Indika

In Short – Owner and chef Anita Jaisinghani brings her innovative Indian menu to a more spacious and updated Montrose address. The décor is contemporary and welcoming, tinged with saffron and dark woods. Regulars will delight in menu standards like the inventive appetizers, roasted eggplant, paneer and slow cooked meat dishes in addition to newer flavor offerings. Weekday lunches delight with fresh flavors, entrée-sized salads, naan sandwiches and curries. Dessert is a standout. –

Editor's Tips

Save Money:: Enjoy a separate bar bites menu while taking advantage of half-off drink specials during happy hour. Available from 5pm-7pm on weeknights.
The Extras:: Cooking classes are offered at the restaurant on the fourth Sunday of each month. The cost is $75 per person. Check their website for a full schedule.
When to Go:: Saturday nights Indika will be featuring live music.

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User Reviews (45)

ambiance	100.0% positive	“The service was very good and the decor is great.” “Service and decor were both good.” “the ambiance is amazing just like the food.” “The ambience was very nice and quiet as well.” “Houston has several good Indian restaurants but this is the only good Indian fusion I have found and I will continue to make the drive to its outside the loop location.” “The atmosphere is fun and certainly hip, however I don't think we can compare this place to Tabla in New York City.” “This is a WONDERFUL restaurant, and I love the new location!” “The decor is lovely and inviting and the atmosphere was very nice and quiet on a Thursday night.” “This place has beautiful and hip decor, attentive staff and great food.” “I have been there more than a few times in the last few years and have always enjoyed the food and ambience, both of the previous location as well as the current one.” “Indika has a fun, vibrant atmosphere with good service.” “Highly recommended for food; average ambience” “It is a nice building at a great location.”
dessert	75.0% positive	“For dessert, the rose petal and raspberry cake which we were excited about was dry and I found it inedible.” “The signature warm and crumbly cookies, gratis.” “Thank you for the fabulous dessert options-Chikoo ice cream, Halva and the Chocolate Mohanthal(my indian word for it).” “The check is served with delicious little cookies.”
drinks	100.0% positive	“The food and drinks did arrive quickly and our waitress did have some helpful suggestions for the menu.” “The bar was quite a pretty people scene.” “the drink are amazing and the polar opposite of generic.” “The cocktails were good and very unique--both me and my mom enjoyed ours greatly.” “Rusty, the manager, used to be a manager at Cafe Annie, and knows how to deliver platinum service and recommend the finer wines.” “It was a great place to go if you want to splash a little bit for a nice bottle of wine and dinner.”
food quality	84.86000061035156% positive	“This place has beautiful and hip decor, attentive staff and great food.” “Expensive, small portions, but creative and tasty” “The eggplant and the duck are our favorite dishes, but there is a lamb combo that our friends shared that looked delicious.” “Not only great food, but excellent service as well.” “Note: The quality of the fine liquors was delightful however I must point out that 1) they were not made by Indika and so I cannot credit them for this 2) we came for the food.” “have read some questionable reviews about this place but I have gone twice with nothing but perfect service & food!” “liked my dish however my wife thought her food was not pleasant at all.” “Goat brain is a Mongolian dish, but they call it Indian Fusion, absolutely ridiculous, and it tastes absolutely awful.” “The dishes are overpriced and even the spiciest food is not mildly spicy by Indian standards.” “The food is great.” “Highly recommended for food; average ambience” “The same is true for the menu, which is not traditional Indian but creative and delicious.” “best fusion indian food i have ever had!” “I have been there more than a few times in the last few years and have always enjoyed the food and ambience, both of the previous location as well as the current one.” “The food was good, but the restaurant was pretty cramped.” “The fish was very very fresh.” “And even when they use good ingredients, they mask pleasant flavors with too much spice (and sauces that they lazily use on several dishes).” “also, my chaat (mixed food snacks) was quite good except for a nasty syrupy-sweet tamarind sauce.” “Don't order the chicken tikka masala appetizer.” “That is a fantastic time to sneak in with no crowds for an excellent meal.” “That is another great experience and she does have a little fusion there as well to go along with the traditional dishes.” “(for reference, i love 'tabla' in new york: classy, inventive, authentic in ingredients, modern in presentation.)” “The food was great.” “like spicy food, but I expect a complex intermingling of flavors in a sophisticated mileaux.” “The food and the service are very good.” “Eating at Indika's is the closest this college student can get to being a guest judge on Iron Chef; the dishes are that delicious, and that creative.” “However, the food was not all that great.” “I've been a few times, and I think it is possible to have a great meal there.” “The check is served with delicious little cookies.” “eat expensive food to enjoy delicate flavors and flawless service.” “guess Fusion stands for sorry this tastes bad, but since it is fusion it is great since we try to fuse terrible indian, with Indonesian, philipino and Thai food.” “Wonderful food - real Indian!” “The lamb chops perfect.” “Everything here is delicious, but I would especially suggest the Eggplant stuffed with paneer and cashews - which should prove any meat lover that vegetarian dishes can be just as fulfilling - and the sweet potato samosas as an appetizer.” “The food has never failed us.” “The Turboozen (cocktail) was bland although the basil and mint floating in it were delicious, together with the grapefruit and vodka it faintly tasted of soap but grows on you as the liquor takes its course.” “the ambiance is amazing just like the food.” “Decent food, overpriced- Abosoluely some of the worst service I've experienced in Houston!” “The food and drinks did arrive quickly and our waitress did have some helpful suggestions for the menu.” “The flavors are unique and dishes are wonderful.” “Before I ate here, I had a misconception of "fusion" cuisine as being watered-down and Americanized, but the owner-chef has come up with some absolutely amazing combination of ingredients and flavors.” “now i love traditional indian food, true to my roots.” “lived in NYC for several years, and the quality of this food reminds me of some of the great NYC Indian restaurants, like Dawat.” “So I took a friend who loves Indian cuisine and we checked out the restaurants happy hour.” “However the food was very unique.” “We especially liked the samosas and dipping sauce.” “The food is disgusting.” “Indika has amazing food.” “The use of pomegranate seems to be a theme in many dishes and I think that added tangyness is wonderful.”
menu variety	80.0% positive	“Our waiter and bartender was impressively familiar with the menu and made great suggestions for us.” “Im impressed with the modern-folk interior design, everchanging menu, attentive, polite, and knowledgable staff.” “Thank you for the fabulous dessert options-Chikoo ice cream, Halva and the Chocolate Mohanthal(my indian word for it).” “The food and drinks did arrive quickly and our waitress did have some helpful suggestions for the menu.” “The same is true for the menu, which is not traditional Indian but creative and delicious.”
overall	80.0% positive	“great place to entertain guests.” “Anyway, I have to say Indika is by far my favorite restaurant in Houston, perhaps my favorite of all time.” “This is not by any means the best Indian restaurant in Houston.” “think Indika is a great place for birthdays, because one can escape Houston and feel somewhere modernly exotic.” “It was a great place to go if you want to splash a little bit for a nice bottle of wine and dinner.”
service	76.60999774932861% positive	“The food and drinks did arrive quickly and our waitress did have some helpful suggestions for the menu.” “service was mediocre.” “Not only great food, but excellent service as well.” “But the service is slow on a good day.” “Usually in a restaurant with some sort of class the staff would be happy to accommodate your request - or offer you something else.” “The food and the service are very good.” “The service was not especially great, but it was good.” “went with a couple that have a young toddler and the staff was wonderful in 'helping' the couple with the baby while they ate.” “The service is very good.” “Service slow and can be hard to get your server attention at times because of the use of busboys.” “have read some questionable reviews about this place but I have gone twice with nothing but perfect service & food!” “Indika has a fun, vibrant atmosphere with good service.” “To make a long story short (and I do mean LONG, as the service was exceptionally slow, even though only a handful of people were eating), I assumed fusion cooking put together various flavors for the palate to sample.” “for effort, not result. the interior is very posh and warm at the same time. service was decent.” “Im impressed with the modern-folk interior design, everchanging menu, attentive, polite, and knowledgable staff.” “eat expensive food to enjoy delicate flavors and flawless service.” “I'm honestly a bit surprised at the number of negative reviews; although if you look closely, you'll see most people either love Indika's or hate it, and both sites like Yelp and Houston Chron give this place great reviews.” “Indika also deserves extra points for having a beautiful dining room filled with natural light, and a helpful, laid-back staff.” “Besides the obvious great entrees, the people who work there are quite fabulous.” “This place has beautiful and hip decor, attentive staff and great food.” “The bar was quite a pretty people scene.” “The service was great too.” “The service is great.” “Our waiter was helpful but not friendly or willing to please the customer.” “The service was very good and the decor is great.” “For the price you pay, they're service is horrible!” “Decent food, overpriced- Abosoluely some of the worst service I've experienced in Houston!” “Our waiter and bartender was impressively familiar with the menu and made great suggestions for us.” “Mishall, the lead bartender, is a great conversationalist and has a knack for creating aromatic concoctions.” “There were no waiters running around you, no loud big dinner groups, or a never ending waiting list.” “Rusty, the manager, used to be a manager at Cafe Annie, and knows how to deliver platinum service and recommend the finer wines.”
value	48.61000061035156% positive	“Overall, not a great value” “Expensive, small portions, but creative and tasty” “The dishes are overpriced and even the spiciest food is not mildly spicy by Indian standards.” “eat expensive food to enjoy delicate flavors and flawless service.” “Decent food, overpriced- Abosoluely some of the worst service I've experienced in Houston!” “For the price you pay, they're service is horrible!”
wait time	0.0% positive	“But the service is slow on a good day.” “Service slow and can be hard to get your server attention at times because of the use of busboys.” “To make a long story short (and I do mean LONG, as the service was exceptionally slow, even though only a handful of people were eating), I assumed fusion cooking put together various flavors for the palate to sample.”

