Growing up in a Southeast Asian household, I have always been accustom to eating indian food but I also remember dreading the days I had to eat it. My mom always did a good job incorporating other cuisines into our weekly meals such as Italian and Mexican. It wasn’t until I was older that I really appreciated the flavors and spices that come from my cultural background. My husband and I always find ourselves spicing up all our foods with unique flavors from India. When Indienne opened in Chicago I was excited to try it, but the reservations filled up quickly and we had to wait to get a reservation. We were uncertain at first if we wanted to do the tasting menu, and we actually had reservations to eat off the regular menu, but ironically there was a cancelation that night and they had a spot open up for the tasing menu. This is a decision we don’t regret- the food was so good that I am still thinking about it a solid week later. We did one vegetarian and one non-vegetarian tasting-make sure to tell them if you are a vegetarian who eats eggs!
I am going to start by outlining the 2 menus then I will go into my own thoughts on each menu item followed by final thought on the overall experience.
Vegetarian Tasting Menu
PASSION FRUIT (PANI PURI) buckwheat tart, avocado
MUSHROOM (GALAUTI) eclair, goat cheese, truffle
YOGURT (CHAT) crispy potato, raspberry, various chutneys
CAULIFLOWER (LIQUID BHAJI) sweet corn, pine nut thecha, crispy garlic POA, cultured butter
EDAMAME (SOMOSA) Yuba, yellow pepper pachadi, tomato achar, asparagus. ($6 chili-cheese kulcha supplement available)
MAITAKE (ALLEPPEY) moringa podi, sanas ($15 supplemental course)
PANEER (PATURI) swiss chard, young zucchini, kofta, makhani, fenugreek served with black dairy dal and garlic naan
BESAN (BARFI) opera, pistachio, milk ice cream, citrus chutney
TREATS PAAN-bonbon GUAVA- pate de fruit
Non-Vegetarian Tasting Menu
PASSION FRUIT (PANI PURI) buckwheat tart, avocado
MUSHROOM (GALAUTI) eclair, goat cheese, truffle
YOGURT (CHAT) crispy potato, raspberry, various chutneys
EGG (CURRY) sweet corn, crispy peas, crispy onion, millet POA, cultured butter
CHICKEN (MALAI TIKKA) terrine, leeks, amul cheese emulsion, burgundy truffle
LOBSTER (ALLEPPEY) butternut squash, moringa podi, sanas ($25 supplemental course)
LAMB (BURRAH) hemp seeds, peas, pepper, coconut, potato pave served with black dairy dal and garlic naan
RASMALAI (AIR) milk anglaise, pistachio, gold, honeycomb
TREATS AAM- bonbon CHAI- aero
Course 1 & 2
The passion fruit pani puri and the mushroom eclair came out together. The presentation stand was beautiful. We were instructed to eat the pani puri in one bite. The bite was literally explosive, first it tasted like passion fruit then it ended tasting like a traditional pani puri. It was engineered just perfectly. The second thing was the mushroom eclair. It was bold, it was light, it was savory and it was amazing. My husband and I love mushrooms and truffles more than anything, the goat cheese was also a nice flavor balance in the dish. As a pair, one of the items was more sweet and the other savory and it was perfect. At the end of course 1 and 2 we literally couldn’t wait for the rest. I don’t think that I would have changed anything about the pani puri or the eclair except to maybe have more.
Course 3
I think (I’m not sure) that the yogurt chat is my favorite menu item. I probably could have had 3 servings at once. The top was crunchy and the center was fluffy and airy. The flavors were amazing, not to sweet, not too much yogurt, not too many chutneys. It was made to perfection, served at the perfect temperature. I am not going to lie, I contemplated asking my husband for his portion to after I finished mine.
Course 4
We both actually got the egg curry, and if you are a vegetarian who eats egg, make sure you let them know, so you get the egg curry for this course. This dish brought us back to a popular Gujarati dish called pav bhaji. This is actually one of my husbands favorite Gujarati dishes so he really enjoyed this course. This dish was almost too pretty to eat. My favorite part of this dish was the perfectly runny egg, on and the poa (bread).
Course 5
Couse 5 was the first course that was different in the two menus. The chicken in my dish was cooked to perfection- I asked the server how the chicken is made so perfectly and he told me a long intricate process of the magic. Sounded like a science experiment. The amul cheese emulsion was rich and creamy and complimented the chicken well. The samosa was also amazing, it was an great twist to a traditional samosa, the gray on this was also creamy and full of flavor. We added the chili-cheese kulcha and it paired great with the gravies on both dishes. I loved how unique both dishes were. I honestly couldn’t really pick one being better than the other.
Supplemental Course
We opted to get the lobster supplemental course. Both my husband and I enjoy sea food and we both were excited to try it! It was well worth the upgrade. The lobster was cooked to perfection and it was in a butternut squash gravy and it was served with a side of what we though was khatta dhokla. I honestly think this was one of the best lobsters I have had in a while, especially in Chicago. It is rare to have such fresh lobster in Chicago. I would most definitely recommend this upgrade to anyone who likes seafood.
Course 6
This was the last course before dessert and it was great. I have never really loved lamb but this was probably one of the best cooked and flavored lambs I’ve ever had, the array or sauces were a great complement to the dish. At first I though that the potato pave was a pineapple, then I quickly realized it was a potato. Overall I liked this equally as much as the chicken, both flavored well and cooked perfectly. The paneer was also very good, made uniquely. Personally I don’t really like dal, in any form really but this dal was flavorful and buttery and amazing. The garlic naan was also a great complement to the last dishes and dal. I had my naan with the dal.
Course 7
The dessert was creative and executed perfectly. The rasmalai “air” was truly like eating air. The taste was exactly like rasmalai but it was light and airy, almost like magic. The second dish was also very good, the textures were unique and the ice cream was creamy and perfect. Honestly this was a great end to an amazing dinner experience.
Treats
After the tasting menu was complete we got some small treats. The paan bonbon tasted just like paan and the guava was very flavorful. They also gave us a third treat (because they didn’t have the chai one) and it was a liquid filled treat- it was very good but I can’t remember what it tasted like.
KOLKATA sweet & sour
Komet Indian single malt whisky, folded with fresh ginger and frosted mayo elixir, topped with a spritz of Islay Whiskey
DEHLI strong & refreshing
Banhez Mezcal, seamlessly infused with goat cheese & apricot, all carbonated in unison, served alongside grapefruit compressed with fermented honey & an agave nectar; garnished with smoked salt
GOA fizzy
A refreshing house blend vodka fizz made with a lavishly floral roasted cashew orgeat, powdered honey, sweet and sour tropical essence and top up with soda and garnished with nutmeg
San Francisco refreshing
A sotol collins featuring ono, honeydew, tomato & truffle foam with a hit of a chili garnished with an edible bouquet
Coctails
We tried four of the cocktails on the menu and we liked all of them. The cocktail selection process was also unique. They had the bar engineer come out and answer any questions we had about the bar menu.
I think all the cocktails were amazing. I think that we will most definitely do the wine pairing with the tasting menu.
Overall Indienne was one of the best indian restaurants I have had in the city, the experience was unique and the price point is reasonable considering you are in the city being treated to a 3 hour dining experience. The staff was friendly, and they worked in synchrony bringing out the right plates and utensils for our next course. Honestly it was amazing to see how so many staff members can work together in such synchrony without making a mistake. They literally ironed the table cloth to a crisp and clean finish. If you want to try this menu, you only have a few more weeks to try it, since the will be changing the tasting menu next year which we are SOOOOO EXCITED FOR! Click here to make your reservation before it’s too late!
🖤
Living My Best Life 