Indika

09/12/09

HIGH HYPE, LOW SUBSTANCE

by FarzanaVirani at Citysearch

no indian in their right mind would like this restaurant. i'll jump right into an example. my chocolate dessert had TURMERIC in it. turmeric?!! yes, turmeric is very indian, but with chocolate?!! in dessert?!! also, my chaat (mixed food snacks) was quite good except for a nasty syrupy-sweet tamarind sauce. this pretty much summarized every dish at indika - there is always something that ruins the dish. that's the so-called "inventive" part.

now i love traditional indian food, true to my roots. however, having lived in major international cities, i've tried my fare share of modern/fusion indian food. i find it's either fabulous or ridiculous; indika is the latter. (for reference, i love 'tabla' in new york: classy, inventive, authentic in ingredients, modern in presentation.)

pros: A for effort, not result. the interior is very posh and warm at the same time. service was decent.

i asked my indian friends what they thought of indika and we're all in agreement. it seems only white americans with no concept of real indian food enjoy indika -- the kind that think real indian food is "too darn spicy".

• Pros: inventive food, good atmosphere
• Cons: wierd dishes, inauthentic flavors, overpriced,

04/10/09

Mixed Bag, Apparently the cocktails are infused with gold.

by InsertWitHere at Citysearch

After reading mixed reviews online I suggested it to my group for lunch.

Yes, upon entering the establishment there is a scent of barn yard or perhaps city "infused" with barn yard.

The menu is a bit odd as there are duplicates of the same list but there was a set menu for the day. We ordered several of the tasting platters and the three course menu for the day. The foods were not awe inspiring, the lamb tasted exactly like my first attempt at curry (it wasn't offensive but not something I'd dream about). The edible flowers were a nice touch however pomegranite is over "infused" into nearly every dish. The drinks are entirely too costly, nearly $10 for a single cocktail "infused" with vodka. The most amazing part of the entire meal was our service, a scruffy young man named Bryce assisted us without fail. The busser cleared our table of semi- eaten meals without our approval and so a large amount of our meals were "taken".

-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 Kamasutra (cocktail) was great. End of story, there were several of those to be had by our table.

Post Dinner Drinks

-The Sherry was potent and smooth, no complaints.

-The Antiquity Wiskey (neat) was aromatic and dazzling although served in a comically over-sized snifter.

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.

Honestly, while the food was not unbearable and even surprising in the best ways it does not warrant $50 a person. Indika is in theory a "Fusion Indian Fine Dining Experience", in this case theory does not transfer well to reality. The ambiance, location, price point and even the music suggests that this is a fad-spot; a place for indie rock loving midtowners to be seen enjoying indian fusion cuisine.

I return now to my hunt for Indian cuisine to write home about.

• Pros: Bryce, our waiter, was oustanding! Give this guy a raise!!!
• Cons: Price, Price, Price / Generic Atmosphere

03/16/09

LOVE IT!

by jenpreu at Citysearch

I have read some questionable reviews about this place but I have gone twice with nothing but perfect service & food! We had the venision chops most recently and they were like butter! I cannot wait to go back!

• Pros: Service, Ambiance, Food, Dessert, Coffee
• Cons: none

03/12/09

Like Indian Food? Here's the Place

by lambowner at Citysearch

We went to Indika tonight or some "comfort food" after visiting a seriously ill relative in the Houston medical center. Take Fannin into downtown, then turn left on Elgin, which turns into Westheimer. Indika gave us an amazing meal. Anita Jaisinghani even remembered us from our Saturday leisureley lunches at her former location in Memorial area, and came to the table to visit. Her kitchen is fabulous. The corn and mint chaat, a favorite. The lamb chops perfect. The signature warm and crumbly cookies, gratis. Thank you, Anita! You did more than you know, in healing our hurting hearts.

• Pros: Anita

02/02/09

overrated

by koreanberry at Citysearch

i heard really good things about this place, so i decide to go with a few girlfriends. the hostess was really unhelpful. since i didn't have a reservation, we would have to eat at the bar. to top it off, half the restaurant was EMPTY the whole time we were there, and on a saturday night. i couldn't believe how pretentious it was. seriously, how important do you think you are to refuse people when you're half-empty?

when we finally got our food, it came out really salty. i don't get the "fusion" part... it tasted authentically indian. maybe even overcompensating. when i ordered my $7 dessert, i received an eyeball-sized scoop of ice cream and a weird-tasting tart. seriously???

service was mediocre. our waiter came sparingly, smiling, but unattentive. and their bathroom smelled like a mix of sewage and incense.

for the price you pay, the food/service/ambiance is NOT worth it. save your money!!

