For Niles eatery, Groupon ad hasn't curried any favor — yet

The 7-year-old Niles restaurant has experienced back-to-back publicity bonanzas: the Super Bowl ad, of course, seen by 111 million viewers, but also an appearance two nights earlier on WTTW's "Check, Please!"

Surely fish curry is flying out the doors now, right?

"No, not really, it's not making a difference," one server said Tuesday afternoon.

Vivek Kunwar, the restaurant's owner, is more optimistic: "Right now, I don't think people are jumping and driving to our restaurant right away because of the weather. But with the exposure, it will definitely have an effect."

As for the fish curry: Calling it amazing, as Timothy Hutton did in the commercial, might be a stretch. But it is quite good. It's north Indian-curry as exported to mid-20th century England, the turmeric-yellow stew with a perpetual orange surface slick.

It has the standard dozen ingredients and spices: coriander, cumin, cilantro, green onions, tomatoes and as much chili powder as you can handle. I ordered medium-hot, and the curry turned my head into a sniffles machine.

With curry this brawny and assertive, any fish flavors stand no chance. Mahi-mahi is a neutral-tasting whitefish anyway, so instead we judge texture, and its firm-but-flaky meat makes this a fine choice of protein.

The best thing I can say about this curry, any curry, is that the flavors are well-balanced, its spiciness a loud presence without being an overburden.

The verdict? Insensitive ad, hyperbolic ad copy, nice restaurant, decent curry.