Indika

So let me start this review by saying I was totally against going here. Being of Indian origin, when one of my friends suggest «Indian Food» I typically cringe cause I know I’m getting heavy cream and fake curry. Well to my surprise this place was absolutely delicious. We have several dishes and all was better than before. The vindoo lamb chops were simply amazing, great indian flavor in a savory dish. Would defiantly go back again

With a recent craving for some spice, I thought I would give Indika a try, as I literally pass it every day. This particular day was a little slower, offering lunch date and I the opportunity to try a couple fan favorites.
I highly recommend the following:
STARTERS
Crab Samosas
Tomato Pakora Chaat
Fried Okra Salad
ENTREE
Tandoori Salmon Salad
Kashmiri Chicken Biryani\
DESSERT
Chocolate Ginger Tart
Mango mousse
Notes:
Complimentary Valet (tiny lot)
Call for parties larger than 6
Complimentary Naan or Indian Corn Bread

Caveat Unilocaler: I’ve only dined here thrice, two of those occasions for Sunday brunch, so take my review for what it’s worth.
To me, Indika suffers from the same issue that ails so many restaurants that attempt a modern twist on traditional ethnic cuisine: sometimes, their bold experimentation pays off in spectacular fashion, while at other times, you end up with a Frankenstein dish where the flavors don’t quite mesh properly. In other words, the menu is pretty hit-​or-​miss. In fact the whole experience is somewhat hit-​or-​miss, but ultimately the positive outweighs the negative (to some extent).
Cocktails: HIT. These drinks are exceptionally creative and lovingly crafted, with strong Indian influence. The Masala Mary is a cumin-​spiced version of a classic Bloody Mary served in a glass rimmed with chili. The Madras Mojito is a tad sweet, but a must for guava-​lovers. You really can’t go wrong with any of these handcrafted beverages.
Prices: MISS. Indika is hip and upscale, I get it. But $ 10+ for nearly every appetizer, $ 12 for cocktails, and $ 25-​$ 35 for entrées? I’m only half-​joking when I say the steep cost violates the spirit of Indian cuisine and would give most folks back in the Motherland a heart attack.
Ambiance: HIT. The white exterior is exotic and looks like something you’d find on Tattooine, with an ornately carved wooden door set into a cylindrical tower. Inside, you’ll find colorful drapes hanging from the ceiling and a raised interior platform overlooking a fancy seating area. There’s a lot of natural light filtering through if you come for brunch, and the atmosphere is totally different– dim and elegant– if you join for dinner.
Food: MISS/​HIT. The dinner appetizers are rather small, and nothing really stood out. The tandoori chicken chaat tasted a bit odd with the cold sliced poultry. My girlfriend ordered the red hot chili pepper shrimp, and it tasted… weird. And this is coming from an absolute seafood fiend. Something about the taste profile was just off. The lamb chops vindaloo, on the other hand, was sensational, with a spicy-​but-​not-​too-​spicy flavor and coated with white poppy seeds that gave it an interesting crunch. Likewise, about half of the brunch items are good to very good, while the remainders are mediocre at best. The fish kofta, lamb keema samosas, chicken liver masala, and spinach cutlet chaat stand out as the best small plates.
I would give Indika a 3.5÷5 if I could. I applaud the ambitious concept and the artful plating, but I think some of the menu could do with a bit of retooling.

Good selection and atmosphere! Polite waiter. Extensive wine selection and the food tastes great. Wonderful birthday dessert too!

Food-​wise this place is solid, but for an upscale restaurant in the heart of Houston, I expect more out of the overall experience. Like, A LOT more.
Rolling in with a party of 10 people, you’d expect pretty good service– more people equals more cash money, equals higher tip for the waiter (s). However, we received anything but. Our «head» waiter, and all subsequent «waiters» (i.e. the people who pour you water, take your dishes away, etc.) were exceedingly difficult to reach and communicate with, despite the fact that we occupied the the big, fancy, «private» table stashed away from other tables in the restaurant. It’s a lot like getting your «free VIP party» at Howl at the Moon, but you show up and they ask for your credit card. What went from a night of high hopes and good energy turned into a cumbersome, exhausting, 2.5 hour dining experience, with poor treatment and a 40-​minute check debacle.
The food actually salvaged this from a 0-​star rating (I would’ve found a way!), but I can’t speak the same for the other 9 guests at the table. I can speak positively about the Slow Cooked Lamb Shank, which was quite tasty, but my friends who ordered other dishes rated their selections «salty and sub-​par at best» (especially the scallops). This place seems to be more of an Indian/​American fusion than authentic Indian in my book, but the food quality seems to differ greatly depending on what you order.
My experience may be an outlier here, but waiting 25 minutes from the time you ask the waiter for the check to actually receiving the check on a not-​so-​busy night can, and will, induce face palming oneself. Repeatedly. If you’re looking for authentic Indian food and/​or a quality dining experience, steer clear of this one.

