Why this place is so out of the way and receives so few reviews, I'll never know.
Aladdin Food Express is a bit out of the way for most Fort Wayners (or... well, anybody, tbh), yet it's easily the best Indian AND Burmese restaurant in town. This is not hyperbole: The cantina serves two different menus, one Indian and one Burmese, each handled by a chef from their respective country. It's basically two restaurants in one. (One time, the Indian chef went on vacation while the Burmese chef was still working, so we couldn't have our fix of Butter Chicken.) The Indian chef also looks like he could be our prof. Eh, question his life decisions all you want. We have many profs, but only one Aladdin.
So how does Aladdin taste? Amazing, actually. Even the fried chicken is good, and I heard a couple folks order the pizza. Y'know, just in case you brought that new friend from work along and they couldn't stand this ethnic food. This fried chicken is Indian-spiced so it's not as famous as Lee's, but you know what they say. All the bestest things can be found on the down low.
So after having ventured this far across town to enjoy some American fare, you may now wonder what the Indian stuff tastes like. Y'know for dessert. Let me tell you this: The butter chicken is DIVINE, and the lamb shank dinners are about the cheapest price you'll pay for finished lamb shank anywhere, while still maintaining quality and an American portion of sides. Personally, I found the lamb shank a tad chewy and didn't have much meaty flavor, so I didn't enjoy it as much as the one at Halal Eats', but darn it is a good value. The biryanis and tandoori stuff are great as well. Only thing that would make it better is if they used a higher meat-to-rice ratio on the biryanis, but for the price they are charging in this economy, I really can't complain too much.
So yeah, Indian chef's solid. You know what's not just Aladdin's, but Fort Wayne's best-kept secret though? Burmese cuisine. Fort Wayne is one of the VERY FEW places in the entirety of America where you can find Burmese food, and most of them advertise as Thai. That being said, the thokes (Burmese salads) provided at Aladdin are superb. The laphet thoke (tea leaves salad) can be used as an appetizer, dessert, side, or, since it's an American portion for $7, as a way to have your day's worth of food on a college budget. The ame ou thoke (honeycomb tripe) is normally hot as hell, but I think they toned the spicy down a notch recently. Since the biryani lacks meat and the ame-ou packs heat, I find combining the two to be a worthwhile experience. Asian Fusion, baby!
Mohinga is always great and always out of stock, so I just have my friend's mom make it for me. Thanks (friend's) mom!
TL;DR If there were more Aladdin Food Expresses, we could've achieved world peace. read more