01/25/12

Indika

by johnhamm12345

I ordered a Med Rare Filet Mignon and it was cut in the shape of a pyramid. Obviously it was not cooked to a consistent temp the whole way through. The edges were well done and the center was rare. I informed the waiter that the steak was not cooked appropriately. A few minutes later the owner came out questioning whether or not a knew what med rare was. He was obviously irritated that someone would ever question the way they cook their food. Normally things are good there but if its not don't bother telling them because at Indika the customer is ALWAYS wrong.

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08/21/11

What a disappointment

by lataa

We have been eating here for nearly 10 years and have been big fans of this restaurant. Today we were there for lunch and I can say I have never had this kind of bad service at any other restaurant. This is supposedly a buffet, which makes one think that there should be no wait for food. We ordered our food as soon as we sat since we know what we want. After about half an hour a chat plate was served. As we were waiting we noticed one other customer leave in a huff without getting his food. We were of course not planning on giving up since this is (I should say was) one of our favorite restaurants. However when we did not get our food even after waiting for an hour we decided it was time to complain. When I approached the main desk and told them about the situation they told me I can leave without paying !!!

I am just stunned at this kind of service at a restaurant that charges $25 dollars per person. Makes it hard to see a good restaurant go down the drain like this. I really hope that Anita is able to get this place together. Makes me wonder if opening Pondicheri has just meant this restaurant is going to suffer.

Asha

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01/21/11

Vegetarian? Food sucks

by rpatel487

My husband and I went to this place because we love to try new "fusion" type places but this one was absolutely horrible. We order the sweet potato samosa appetizer which consisted of 3 tiny (and I mean tiny) samosas that tasted ok but notthing spectacular for the crazy price. We order the vegetarian plate which apparently included a mix of random vegetarian items and it was soo bad. Daal tasted like it came from a box, poor vegetables (and a small quantity!). Roti was also not good. Being vegetarian, I have definitely received good quantities of stomach filling food that tasted amazing elsewhere, NOT at this place. Fortunately, we did not even order the dessert because it looked like the size of a dime. One good thing that came from this experience was that I got this restaurant out of my "restaurants to go" list. Always was curious about this place and now I can say I've been there. Never would I go back again.

Also, this place is very cramped at dinner time....my elbows were practically touching another persons at another table (maybe I'm exaggerating a tad bit...but it was a really really tight fit)...Not a date night place.

I recommend Kiran's...still my favorite "fusiony" fine dining indian restaurant. Bombay Sweets is my favorite hole in the wall place.

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09/30/10

Impressed

by MikeS02

It has been about 2 years since I have been to Indika and I was very impressed with how the restaurant has matured over time. Years ago, I thought that the service was sluggish and the food was high mediocre. This time, however, the food excelled and the service was first rate. Everyone at our table was very impressed with the restaurant and I'll be back soon.

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04/16/10

New Love of Indian Cuisine

by Chelsia , Citysearch Contributor

I received a gift certificate to Indika and was a little hesitant as this was my first time to eat real Indian food. So I took a friend who loves Indian cuisine and we checked out the restaurants happy hour.

After my experience at this Houston hot spot, I fell in love with the flavors. We started happy hour off with a local pale ale beer and the house pomegranate cocktail. Both were extremely satisfying.

Our waiter and bartender was impressively familiar with the menu and made great suggestions for us. We ordered the bread pakora and the baby goat burger with sweet potato fries. It didn’t disappoint. I’ll definitely be back to check out more of the menu in the future.

But be prepared to hoof it or valet to park at this restaurant. If you're not down to valet find street parking in the surrounding Montrose-area neighborhoods.

Indika

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What People Are Saying About Indika

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Editor's Tips

01/25/12

Indika

by johnhamm12345

08/21/11

What a disappointment

by lataa

01/21/11

Vegetarian? Food sucks

by rpatel487

09/30/10

Impressed

by MikeS02

04/16/10

New Love of Indian Cuisine

by Chelsia , Citysearch Contributor

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