INDIA RESTAURANT - 1060 Hope Street, Providence RI 02906

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Indian cuisine is best known for it’s rich flavors, spicy curries, and full bodied tastes. Like once a spoonful of a vindaloo hits your tastebuds, you’re suddenly transported to a street market in Mumbai (or at least that is how I feel whenever I eat Indian). But when you snap back to reality and realize you’re only in little old Rhode Island, you’ve gotta seek out the finest Indian food West of Bombay.
    For us, we found this meal at Indian Restaurant on the Providence Pawtucket line. And before we delve into our meal, we would like to pause for a moment and note the environment. As we walked into India, the small details are what caught our eyes. The creamy, textured wallpapers, the soft, warm lighting glowing through the perforated lamps hovering over the bar (seriously, we admired these lights for the entirety of our meal, they’re just tantalizing). The bright colors of the flowers and greenery surrounding the outdoor patios are enhanced by the string lights hanging above, and the red umbrellas are just begging for you to settle down on a sunny fall afternoon.

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Now, let’s get to the good stuff. We started off one our our most favorite apps, Naan. Naan is one of the most fabulous carbs known to man. So soft, so doughy. And to make it even more glorious, we had it topped with toasted, sweetened coconut. This could seriously double as savory and sweet! A sneaky way to have best of both worlds.
    A great way to have a taste of a few different options, we got the vegetarian platter. Complete with vegetable samosas (basically like little Indian dumplings filled with curry potato, peas, and a side of chutney), a kale and cucumber salad, and our fave, papri chaat. What is papri chaat, you ask? Indian style nachos! Yes, you heard right. Crispy naan chips, topped with chickpeas, cilantro, onions, and yogurt and a tamarind chutney. So take your preconceived thoughts that nachos require cheese and gauc and throw them out the window.

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To close out our round of appetizers, we had the Aloo Tikki; a pan seared potato patty served with chutney, chickpeas, cilantro, yogurt and scallions. Wonderful textures, and exotic tastes. What a treat!

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For an entree, we went with the vegetarian Saag. If Saag is something you have never experienced, it is time that you give this green goddess a chance. Saag is an aromatic green leafed based sauce served over jasmine rice. This dish has a very mild spice, with just the right undertone of heat.
    Finally, we went with the lamb chops. My god. Lamb is one of my favorite meats, especially when prepared in Indian cooking. These lamb lollies were tender, juicy, and the most perfect cool pink in the middle. These on-the-bone babies were succulent and served with a side of a cool mint sauce, rice, and a kale and cucumber salad. Enough to serve two, this dish was made for date night.

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And no dinner is complete with a cocktail, amiright?! We had heard through the grapevine that the margaritas at India were divine. And boy, did they deliver! Not only were they the sweet, puckering tang that we love about margs with a salty rim, they were massive. Like I mean, one-and-done massive. Big enough to assume it is for two, but hey, there’s only one straw in it! These XL margs come in a variety of flavors that will absolutely enhance any meal on the menu. 

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As a side note, India also serves brunch. Not just regular brunch, they do a brunch buffet. Yes, the best kind of brunch you can have. A mouth watering spread of all your favorite Indian dishes, and no one is going to judge when you get up for seconds. Or thirds. Come hungry to this one! ​

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​We would like to say thank you to all of the staff at India, who so warmly welcomed us and cleared a space for us to sit up on the bar! We loved every bite of our meal and can not wait to come back for more. Thank you!

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