$$$$Price: Moderate • Indian • Emeryville
Very interesting Indian food, a mixture of offerings from the North (Punjab, Rajasthan) and from the South. Our starters, gongura chicken and dahi vada (lentil fritters in a yogurt sauce with tamarind and mint chutney) were absolutely delicious. We could have chosen better for the main courses. The dungeness crab with Goan spices was slightly overcooked--roasting too long makes the crabmeat shrivel, dry out, and stick to the shell, though it makes the shell very easy to crack--but the southern Indian sauce with it was excellent. I was curious to try the beef asado, since this is a dish rarely found and then only in Catholic or Muslim areas of Indian. (Hindus tar and feather those they suspect of eating beef.) It was served on a puffy naan, like a beef pizza, and the Goan spices didn't manage to give it enough flavor (the beef also would have had a bit more taste if cooked slightly less), while the chewy puffy naan didn't have much either--the restaurant's thinner regul;ar chili naan was far better--though it was very good when dipped in the spicy sauce for the crab. We had to wait too long for our main dishes, for a reason not clear to me.I suspect that other main dishes are better and look forward to exploring more of the very creative menu. With the meal we drank an excellent and reasonably-priced Willamette Valley pinot noir. Service was knowledgeable , friendly, and efficient, particular our server Ressard, with whom we enjoyed talking. This restaurant is more upscale than most Indian restaurants, and prices are correspondingly higher. On this chilly evening the restaurant was a bit cold inside. It was also quite noisy at first, even though not jam-packed, very resonant because of the high ceiling and lack of sound-absorbing surfaces. I think it deserves a more upscale location than the Emery Bay shopping mall, as would befit its aspirations, and should have one that accommodates restrooms inside, instead of sending clients out to those of the mall.
