It was the ‘90s when I first set foot inside India’s. I grew up on the eastern plains of Colorado and didn’t come to the “big city” that often when I was a kid. When we would venture to Denver, India’s was almost always a favorite destination for my family. I remember the excitement my brother, sister and I all felt when our parents would announce to us that we were going to India’s. We’d start daydreaming of garlic naan (which is a delicious flat bread), onion salad and a mango lassi (a popular beverage from India made with yogurt), and could never wait to get out of the car when we arrived in the parking lot.
Nowadays, being a resident of the Denver metro area, I frequent India’s as often as I can. Just thinking about the amazing balance of delicate flavors that grace my tongue every time I dine there immediately makes me salivate. And now, in an interesting twist of fate, whenever my family comes to visit, it’s one of the first places suggested when the inevitable question arises, “where should we eat?” I have eaten there dozens of times and never, not once, have I ever been disappointed with the food.
India’s offers a very large menu ranging from vegetarian, chicken, lamb, seafood and even a kids menu. They liberally employ a tandoor oven, which, as described on their website ”is used for tandoori meat preparation and baking tandoori breads. It is an earthenware pot, which is about four feet deep. The upper half slopes inward, thus presenting an opening about a foot in width. It is fired and heated with charcoal. The tandoori preparations tend to have a unique ‘earthy’ taste about them!” This traditional method adds so much to the unique flavor that comes with Indian cuisine, and they’re certainly not afraid to use it.
Like Thai cuisine, you can order your food as spicy as you like. However, I’d like to offer a little disclaimer: I love spicy food and have eaten tons of it, so I’m no lightweight when it comes to heat but at India’s, the extra hot…is HOT! But for those of you that enjoy milder cuisine, India’s has an unmistakable talent in making dishes palatable for those that do not like spice, and the lack of heat does not in any way take away from the ridiculously broad selection of wonderful flavors.
My favorites on the menu include the Lentil Soup, Boti Saag Anarkali (tandoori lamb cooked in a spinach cream sauce), Ticca Jehangir (tandoori chicken and shrimp in an exotically spiced cream sauce), Saag Paneer (creamy spinach with cubes of Indian cheese) and the Chicken Ticca Masala (boneless tandoori chicken cooked in an herb sauce). All of these dishes are best served with a piece of garlic naan, which can be used to scoop up the remnants of sauce at the bottom of the plate.
India’s also offers an all-you-can-eat lunch buffet for $8.95 that is available Monday through Saturday. I stopped in recently for lunch and they offered salad, soup, rice, tandoori chicken, vegetable fritters, naan, lentils, saag paneer, potato curry, chicken curry and rice pudding. Another high point to this restaurant is they offer a large selection of imported Indian beers. I’ve tried several of the imports and I enjoyed them all, but I especially like the “Old Monk 10000 Super Beer.”
During my last visit, I spoke with the manager, Singh, who informed me that India’s has been in business for 22 years. And I must say, for good reason! There are a lot of Indian places to choose from where you can spend your dining dollar, but in my opinion, India’s is the cream of the crop. If you haven’t checked this place out yet, get there as soon as you possibly can!
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India’s | 7400 East Hampden Avenue, Unit F - Denver, CO 80231 - (303) 755-4284 - IndiasRestaurant.com
