# Butter chicken and palak paneer for Indian curry beginners: India The - By Daon (https://superchart.com/en/@neighborhood-lunch-turns/) - Written Sep 7, 2026 - Updated Sep 14, 2026 - Local places › Restaurants › Gangnam, Seoul - Sponsored: This story is based on a meal provided by the restaurant. - English edition: https://superchart.com/en/@neighborhood-lunch-turns/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer/ - Also in: [한국어](https://superchart.com/ko/@neighborhood-lunch-turns/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer/index.md) · [日本語](https://superchart.com/ja/@neighborhood-lunch-turns/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer/index.md) · [简体中文](https://superchart.com/zh-cn/@neighborhood-lunch-turns/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer/index.md) · [繁體中文](https://superchart.com/zh-tw/@neighborhood-lunch-turns/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer/index.md) · [Tiếng Việt](https://superchart.com/vi/@neighborhood-lunch-turns/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer/index.md) · [ไทย](https://superchart.com/th/@neighborhood-lunch-turns/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer/index.md) · [Bahasa Indonesia](https://superchart.com/id/@neighborhood-lunch-turns/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer/index.md) · [Bahasa Melayu](https://superchart.com/ms/@neighborhood-lunch-turns/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer/index.md) · [Español](https://superchart.com/es/@neighborhood-lunch-turns/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer/index.md) ## In short India The Durbar Samseong Station Branch is an Indian restaurant on the basement floor of a building near Samseong Station and COEX in Gangnam, Seoul. Two friends, one of whom had never tried Indian curry before, shared a set with soup, tandoori chicken, butter chicken, palak paneer, naan, rice and a lassi. Picking one mild curry and one unfamiliar curry to split made the meal easy for a first-timer to enjoy. ## Good to know - **Location**: Basement floor of a building near Samseong Station - **Ordering**: Extra items can be ordered via table QR code - **Order**: Set (soup, tandoori chicken, 2 curries, naan, rice, 2 sodas) + extra lassi - **Curries chosen**: Butter chicken, palak paneer - **Note**: Indian rice, lassi, and naan all come in several varieties you can choose from *as written by the visitor on Sep 7, 2026* I was chatting with Robot and Indian curry somehow came up, and he goes, "Wait, I've never actually been to an Indian curry place." Huh...? Never been to an Indian curry restaurant...? Well then Ayo just has to take him haha. I happened to have plans near Samseong Station, so I looked up Samseong Station restaurants for Indian food and found India The Durbar Samseong Station Branch, which had a wide variety of curries and looked like a proper spot to try naan and tandoori chicken too, so we went! ![Exterior of India The Durbar Samseong Station Branch with its bold red sign](https://img.superchart.com/images/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer-01-11ij0-m-900.webp) ![Entrance leading down to the basement-level Indian restaurant](https://img.superchart.com/images/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer-02-24ydf-m-900.webp) ## Location and entrance of India The Durbar Samseong Station Branch The bold red sign is super visible even from far away haha. India The Durbar Samseong Station Branch is on the basement floor of a building. From the entrance it already screams "this is an Indian restaurant!!!" so it wasn't hard to find at all haha. 15 Samseong-ro 82-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, B1 Follow the stairs down and the restaurant appears. Since it was Robot's first time going for Indian curry, I acted like I knew things, saying "Here you tear off pieces of naan and dip it in the curry~" haha. Honestly though... Ayo isn't exactly an Indian food expert either lol. ![Stairs leading down to the restaurant entrance](https://img.superchart.com/images/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer-03-1i1cs-900.webp) ## What's the atmosphere like inside? Once inside, the space was bigger than I expected! There were quite a few tables, and one side had a slightly more separated seating area, so it seemed fine either for a date for two or a meal with a group. With brick and wood-tone interiors and Indian-style decor pieces scattered around, the whole place had a bit of an exotic feel. ![Spacious dining room with brick and wood-tone interior](https://img.superchart.com/images/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer-04-1set8-900.webp) ## The menu and picking curries There was a QR code at the table, which was convenient for ordering extras. But here's blogger Ayo's consideration for people like me who love browsing an actual menu — photos incoming, hehe. ![A page from the India The Durbar Samseong Station Branch menu](https://img.superchart.com/images/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer-05-wdon9-900.webp) ![Menu page listing set meals](https://img.superchart.com/images/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer-06-eqzku-900.webp) ![Menu page with curry types and descriptions](https://img.superchart.com/images/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer-07-8pjus-900.webp) ![Menu page listing naan and side dishes](https://img.superchart.com/images/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer-08-11nt9-900.webp) ![Menu page listing lassi and other drinks](https://img.superchart.com/images/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer-09-14qbc-900.webp) ![Last page of the menu showing add-on items](https://img.superchart.com/images/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer-10-1312f-900.webp) Even with the set, you still have to choose your curries, so came the moment of decision among so many options! There were so many kinds and I didn't really recognize most of them, so I was really grateful the menu descriptions were detailed haha. (Things we didn't study up on beforehand and only found out after we finished eating: 1) there's extra Indian rice if you're curious about it, 2) there are several kinds of lassi too, 3) and several kinds of naan too.) ![Lassi and soda placed on the table](https://img.superchart.com/images/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer-11-aejzt-900.webp) ## Lassi, soup, and tandoori chicken The drinks came out