I can’t comment on the standard of Indian here in Houston, but my overall experience was glimmers of hope followed by a salty letdown.
The amuse bouche at the start was a wonderful start to the meal, and made me look forward to the evening.
Based on the server’s recommendation, I went for the Saffron Scallops. While a very pretty plate, both the scallops and the potato cutlet were too salty. I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt, but then my friend next to me mirrored the same complaint except her cutlet had no salt. How…
We came for a couple birthdays, so the Chikoo Ice Creams on the house were quite nice. Except the brittle was salty too. At this point in time the salt pretty much became a running joke.
Mediocre food I’m usually fine with, but the service was lacking as well. For a restaurant only half full on a Saturday night, the servers were very inattentive to not just our large table but everyone else. It was over 10 minutes between receiving the check and turning in our cards because there was literally no one to wave down. No idea what the staff was doing.
I don’t even care that it’s not hardcore Indian, I just wanted my friends and I to have a great experience with food and environment. I don’t think we got that.

Indika is sort of a mixed bag. Definitely don’t come here expecting authentic Indian; it’s more accurately upscale Indian Fusion. My sister and I started off with complimentary naan and lentils, perfect together to mull over the menu with.
My sister and I got crab samosas, chicken biryani, and the chocolate tart for me and the Grand Marnier cake for her.
The crab samosas were very meaty, which is always a pleasant surprise — minimal filler, if any at all. The chicken biryani was quite tasty — slightly sweet with currants in them, it was an interesting twist on a classic.
I wasn’t particularly keen on the desserts though — my sister did prefer the tart, for it wasn’t nearly as sweet as her Grand Marnier cake. Plus, the cake was just a little too dense, making it sort of hard to finish after a large meal.
Minor gripe, but valet is the only option to park. Granted, the lot is tiny, and valet is complimentary, but I feel like it’s a bit much for a weekday lunch.
While Indika has above average portions, I’m not sold on the idea that the price justifies the meal, aside from the crab samosas. It’s a pretty heavy penny to drop on food that you can get elsewhere in Houston for much, much less money.

For those who wish to try out Indika & expect authentic Indian food, this is definitely not the place for you.
I came to Indika with an open mind & took it for what it is; Indian food meets neo western dining. As long as you keep this in mind Indika will be a wonderful experience. Do not expect your Indian grandmother’s kitchen or you will be disappointed.
Complimentary valet, nice! But don’t be a scrooge & not tip the valet guy afterwards. Generosity goes a long way, with that said…
Ambiance! Indika is beautifully furnished with earthy warm décor which parallels to the spices & flavors of Indian food itself.
Complimentary naan bread for appetizer, while our server politely gave us time to look over the menu.
My friend & I ordered the tandoori Quail for our appetizer which was stuffed with caramelized onion masala & pinenuts then dressed yogurt cumin sauce on top. The sweetness of the Quail meat goes well with the caramelized onions & rich earthy flavor of the pinenuts. On the side there was fried sweet potato with cilantro chutney, the cilantro chutney is refreshing after the sweetness of the Quail.
After our quail appetizer we both decided on the power lunch which gave us the option of trying many of the other dishes. The power lunch let’s you choose either two appetizers, one entrée or one appetizer, one entrée and one dessert.
For our appetizers we got the crab samosa & sweet potatoe samosa chaat. When it came to presentation I was most excited to try the sweet potatoe samosa, but surprisingly the crab samosa the better between the two. The crab samosa filled with lump crab meat with a nice spice/​heat to it, which is something personal like in my food. Definitely getting the crab samosas again. Sweet potatoe samosas, not so much. This dish was not something that stood out or something to order twice .
The our entrees we got the were the Patra fish which is steamed a banana leaf & cilantro, dalia & turmeric squash curry and lamb vindaloo which was crusted with pepper, kalonji & black cumin.
The Patra fish had nice subtle flavors which I liked, but not a dish for everyone especially if you are looking for strong heavy flavors.
Lamb vindaloo was my favorite, now I must remind everyone this is not traditional lamb vindaloo it is a neo western twist on the dish itself. The beautiful dark pepper crust gave the lamb a nice warm flavor that paired well with the «fiery» vindaloo sauce. The only setback to this dish was that the «fiery» vindaloo sauce wasn’t anywhere close to being fiery. I guess it is due to the restaurant itself catering to a more western pallete, as westerners aren’t accustomed to more spicy food compared to the spice level in the East. But with that said the lamb vindaloo was the most memorable dish I had at Indika.
For dessert I got the darjeeling & lemongrass custard and the Chocolate halva bread pudding.
Darjeeling & lemongrass custard tasted almost like a nice spiced crème brûlée without the torched caramel on top. Chocolate halva bread pudding was a bit disappointing as I could not taste much of the cardamom custard & the other flavors were a bit lacking as well.
The service then ended with two complimentary cardamom cookies for my friend & I.
Once again;
From experiencing Indika personally I can see why it has many mixed reviews due to the die hard fans of authentic Indian food/​flavors, which I can understand. For someone used to having their lamb vindaloo look completely different from what Indika serves it may be a bit shocking & uncomfortable. While others who embrace the neo western take on Indian food, may find this place genius. Overall my service at Indika was wonderful & I take it for what it is. Will be returning.

