Markets with a Restaurant Inside - Indian - Standard Sweets and Spices

Standard Sweets and Spices - Indian Market/Restaurant

Modest outside but fabulous food inside

Standard Sweets and Spices is an Indian Market located in a nondescript strip center on Dakota near Blackstone (1819 E Dakota Ave, Fresno, CA 93726). The restaurant is in the back of the market. Like many restaurants tucked away in market, the food is much better than ambiance.  https://www.facebook.com/StandardSweets/

Well stocked shelves

They serve lunch and dinner.  You order and pick up your food at a small pass-through. The menu is on the wall, with paper copies on the counter.  There is self-serve water. They have containers of delicious spicy and salty vegetable condiment and sweet tamarind sauce for each table.

Menu Snapshot

The chef rings a bell when your food is ready.  You can order take out or eat at one of 7 modest tables.  We were there before 6 PM on a Saturday, two tables were reserved, and  nobody else sat to be served in restaurant, but there was a steady stream of customers in store, plus two take-out customers.

We ordered Samosa Chana as an appetizer, and Goat Curry and Alo Gobi as main dishes. The goat curry came with basmati rice, and we ordered garlic naan. We had chai tea and finished the meal with Ras Malai for dessert. One of our party ordered the traditional Indian chai tea.

Top - samoas. Left top - Aloo Gabo. Right top - nann bread. Left bottom - basmati rice. Right bottom - goat curry.

• Somosa Chana was nicely spiced, warm inside with a wonderful spicy chickpea and onion accompaniment.
• Garlic nann bread was nice and crispy on the outside and soft inside. 
• Goat curry was melt-in-your-mouth tender with a blend of spices that took away all gaminess. 
• Basmati rice was tasty and firm, perfectly cooked. 
• Alo Gobi was fine but just okay compared with the outstanding dishes surrounding it. 

Chai Tea

• Chai tea had more honey than spices. If you like chai sweet, you will be happy
• Ras Malai is a very cool and sweet dessert with an unusual taste. Rice flour doughnuts sit in very sweet milk flavored with cardamom and sprinkled with crushed pistachios.

Ras Malai dessert

 On the way out, you pay at cashier in the store in front next to the deli and baked goods.We bought two pieces of besan, an Indian sweet that is pure sugar, ghee, and chickpea flour. The besan is like an Indian halvah, a cross between cake and fudge, and tastes slightly sweet. 

Besan - an Indian sweet (looks are deceptive - tastes good)

This place is a hidden treasure, and the prices are very reasonable. A quality and full dinner for two including dessert was about $30.