Go to the mobile version of this Web site.

Login | Contact Us | Site Map | Paid archives | Electronic edition | Subscription Questions | Extras

DINING: Spices infuse tasty dishes, atmosphere

By Lori Midson, Special to the Rocky

Published September 25, 2008 at 7 p.m.

Text size  

More Dining

More stories »

From two blocks away, I could smell the seductive scents wafting from the kitchen at India's Pearl. And when I stepped through the heavy door, I could make out the pungency of cardamom, the nuttiness of toasted fenugreek, the bloom of mustard seeds after they've popped in hot oil and the sweetness of cloves and cinnamon. I could smell the perfume of garlic and onions, coriander and cumin and the unmistakable cachet of curry.

The assaulting spices were so intoxicating that I nearly collapsed to the ground in deference to the statuesque brass Buddha that stood before me.

Indian food does this to me.

"Do you have a reservation?" inquired the hostess, jolting me from my delirium.

I didn't, but despite a nearly booked room, she didn't bat an eye, leading us past the steep staircase and through the din to a spacious booth that sat directly in front of three walls of wine.

I gaped and gawked and nearly fell over.

Curry houses are not renowned for their wine lists.

But there, directly in front of me, was the exception to the rule, a huge colony of wines from nearly every wine-producing state (including Colorado) and country (including India) stacked from floor to ceiling. The book-bound list proffers more than 300 bottlings.

This may seem like a noble undertaking, but pairing Indian food with wine is a tough task. Aggressively layered with spices, it's a cuisine that usually lends itself to beer.

That said, it also goes well with Rieslings and shiraz, of which there are many on the list, including a Chateau Indage ($23), a fruity wine from India with soft tannins and a German Monchhof Urziger Wurzgarten Spatlese Ries with pronounced acidity, zingy peach accents and lingering citrus notes.

You could peruse the selections for hours, but then you wouldn't have time to study the voluminous menu, a medley of 160 (-plus) dishes. All of them are capped in a tiny font that requires a magnifying class, which your server obligingly brings with an understanding nod.

It's a multiregional menu that offers plenty of familiarity, but it also showcases modernized spin, hurling you into a whirlwind of diversity that positions Indian food as a legitimate cuisine, rather than a loop of tiresome standbys.

Among the starters, I loved the greaseless lamb samosas ($5.95), delicately fried, colored golden and plump with peas and sharply seasoned ground lamb.

A rich and buttery daal soup (4.95) kissed with cumin, fragranced with cilantro and smooth as cashmere, was so sublime we ordered two bowls - and wanted another.

Minced shrimp, mashed potatoes, sesame seeds and spices plumped up the shrimp tikki ($6.95), savory miniature ovals that really sprung to life when dipped into the tart and spicy mint chutney.

A lime-sprayed mango salad ($9.95), with smoky tandoori shrimp and peanuts, was delicious, but the heap of iceberg lettuce stowed beneath could easily feed a fleet of rabbits.

A melange of textures and tastes, the samosa chaat ($5.95) unleashed a flaky, seam-splitting samosa showered with pungent spices, sauced with cool yogurt and sweet tamarind chutney and wreathed in garbanzo beans. The tumble of contrasting flavors resulted in an exhilarating explosion in the mouth.

My favorite main course was the kerella prawns ($17.95), a brilliant balancing act of perfectly cooked shrimp bathing in a coarse sauce of coconut milk, ginger, roasted mustard seeds and red mangoes, heightened with the breath of fire.

The heat index extended to the lamb vindaloo ($14.95), tender cubes of lamb coated in a curry puckered with vinegar and redolent of cardamom and hot chiles. It will leave you sweating, but not gasping. This is a kitchen that doesn't believe in thrusting you into pain, although it's willing to increase the voltage if you ask.

There was no singe, however, to the tandoori duck ($19.95) served on a lukewarm silver platter, absent of smoke and sizzle, and strewn with raw onions and green peppers and shards of a well-done duck that died in vain.

The pheasant do piaza ($16.95), however, boneless knobs of fork-tender fowl cloaked in a sauce of roasted tomatoes, onions, garlic and ginger, smelled and tasted wonderful.

Upstairs in the lounge, the belly dancer had drawn quite a crowd. Bejeweled with bracelets, glitter and sequins, she was both bold and graceful, swiveling her hips to the exotic Bollywood music and shimmying between lounging barflies who tucked dollar bills beneath her gleaming shoulder straps.

Her sensuality was the perfect foil for the powerfully spiced and evocative food that comes from a pearl of a kitchen.

lmidson@gmail.com

India's Pearl

* Grade: B+

* Address: 1475 S. Pearl St.

* Hours: Lunch: 11 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. Mon.-Sat.; Dinner: 5 p.m.-10 p.m. nightly

* Food: Indian

* How much: $3.95-$9.95 starters; $3.95-$9.95 soups and salads; $5.95-$15.95 rice dishes; $10.95-$45.95 main dishes

* Reservations: Recommended on weekends

* Noise: There's a definite din, especially on weekend evenings

* Information: 303-777-1533 or indiaspearl.com

* Parking: Street parking, parking lot

Thali ho

I am not a proponent of Indian lunch buffets. In fact, I steer clear of them, mostly because what you often get is a hodgepodge of leftovers from the night before languishing in a warming pan for hours on end.

I'm also opposed to the all-you-can-stomach philosophy because, too often, I see people loading up their plates, twice over, only to leave as much as they've taken. That translates into a tremendous amount of wasted food.

India's Pearl seems to share in my gripes, because instead of serving a wearisome lunch spread, they offer a lunch thali, a single platter of myriad dishes that are made fresh-to-order. The menu changes daily but always proffers fluffy basmati rice and puffed naan, three appetizers, five entrees and two desserts.

On a recent outing, that included a vegetable samosa, tandoori chicken, a cucumber, tomato and lettuce salad, beef curry, chicken saag, aloo gobhi (cauliflower, potatoes and onions), tarka daal (herbed yellow lentils) and raita (yogurt with cubed cucumbers and Indian spices).

The beauty of the restaurant's thali is that you can order one of each dish or simply pick a few of your favorites. The portions won't coax you into gluttony, and the $9.95-per-person price tag is just as manageable.

Comments

  • September 26, 2008

    8:15 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    audrey80 writes:

    i love indian food so last week went in to try this new restaurant.....first of all,...it hardly feels like an indian restaurant....(i thought cow's were sacred in india ).....and what with the belly dancing.......isn't it middle eastern....well did'nt really score with me...