game near Hongdae with the kids, we'd run around so hard we got hungry — so we headed to Deli India, an Indian curry restaurant near Sangsu and Hapjeong.

An Indian restaurant near Sangsu, run by Indian owners

From the cutlery to the water glasses, Deli India had a strong Indian atmosphere. Turns out it's actually run and cooked by Indian people! The kids were shocked — 'the owner is Indian, why does he speak Korean so well?' hahahaha.

This place has actually been on national TV twice — appearing on KBS's Neighbor Charles and Saeng Saeng Jeongbo, this Hapjeong curry spot called Deli India.

They even had the 16 spices used in the curries on display. They say the flavors are based on traditional Indian tastes but carefully adjusted to suit Korean palates — a clever 'Korean patch,' so even people who aren't into strong spices should be able to enjoy it without much complaint.

The basic side dishes.

Mild curries good for kids — butter chicken and mutton korma

Since we were eating with the kids, we went for the mildest options: butter chicken (chicken makhani) and mutton korma. Deli India's biggest point of pride is apparently the deep, rich curry flavor based on authentic Indian recipes. The vegetable, chicken and mutton curries are each blended spice by spice, so they're not too intense but still keep the flavor and depth of real Indian cooking. The mutton curry in particular minimized the gamey smell that lamb/mutton can have, and balanced tender texture with a rich sauce — the kids ate this one really well!

I also liked that there's a candle under the curry bowl to keep it warm until the end — but not so hot that it overcooks or burns onto the bottom. Just the right heat.

Basmati rice

Authentic Indian-style basmati rice. I mean, it wouldn't make sense for an Indian curry place not to have this. Deli India's basmati rice has a slight yellow tint, maybe from turmeric, but the rice itself doesn't taste like curry. Personally I love this kind of long-grain rice — when I travel in Southeast Asia I basically just shovel down plain rice haha.

Drizzling a little curry over the basmati rice bit by bit is an absolutely perfect pairing.

Butter naan, baked fresh to order

The naan is baked fresh in the tandoor the moment you order — crispy outside, chewy inside — and comes in plain, butter, garlic, cheese and more. Our princess loves butter, so we ordered butter naan. It's nutty and clearly suited her taste — another one she ate well.

Kingfisher beer and mango lassi

My wife was on another late shift tonight, so as a small reward to myself for solo-parenting two kids, I got a Kingfisher — an Indian beer with a light taste that pairs really nicely with curry. Apparently 'Kingfisher' refers to the bird.

For the kids' drink, we ordered mango lassi, a traditional Indian yogurt drink. There was a bit of quiet competitive glancing over who'd get more, but they shared it nicely in the end.

How did the kids react?

The moment they mixed basmati rice with the curry, out came the thumbs-up reaction that only shows up when something's genuinely delicious haha.

Our princess usually prefers plain white rice, but Indian-style rice seemed to suit her taste too. By the end she was holding the whole plate to eat from it directly haha.

The curry from this Sangsu favorite, Deli India, went great even piled on top of naan.

And apparently the princess also thinks the bread is delicious on its own, no curry needed hahaha.

The kids ate the rice so well that we ended up ordering more, and it seemed like they gave us an even bigger portion than the first time haha.

A genius combo — putting the curry-mixed rice on top of the naan hahahaha.

Vroom... vroooom...

Good for a date, good with kids

The interior has that distinctly Indian feel, which makes Deli India a great curry spot for a date course around Hapjeong and Sangsu too — and indeed, most of the other guests seemed to be couples. But since they also have mild, non-spicy curries, I'd recommend it for a meal with kids as well!