Indian and Cuban food vendors spice up Kern’s Food Hall | Grub Scout

Two new food vendors opened for business recently at Kern’s Food Hall, which prompted me to head back to South Knoxville to check out the latest arrivals. After all, I’m all about keeping up with new eateries. Our targets this time around were Ooh Lala Indian Kitchen and Hemingway’s Cuban Kitchen.

This was an easy situation for The Grub Spouse and me to negotiate. The Spouse loves Cuban food, while I love Indian (and The Spouse does not). We entered the Kern’s facility together on last week’s visit but soon went our separate ways. (Actually, the two food stands are adjacent to each other.)

Ooh Lala offers a broader menu than most food-stall operations of this type. You could start with Manchurian fritters, chili chicken or shrimp, Apollo salmon or lamb sukha as an appetizer, to mention a few of the available items. I went with the two-piece vegetable samosa ($6) – potatoes and peas wrapped in pastry and deep-fried. It’s served with both mint and tamarind sauces.

Entrees include both vegetarian and nonvegetarian entrees. The former are represented by the likes of butter paneer masala, daal tadka (boiled lentils) and choley masala (soft-boiled chickpeas). The latter feature dishes like butter chicken, kadai shrimp and a choice of curry chicken, lamb or shrimp. I ordered the chicken tikka masala ($15), a gravy-based dish made with chicken, onions and bell peppers. I tacked on an order of plain naan for $2.99.

For the record, the menu also offers 10 different tandoor-oven creations — several kababs, salmon, chicken — as well as four biryani dishes and a build-your-own-bowl option that allows for customization of base style (curry or tandoor), rice base, protein, greens and sauces.

Meanwhile, The Spouse was looking at Cuban appetizers like chicharrones (pork belly), empanadas, tostones rellenos, croquetas made with chorizo and cheddar, and the Cuban salchipapa (made with chicharrones, shredded pork and melted cheese). There are also sandwiches made with chicken, steak, snapper and a vegetarian-friendly black bean and plantain burger. This menu also had a build-your-own-bowl section.

The Spouse went uber-traditional by ordering the Hemingway Cuban ($16.99), a classic sandwich made with house-roasted pork, salami, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles and their house-made mustard. It’s assembled on authentic Cuban bread from La Segunda Bakery. Sangria, beer, coffee drinks and desserts round out the menu, but The Spouse declined them all.

We set up camp at a table in the central dining area, and The Spouse received a text alert within just a few minutes. Our rule in such situations is not to wait on each other, because preparation times can vary so much from vendor to vendor. So I watched The Spouse eat, except for my sample bites, which I thought were very good. The inclusion of salami is a slight twist on the traditional Cuban recipe, but it worked in this case. I also thought highly of the yucca fries that accompanied this sandwich.

Unfortunately, there was no overlap in our dining. The Spouse wrapped things up with that sandwich and fries, and I was still waiting. In fact, more than 20 minutes passed altogether before I received a text saying my order was ready. At least there was some payoff involved. Although my go-to Indian curry dish is a korma, it wasn’t an option with Ooh Lala, but I liked the chicken tikka masala very much. The gravy was intoxicatingly seasoned and spiced, and the semi-crispy naan made for some great dipping. The piping-hot samosas were a nice veggie complement to the meal.

I’ll always grumble about food-court price points (my one meal alone, including a drink, was $32 before tip), but that’s the dining-out world we live in these days, I reckon. Setting that aside, I can say that I felt as solid about these two new arrivals at Kern’s Food Hall as I have any of their predecessors. So far, Kern’s is batting a thousand in my book; if only eating there didn’t cost so much bread …

Kern’s Food Hall

Address: 2001 Kerns Rising WayHours: 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays; 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and SaturdaysAlcohol service varies from vendor to vendor.

Ooh Lala

Food: 4

Service: 3.5

Overall: 3.75

Hemingway’s Cuban Kitchen

Food: 3.75

Service: 3.75

Overall: 3.75

This expanding SoKno food hall offers/will offer a tempting array of food vendors, retail shops and service providers, all in a fun, casual indoor/outdoor setting.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Grub Scout: Indian and Cuban food vendors spice up Kern’s Food Hall