Restaurant Review:

Dishes of India, Belle View Shopping Center.

This month's dining our takes us to India. Not the country, but rather the restaurant, Dishes of India, in the Belleview shopping center. Not one to partake of the exotic, I am a meat and potatoes kind of guy, myself and a few of my friends decided to try this popular eatery in Alexandria. Although the restaurant is located in the basement of a strip mall, after descending the mirrored staircase all sense of located disappears. The restaurant is nicely appointed with about twenty tables all accented with mauve table cloths and napkins. On the week right that we were there the place was not to busy so we were immediately seated.

Realizing that the restaurant had a full and well stocked bar, we placed our order with our attentive waiter. Catherine ordered the usual Absolute and soda while Mike, Mark and I opted for the imported beer from India. Mike had a Kingfisher beer while Mark and I split a 24 ounce Taj Mahal. With both beers you could taste the influence of the British as they were of the pale ale variety. We sipped our cocktails while Marks asked for the wine list. Mark observed that the list had a adequate selection of moderately priced wines but we all decided to pass on any wine selection and decided to stick with the cold beer in anticipation of the spicy hot food that we were about to enjoy. I must make note here that all of the dishes are not hot and spicy. Although the aroma of curry permeates throughout the restaurant, not all are heavy on the spice as indicated by the lamb chop Tandoori which I ordered. On the other hand Mark took the highroad and ordered the Lamb Vindaloo, a highly spiced curry dish.

The Lamb Chop Tandoori came out of the oven with a nice smokey grilled taste. Barbecued over flaming charcoal in a clay oven, this traditional Indian dish was moist and tender. Lightly marinated with the chef's special sauce, the chops were served with a vegetable combination of green peppers, onion and tomatoes. While the other Vegetable dishes were swimming in their sauces, mine was just slightly moist letting the flavor of the fresh vegetables come through. Being the wimp of the group. Mine was the least spicy of the evening dishes.

Mark, who had dined at Dishes of India on numerous occasions ordered his favorite. Lamb Vindaloo, and he wanted it hot. As beads of presperation began to form on Mark's brow we all decided this was an opportune time to sample the flery dish. The lamb once again was tender and moist, but for me the flavor of the meal was lost in the spices. Mark and Mike on the other hand thought it was great. Even though the spices were hot, the sensation didn't last very long. After a minute or two the heat had subsided but the flavor remained. Catherinc ordered the Lamb Karahi, a traditional north-western dish of India. Piece of lamb barbecued on very light hear in a wok with fresh tomatoes, onions, ginger, garlic, green peppers, herbs and spices. The entrée was served in a warming dish over a small candle to maintain warmth. Catherine noted the intense flavor of the lamb was not overpowered by the spices, in fact mentioning that there was not much of a kick to the meal. Mike ordered the Murg Makhani, barbecued boneless chicken breast cooked in fresh tomatoes based creamy sauce. This entrée was served in an au gratin style dish. Large piece of chicken were seasoned with curry and cooked just right. Each table is served a large lowl of either basmati rice, pickles and vegetable of the day or saffron basmati rice and mixed pickles, depending on which entrée you ordered. In our case we had both and each was cooked right and complemented the accompanying dish nicely.

The menu at Dishes of India covers the different stlyes from Tandoori to Masala to Biryani, There are ten vegetables specialties that compliment the meat courses as well as an assortment of breads. Our dinner began with an assortment of breads served in a basket and ended with the Naan bread, a flat leavened bread baked on the wall lining of the tandoori oven. It was great and very useful inn dabbing up remainder of the sauces.

Dishes of India has established a respectful following of the surrounding neighbourhoods. The servings are plentiful and engaging. On Saturday and Sunday and at lunch during the week they offer an all you can eat buffet. The prices are reasonable with dinner entrees ranging from $7.95 to $11.95 and the lunch buffet at $6.95 during the week and $7.95 on weekends.

As I mentioned at the ourset, I am a meat and potatoes kind of guy. It is enlightening to venture into the unknown once on a while and discover other traditions and specialties, Dishes of India is such an experience. We expect to go back often.

-Dining Out by Bob Tagert