Indique

[sara]

Went again for those kickin tamarind margaritas and some spicy eats last night. Mazman and I had the calamari (to which I am now fully addicted), the Cornish Hen, and the lamb shank. All beautifully spiced, the sides were fab as always. My only complaint--they need more than one ladies room! I went downstairs around 8 pm only to encounter a line of 5 (FIVE!) women waiting for the one stall. Jeeez....

[Monica Bhide]

I have not tried their cornish hen... maybe tonite.... although this late its impossible to get a reservation there

[Al_Dente]

I have not tried their cornish hen... maybe tonite.... although this late its impossible to get a reservation there

I love the quail appetizer but don't remember seeing cornish hen. Is that new?

[sara]

Don't know if it's new...We walked in (2 of us) at 7:45 last night and were seated immediately. Guess it is Friday night tho, should be busier. Thankfully, I still have tons of last night's leftovers to enjoy tonite!

[cjsadler]

Had lunch at Indique yesterday with a friend. If you go for lunch, you'll likely have the entire place to yourself like we did. It's a deal too, with most entrees at $8-9, including naan and soup or salad, and apps for $4-5. However, both our entrees were quite oily (Lamb Niligiri Korma and Bhartha), which was a real disappointment to both of us. Too much oil and ghee seems to be the problem with 90% of Indian restaurants in the US. We've both been to Indique on several occations and the food has always been excellent, so imagine it's either the lunch chef or just an off day.

[JennyUptown]

Just when I didn't think I could find anything new to say about Indique...

A friend and I stopped in for a late lunch today. We sat out on the balcony which was lovely (only a very few tables inside were occupied as it was 2 pm and service shuts down at 3). We decided to share an appetizer and an entree which ended up being just the right amount of food.

There were two pleasant surprises this time. When we ordered our paneer shashlik (Indian cheese skewered with vegetables like tomatoes, red and green peppers, and onions; price forgotten) and chicken tikka makhani ($9; not adventurous, I know, but enjoyable), our server noted that it came with soup or salad. We chose the soup, a "cream of kidney bean" expecting to taste it, say "whatever" and move on. Instead of the usual broth with beans or something thicker, this was basically an essence of bean. The consistency wasn't at all what we expected but the flavor was excellent. After a few spoonfulls, we requested that our garlic naan be served early for dunking in the soup - perfect.

A nice touch: when our entree came, the server brought out a small fresh naan gratis to replace the one that had cooled post-soup.

The shared portions were just what we needed. Our bill was $19 and change before tip.

[JennyUptown]

Indique's updated web site features beautiful photographs of select dishes.

Just thought you'd want to see!

[JennyUptown]

Last week I had dinner at Indique and although I had previously said hello to Chef Vinod, this time I had a proper introduction to him - what a lovely, warm man! We had a very enjoyable discussion of Indian food and Chef Vinod encouraged my friend and me to try some menu offerings beyond our old favorites.

During our dinner we enjoyed some dishes similar to what I think was served at Monica's Indian "street foods" event including bhel puri (rice puffs and crisp gram flour noodles tossed with cilantro and tamarind chutney) and chaat papri (flour crisps, potatoes, chic peas mixed with yogurt, cilantro and tamarind chutney). The food was delicious, but what I appreciated most was the time we spent with Indique's warm and wonderful host.

[bilrus]

Last week I had dinner at Indique and although I had previously said hello to Chef Vinod, this time I had a proper introduction to him - what a lovely, warm man!  We had a very enjoyable discussion of Indian food and Chef Vinod encouraged my friend and me to try some menu offerings beyond our old favorites.

During our dinner we enjoyed some dishes similar to what I think was served at Monica's Indian "street foods" event including bhel puri (rice puffs and crisp gram flour noodles tossed with cilantro and tamarind chutney) and chaat papri (flour crisps, potatoes, chic peas mixed with yogurt, cilantro and tamarind chutney).  The food was delicious, but what I appreciated most was the time we spent with Indique's warm and wonderful host.

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No question - Chef Vinod is a nice fellow. Several months after the eGullet dinner there he recognized my wife and me and came over to chat (along with an order of the best Galub Jamun I've ever had).

[JennyUptown]

Since meeting Chef Vinod, I have been encouraged to try new things at Indique. My favorite dish of late is the oothapam. Indique's online menu describes it thusly:

Mini Oothapam $5

A mini savory pancake made with ground lentils and rice with your choice of spiced toppings, vegetable/chicken, served with assorted chutneys

So darn good. We had the chicken version and it might supplant the deconstructed samosa as our go-to appetizer.

Rocks, Chef Vinod said he heard you visited recently and was very disappointed to have missed you.

[JennyUptown]

Indique is one of my go-to restaurants. I really enjoy the food, accompanied by a bottle of Indian beer.

But there's one thing that drives me crazy:

The takeaway containers!

I don't mean the ones you get if you call in and pick up an order. Those are fine usually. But the ones for leftover dishes? Those useless white styrofoam trays? UGH, the WORST. Especially when I'm trying to take home lovely soupy things like daal.

If the container isn't sucking out the moisture, it's leaking sauce everywhere.

Chef Vinod, are you reading? Please consider providing more of the nice plastic sealable containers so I can enjoy every last leftover bit of Indique's delicious food.

Please?

[Busboy]

Our last experience at Indique was brutally unfortunate. I like Indique enough -- from previous visits -- to give it a a bit of slack. But, boy, just thinking about it now makes me think of how bad a place can be.

I'm looking forward to a post that tells me that I just hit it at a bad moment. Until then, there are other places to go.

[bilrus]

Our last experience at Indique was brutally unfortunate.  I like Indique enough -- from previous visits -- to give it a a bit of slack. But, boy, just thinking about it now makes me think of how bad a place can be. 

I'm looking forward to a post that tells me that I just hit it at a bad moment.  Until then, there are other places to go.

←

Cooking, service, everything? I've always had good luck but it's been since last summer since I was there.

[Busboy]

Just to be clear, we had a very bad night, but I'm sure I'll give it another try. If past visits hadn't been so wonderful, we wouldn't have been so disappointed with that one. I am eager to have someone prove me wrong on this.

Busy Friday night, random service -- you had to tackle your waiter to get a martini, you never quite knew whan anything was going to show up and in the end it all kind of showed up at once -- and curiously bland food. No zing.

I need my zing, man.

[JennyUptown]

My visits have been pretty consistent, however I too get frustrated anytime I go to Indique during prime time (Friday or Saturday nights). It's a great Sunday night spot, though!

This past Sunday, we had the paneer shashlik (grilled Indian cheese cubes skewered with onions and peppers and served with a scoop of rice) and the neo-classical deconstucted samosa (always good). Really, the only appetizers I haven't liked there were the crab tikki (fishy on both times I tried it) and the chaat whose proper name is escaping me (I think it's an acquired taste/texture thing).

Our entrees were the usual chicken chicken tikka makhani (not a daring selection, but a very delicious one) and the lamb shank (huge and wonderful).

Edited June 21, 2005 by JennyUptown (log)