The smartest State Fair days do not start at the gate. They start a few minutes away, across I-30 in the Mount Auburn neighborhood, with lunch at Kalachandji’s.
There is a logic to it. The next six hours are going to be fried, battered, dipped, sugared and served on a stick. A plate of dal, rice and fresh vegetables first is less about virtue than about pacing. It also happens to be one of the most peaceful rooms in the city.
Kalachandji’s is inside the Radha Kalachandji Temple, East Dallas’ Hare Krishna temple, on the corner of Gurley and Graham. The building began life as Mount Auburn Christian Church. Devotees bought it in 1971, and the restaurant opened in September 1982, which makes this its 44th anniversary month and makes Kalachandji’s the longest-running vegetarian restaurant in Dallas.
First-timers always hesitate in the hallway, sure they have wandered somewhere they should not be. Keep going. It opens onto a courtyard shaded by a big tree, with a fountain running and tables scattered underneath. On a warm fair-season afternoon, that shade is worth the trip on its own.
The buffet changes every day, but the backbone never moves. There is always dal, a warmly spiced bean soup that regulars treat like a birthright. There is pulao, jasmine or basmati rice cooked with vegetables and nuts, along with brown rice. There is a sabji, the vegetable curry of the day, plus pakoras, crisp vegetable fritters in chickpea batter, with a fruit chutney for dipping and a jalapeño pickle for anyone who wants heat. Paper-thin pappadam, crackling and lightly spiced, go with everything.
The house breads deserve their reputation. Whole wheat and a raisin-studded cinnamon bread are baked every day, and you can buy a loaf on the way out. The drink is tamarind tea, tart and cold, better than lemonade on a hot day. Dessert is halvah, a fluffy toasted farina cake, or khir, a rice pudding scented with cardamom and rose.
What is not in the food matters as much as what is. The kitchen uses no meat, fish or eggs, and no onion or garlic, which Krishna tradition holds to be agitating to the mind. Asafoetida fills in for that savory depth. Nothing frozen or canned comes through the door, the cooking oil is coconut, and everything is vegan except the dishes marked for dairy. Each dish is prepared first as an offering to Kalachandji, the temple’s deity, before it reaches the buffet.
One set price covers the whole spread, soup, bread, salad, drink and dessert included. Then it is a short drive over to Fair Park, with room left for a corny dog, and maybe the fried Chocolate Corny Dog too.
Kalachandji’s, 5430 Gurley Ave., Dallas. Lunch is served Tuesday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 3 p.m. Dinner runs 5:30 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Closed Mondays. Call 214-821-1048. The State Fair of Texas opens Friday, September 25, and runs through October 18 at Fair Park.
