Traditional Thanksgiving is full of the usual colors: green beans, brown turkey, white mashed potatoes. Our Thanksgiving had the same colors…green saag paneer, brown naan, white rice, but more exciting flavors. If I say so myself.
My family and I went to Indique for Thanksgiving dinner last week. It was one of the few restaurants open in D.C. for Thanksgiving night, which was good, seeing as I had no food in my fridge besides listeria-prone Sabra Hummus. There were a surprising amount of people out for dinner on a holiday traditionally meant for “home” but it was definitely comforting.
The name of the restaurant is a combination of “India” and “unique.” Pretty clever! It’s right outside the Cleveland Park metro station, which is incredibly convenient as well. The restaurant has two floors, decorated in white marble designed to look like the Taj Mahal, beautiful Indian art, and sparkly mirror-adorned candle holders.
To start off, we had the “Duo of Chaat.” This is basically a street food made with fried flour crisps, onions, chutney, chickpea noodles, and yogurt. They gave us two types, one was more noodle heavy, and the other had big flour crisps with spiced yogurt. Both. Were. Amazing. The flavors were right, it was the right mix of crunchy, cool, hot, and just yummy.
After the appetizers, we knew this place was going to be good. For dinner, we ordered a couple of entrees and naan, pretty typical at North Indian restaurants. We had the saag paneer, spinach with cheese chunks, and Kerala Fish Curry. We also had the cucumber raita, a yogurt sauce, and onion kulcha and garlic naan, two types of Indian flatbreads.
Everything was so good! This was some of the best saag we’ve had at a restaurant. It was nice and thick, flavorful, and not watery. The fish curry was pretty spicy, but the fish was incredibly soft and tender. The cod was cooked so well it almost tasted like seared scallops, tender and juicy. The curry also had mushrooms, which I wasn’t too big a fan of. The raita cooled us down.
And last, dessert! The menu was really extensive menu, about ten items. I loved the variety. We took a risk and went with the Tamarind Vanilla Swirl ice cream, and the Mango Cheesecake.
The mango cheesecake was more like a mango pie, or a no-bake cheesecake. Really yummy, but not really the cheesy texture. It was served with mango ice cream and a mango/raspberry sauce. Lovely dish! The tamarind ice cream was really unique, sour and pungent but still great texture with the ice cream. I wish the salted caramel sauce on the bottom was a little stronger to balance out the sour of the ice cream. but really a great mix.
I was thoroughly impressed with this restaurant. Usually, my parents and I have a lot of critical words for Indian places, but this place was pretty great. The service could have been a little faster, but it was Thanksgiving and we were grateful the place was open and the employees were willing to work. The food was yummy and flavorful, it was served on a timely basis, and the menu was expansive and included more than just the typical north Indian food. If you have a three course meal, it can get a little pricey, but its a really nice splurge.
The Bottom Line
Wonderful Indian food, great atmosphere, creative menu!
Cone Rating: 4.5 Cones
Price: $$$$ (30$ and up)
Location: Cleveland Park Metro, Washington, DC
On the Internet: Indique Website and Yelp page
aditi eats 