• Pros: none
• Cons: food, service, funky bathroom smell, overpriced

02/02/09

Don't go to Indika. For the price you pay, they're service is horrible!!!!!!!!

by estinette at Citysearch

This place doesn't even deserve a star. I'm all about service, especially if I'm going to be paying money for it. First of all, we tried to make reservations, but the number they listed kept going to someone's personal cell phone. My friends and I also attempted making reservations via email, however no one got back to us. That said, we went to Indika and then was told that all the tables were booked, that we should have made a reservation, and that we could eat at the bar if we wanted to. It was my birthday, so there was no way my girlfriends and I were going to eat dinner at the bar. The hostess was anything but helpful. There was a gentleman standing next to her who did mention that they had a "public" table available that we could sit at, but that anyone else who came after who needed a table might be sitting there with us. Fine. The food was too salty for my taste and there was nothing special about it. Our waiter was helpful but not friendly or willing to please the customer. Anyhow, I will never go back to Indika ever again, especially if that's how they're going to treat their customers.

• Pros: Atmosphere is okay
• Cons: rude service including hostess, wait staff, down to the valet parkers

01/26/09

can't decide whether the food or service was worse

by seanofthefed at Citysearch

I'm not going back to Indika. I've been a few times, and I think it is possible to have a great meal there. But they have very serious problems with execution. It seems that every time I go, a dish that is supposed to be hot comes out room temp. The most recent time this happened, they heated it up to the point of burning it. When we pointed this out, they just said "oh" and walked away. About 15 minutes later, they offered to recook it, but the dish was almost finished. I declined but was pleased that they were making an effort. I accepted their offer for a free dessert. I was looking forward to ordering a particular dessert and having a coffee when they brought out a scoop of ice cream and asked if we wanted to buy anything else. I thought this was very shabby. At their price point, I expect much better execution and service.

01/24/09

I'd love to know who really writes the great revues of Indika on the Net.

by Thetrueeater at Citysearch

OK, I'm serious about food. I eat just about anything short of raw brains. I'm open minded and ready to put quality food into my mouth. I've found taco stands in Houston to rival five star restaurants (rare, but I found one at I 10 and Durham.) I was excited when I read about Indika. So when I opened the big wooden doors and a slight waft of sewer gas entered my nostrils, I continued on in. I should not have. But I did, and this morning my bowels are regretting this decision.

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. I did not assume it meant the food would be so spicy hot that nothing could be analyzed by the tongue except HEAT. Yes, the shrimp looked like shrimp (it had a tail), but tasting would not give a hint one way or the other. It was just HOT. I like spicy food, but I expect a complex intermingling of flavors in a sophisticated mileaux. If I had wanted nothing but heat, I could go to the local ice house and douse a bottle of tabasco on their offerings and have saved a hundred dollars.

Needless to say, I would never go back. But I still wonder, just who is writing these glowing revues of Indika here on the Net? Are they people who work for the restaurant? Or are they just people with burned out taste buds who need fire on their tongue to get any response at all to their brains?

12/21/08

Highly recommended for food; average ambience

by riskassessor at Citysearch

We went for Sunday brunch. Thought service and ambience average but food was unusual (not like any other Indian food any of us ever had) and very good. We plan to go back and try more of the menu.

• Pros: Unusual Indian food and tasty
• Cons: Utilitarian atmosphere

08/07/08

best fusion indian food i have ever had!!

by fayo16 at Citysearch

i have been coming here before it was at the current location (used to be on memorial). anita, the woman who owns it, is the salt of the earth and an amazing cook and woman. the staff is like family to me and we are always treated like royalty. if you are going ask for rusty or gytho for your servers if possible if your going to make reservations. the drink are amazing and the polar opposite of generic. i have tried almost every one and they are all mind blowing! the ambiance is amazing just like the food. i simply can not recommend this place enough!