Brunch at Indika August 16, 2010
516 Westheimer Road
Houston, TX 77006
(713) 524-2170
www.indikausa.com
The Setup
This blog post is heavily loaded with photos so I’ll try my best to be concise and let the photos do a lot of the talking. Brunch here is $25 per person which does not include beverages, tax, or gratuity. The set up is an accommodating and efficient set up for brunch. There is a chaat bar where the starter plates and items on the starter plates are made. You don’t necessarily hover (though you can), the servers would bring you a starter plate with an entire sampling of the chaat (snacks) and you can request more specific items as often as you like. There is a dessert buffet where you serve yourself. Finally, for the entrees, there is a brunch menu and you can order whatever you like as much as you like. They recommend ordering 2 items at a time so you can pace yourself and so the food will stay warm. It’s a good sized menu. I have to half shamefully and half proudly admit, that Cindy and I sampled the entire menu. A very hard and painful feat, but a feat nonetheless!
The chaat bar
The dessert bar
Drinks
Mango Lassi ($3) and the Cha Cha Chai (not on menu, alcoholic chai drink)
I ordered the mango lassi which was very creamy and refreshing. The Cha Cha Chai is not on the menu but you can request it. It’s chai with an alcoholic and orangey twist. If you’re a fan of chai, this is a fantastic brunch drink order.
The Brunch Menu
Chaat plate
The server recommends eating the pooris by hand and just popping them in your mouth fully so it doesn’t crumble on your plate. I love the crunch giving way to cool light flavors of sauces and the heaviness of beans or lentils (dahl.) The sweet potato samosa was fried goodness. I’ve never had sweet potato as filling of a samosa. I could easily have a meal made up of just these bite-sized snacks.
Baby goat kidneys & onion masala on brioche
I think this is my 2nd to least favorite item on the menu. We were curious what goat kidneys tasted like. The seasoning was very Indian in taste and the kidneys were like most animal organs I’ve had, slightly rubbery.
Chicken cooked with ginger and black pepper
I’m a little uncertain what the sauce is made of. Tasted like a blend of Marsala and mushroom cream. This would be my least favorite and I think mostly because I couldn’t get around that the chicken was a little pink. Though the meat was close to the bone and meat can be a little pink around the bone.
Fish Head Patties with Cucumber raita
Loved the cool flavors and crunch of the cucumber raita. The fish head patties were decent. The fish a tad dry and tad fishy.
Chick pea crepe with spinach, squash, and chevre (goat cheese)
Man, my mouth is watering as I relive this chick pea crepe. There was also a few crunchy spears of asparagus. This was heavenly, the combination of the smooth goat cheese, the spinach and asparagus, and fluffy battered chick pea crepe.
Akuri (Parsi soft scrambled eggs)
Traditionally Akuri is spiced with ginger, coriander, chopped chilis, and black pepper. I could have sworn there’s a little bit of curry powder in this. Cindy was inspired by these scrambled eggs and I think she’s going to try to tackle recreating these at home. Soft, moist but not runny, and heavily spiced. It was the most unique scrambled eggs I’ve ever had.
Lamb paratha, marinated endive, fried egg
Inside view of the lamb paratha
Paratha is Indian flat bread. This one was ingeniously stuffed with spiced ground lamb and topped with endive and a runny fried egg. I love runny egg incorporated in my food. If i had to pick a favorite entree, this will be it.
Coconut pancakes with bananas and blueberries
The coconut pancakes were the last thing we ordered on the menu and I was already in serious pain. I also usually don’t like pancakes (too filling, too big!). I’m sharing the pain and my apathy for pancakes because it’s testament on how good these were. I loved these pancakes. The coconut flavoring and syrup, with whipped cream, and fried bananas. Just listing out the ingredients has my stomach growling. I had to consciously stop myself from finishing these off! We still had dessert left and I was in pain!
Finally, the desserts! I forgot to take pictures of the glorious oatmeal chocolate chip cookes (chunky, soft, gooey chocolate) and the really addicting chardamon shortbread cookies. I tapped out during our 2nd plate of desserts (pictured above). I only took a nibbling of the brittle, the chocolate dipped something, and the Guiness cake. All good but I was full. I didn’t touch the lemon tart because I’m not a lemony dessert girl. Finally! A conclusion to ONE meal.
After writing and reliving this visit to Indika, it has me both hungry and full. As you can see, Indika is not a traditional Indian restaurant, and is more Indian with a Western influence. I had an excellent brunch experience and would love to come back to try their dinners. Thank you, Cindy for finally taking me here! I know you’ve been rooting for Indika and my meeting for a quite a while now.
P.S. I forgot to mention I had breakfast two hours prior and ate my mom’s bun rieu. Ouch!