right after we ordered! It's basically a crime for Robot's first Indian curry visit to skip lassi...! Our order already came with two sodas, but you can't say you went to an Indian curry place without trying lassi, so we ordered it right away!! ![Indian-style soup served before the meal](https://img.superchart.com/images/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer-12-qzsv9-966.webp) And then the soup that came out first! It was smooth and nutty with a salty edge, good to have before diving into the curries properly. I asked Robot, "So how's the first course of your Indian curry experience?" but wait, if we finish everything now there's still so much more coming... ![A plate of fragrant, spiced tandoori chicken](https://img.superchart.com/images/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer-13-1vvy0-966.webp) And then the tandoori chicken showed up! The outside had a strong spice aroma with a slight kick, while the inside was juicy, so it was easier to eat than I expected. Honestly I've only been to Indian curry restaurants once or twice myself, tagging along with friends, but having everything included evenly in the set menu was really nice haha. ![Table set with tandoori chicken](https://img.superchart.com/images/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer-14-f9rmn-900.webp) ## How did the butter chicken and palak paneer taste? And finally, today's stars arrive. Two curries — one the familiar orange, smooth butter chicken, and the other the very green palak paneer. From the menu description it sounded like it'd be soft and delicious, and yeah I figured, but wow it's really that green? I'd confidently brought Robot here so I couldn't act surprised, casually dipped some naan in it, and yep — as expected, the green curry I picked was tastier haha. Robot agreed the green one seemed better too haha. ![Two bowls of curry — orange butter chicken and green palak paneer](https://img.superchart.com/images/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer-15-1hvrm-900.webp) ![Close-up of the creamy butter chicken curry](https://img.superchart.com/images/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer-16-11boj-900.webp) There were chunks inside — butter? cheese? — in the butter chicken! It had a tomato base, creamy and pleasantly sweet, easy to eat even if you're not used to spices! Robot had actually come along thinking, "Hmm, I don't like store-bought curry, but maybe Indian curry is different?" and ended up eating it happily, saying it was tastier than he expected. "See, that's why I said we should come~~" I said, feeling weirdly proud. Palak paneer is spinach-based, so just from the color it looks like it'd taste super healthy haha, but in reality it was way smoother and richer than expected. It wasn't like just blended spinach — it had a creamy, nutty flavor that went really well with naan. Taking a bite of butter chicken, then a bite of palak paneer, I thought they'd taste similar since they're both curries, but they were actually quite different, which made it fun to alternate between them. ![Two curries and a full table spread, good for alternating bites](https://img.superchart.com/images/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer-17-bbint-900.webp) ## Rice and naan — how much do you get? Curry needs rice! Robot happily dug into the rice, asking "Is this Indian rice?" Um... looks like Korean rice to me. (We only found out later, while taking photos of the menu, that you can order Indian rice separately if you want it.) ![A bowl of rice served alongside the curries](https://img.superchart.com/images/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer-18-jiirw-1200.webp) ![Mixing curry into the rice](https://img.superchart.com/images/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer-19-137xa-900.webp) Actually, Ayo loves naan and considered swapping the rice for naan, but Robot got fixated on rice, so the naan ended up being all mine haha. And it was so, so big that by the time Robot finished his rice and naan, I was already full just from the naan. ![Naan piled generously with palak paneer](https://img.superchart.com/images/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer-20-1xdzg-900.webp) The curries came in bigger portions than I expected, so sharing a bit of everything between the two of us filled us up quickly. Palak paneer was also great piled generously onto naan like this. The color might be a bit polarizing for some, but the flavor was milder and smoother than expected, so even Robot, trying Indian curry for the first time, ate it well. In the end, Robot's first Indian curry challenge was a success 👏🏻👏🏻 ## Curry combo recommendation if you're going with a first-timer If you're bringing someone trying Indian food near Samseong Station for the first time like we did, I'd recommend ordering a combo of one mild curry plus one unfamiliar curry to share, rather than sticking to just one kind haha. Robot's first visit to an Indian curry restaurant, after saying "I've never been to one," turned out to be a great success lol. What was great from my side too was that instead of everything being overwhelmingly spiced, there were dishes that were smooth and easy to eat overall, which made it a good place to bring along someone new to it. Especially ordering something familiar-tasting like butter chicken alongside something a bit different like palak paneer made the meal more fun. Tearing off naan to dip in curry, mixing curry into rice, working through the tandoori chicken one piece at a time — we left feeling very full and satisfied. If you're near Samseong Station or COEX and craving something a bit different from usual, or want to introduce someone like Robot who says "I've never had Indian curry before" to it haha, and you're looking for Samseong Station Indian food, India The Durbar Samseong Station Branch is worth a visit. Next time I'll have to try garlic naan and some other curries too :) ## Where it is - India The Durbar Samseong Station Branch (인디아더르바르 삼성역점) - 15 Samseong-ro 84-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, B1, South Korea - 서울특별시 강남구 삼성로84길 15 B1층 - 37.505651, 127.0588615 - Google Maps: https://www.google.com/maps/search/%EC%9D%B8%EB%94%94%EC%95%84%EB%8D%94%EB%A5%B4%EB%B0%94%EB%A5%B4%20%EC%82%BC%EC%84%B1%EC%97%AD%EC%A0%90/@37.505651,127.0588615,17z --- Superchart · https://superchart.com/en/@neighborhood-lunch-turns/samseong-indian-curry-first-timer-palak-paneer/ · https://superchart.com/llms.txt