Something we don't get enough of around here lately, IMO......random restaurant reviews.
Last weekend, we went to Indika, a Monstrose area Indian place, and good golly miss molly.........it was out of this world.
We had a group of 8, and the sat us in the back, in what wasn't really a room, but was sort of semi-private from the rest of the place. It was perfect.
The staff was top notch.......hip, but not pretentious.....very helpful with things we didn't understand about the menu. Our first bottle of wine was on the warm side, well above the mid-60 degree preferred temp, and they took it back with no questions, and the other 5 (or 6? 7?) bottles were perfect.
The atmosphere is open, bright and airy, but the seating is such that you are not just in the middle of a big room......the place is relatively small in square feet, but big in volume....2-3 story open ceiling. Very light colored walls with modern pastel accents.
Our waiter was a tatooed bald guy, who expertly and graciously fielded our barrage of questions as we sat down --- a few of us in the group are self-proclaimed foodies. He took excellent care of us all night.
For well over an hour, we ordered appetizers, one after another (in no particular order), some we chose, and some were recommended:
Banana leaf steamed mustard scallops;
Crabmeat samosas, papaya ginger chutney, endive salad;
Corn and Mint Chaat Salad;
and the Chaat tasting platter
Each and every one was outstanding.
The entrees were as varied as the appetizers, and I think we only got 4 or 5 of them between the 8 of us.
I recall the "gunpowder salmon", and the grilled venison (Axis) chops and the "patra fish".
Take a look at the menu online, and you'll see all of the various ingredients used in each dish.
We were totally surprised by the use of mint, coconut and cilantro.
We selected the Benton Lane 2006 Pinot Noir from the wine list, at $44 a bottle, and honestly can't remember how many we had....at least 5, maybe 7? There were a couple of cocktails, and one guy was drinking beer..........and our total tab, tip included (15% was included, but we bumped it up to around 20%) was about $150 per couple.
Definitely going to put this one on my "A list".
Last weekend, we went to Indika, a Monstrose area Indian place, and good golly miss molly.........it was out of this world.
We had a group of 8, and the sat us in the back, in what wasn't really a room, but was sort of semi-private from the rest of the place. It was perfect.
The staff was top notch.......hip, but not pretentious.....very helpful with things we didn't understand about the menu. Our first bottle of wine was on the warm side, well above the mid-60 degree preferred temp, and they took it back with no questions, and the other 5 (or 6? 7?) bottles were perfect.
The atmosphere is open, bright and airy, but the seating is such that you are not just in the middle of a big room......the place is relatively small in square feet, but big in volume....2-3 story open ceiling. Very light colored walls with modern pastel accents.
Our waiter was a tatooed bald guy, who expertly and graciously fielded our barrage of questions as we sat down --- a few of us in the group are self-proclaimed foodies. He took excellent care of us all night.
For well over an hour, we ordered appetizers, one after another (in no particular order), some we chose, and some were recommended:
Banana leaf steamed mustard scallops;
Crabmeat samosas, papaya ginger chutney, endive salad;
Corn and Mint Chaat Salad;
and the Chaat tasting platter
Each and every one was outstanding.
The entrees were as varied as the appetizers, and I think we only got 4 or 5 of them between the 8 of us.
I recall the "gunpowder salmon", and the grilled venison (Axis) chops and the "patra fish".
Take a look at the menu online, and you'll see all of the various ingredients used in each dish.
We were totally surprised by the use of mint, coconut and cilantro.
We selected the Benton Lane 2006 Pinot Noir from the wine list, at $44 a bottle, and honestly can't remember how many we had....at least 5, maybe 7? There were a couple of cocktails, and one guy was drinking beer..........and our total tab, tip included (15% was included, but we bumped it up to around 20%) was about $150 per couple.
Definitely going to put this one on my "A list".