Not a fan. Came here with a group of friends, and everything we ordered was over seasoned. I ordered the goat and kale salad, and asked for the vinaigrette on the side. They did not put the vinaigrette on the side, and everything was too salty.

If you’re searching for authentic Indian food, this is not the place you should visit. Indika is what the pretentious people on Montrose think is real Indian food. Aside from the lamb, the great service and the romantic atmosphere, stick to Hilcroft for your Indian cravings. The food had a lot of complex flavors, but not in a good way. Our naan was burnt and had absolute zero flavor. How could you mess up naan? Needless to say, I don’t want naan of this anymore.

We went to this restaurant last week for the first time. We had mix feelings about going since we read the reviews and not all of them were good. We decided we were still going to try it out. I’m
Glad we did. The food and service were not great. We will be going back soon.

Indika is more experimental than I had imagined .
I liked the Biryani (Guess Kashmiri.) and corn and mint chaat. The tomato pakora chaat was not to our taste, so was the cauliflower paneer kofta. I had a couple of others things, cant remember the name but obviously it was neither too bad nor too good .
Again it experimental — what the name suggests might not turn out to be what you are used to tasting in your country or somewhere else .
Also its on the pricey side .
Ambience is nice.

Interior was stunning, modern and fresh.
Service: mediocre, while the server was sweet and polite, she looked like she was in the weeds for the most part.
Food: My friends and I came here to try the restaurant week menu:
+Tandoori Salmon Salad– Moist, delicious, had the right amount of flavor,
+Tandoori Quail — I didn’t care for the pool of sauce surrounding the quail, but the quail itself was on point! very moist, tender and juicy! Ate every piece of meat off the bone!
+Chocolate Ginger Tart– Chocolate was a bit decadent, but loved the coffee whip cream! There was a faint taste of ginger in the ganache, I would’ve loved to taste a tad bit more. The portion size was good, just need a small taste.
Overall my experience was okay, It was nice to try, but I’ll stick to driving the extra 15 – 20 minutes to Hillcroft for authentic Indian cuisine. This place isn’t bad for the Montrose area though.

This was my first stop for HRW 2015 and I was quite pleased. I’m no expert on Indian food, but everything here was fantastic. For some reason they didn’t have any record of my reservation, but they were able to seat our group of 5 with no problem.
They have a very interested cocktail list and I was torn between the Karma Sutra and the Madras Mojito. I decided on the mojito and it was delicious. Made with a guava purée the presentation was not very pleasing, but once you give it a stir all is good.
We were served warm naan and lentils while we perused the HRW menu. I decided on the fried okra salad. Wonderfully spicy and fried perfectly! Next up was the Chicken Biryani. Very spicy rice with crunchy pumpkin seeds, chicken chunks, and a hard boiled egg. For dessert, I chose the Chocolate Ginger Tart. Rich and delicious. It has a nice crunchy crust that reminded me of a Heath bar and it was served with a coffee whipped cream that I could eat by the bucket!
A few tips: Parking is valet only, but it is complimentary. Also, as of this review the mango mousse DID NOT come with a Grand Marnier cake, even though it was in the description.

If I could give half stars I would. Had driven past the place a few times and finally pulled the trigger. First off, beautifully and peacefully decorated. The hand carved door was a lovely entrance. Calm atmosphere.
The service was on point. From the wine service, to the recommendations.
And the food… Well I’m a huge fan of Indian food, but this was Indian food with modern flair. I personally had the fish curry. Phenomenal! The fish was cooked to perfection with the perfect blend of spices and sweetness. The okra was a nice touch as well. I also tried the Shrimp Rangoon entrée and the shrimp was also cooked perfectly. I will definitely be back!

I have been to Indika twice now. The second impression was definitely better than the first, but I am still not in love with the restaurant.
The food, while prepared and presented beautifully, I found was often overwhelming because of all the flavors involved. I often found myself loving a particular piece of a dish rather than the dish as a whole. This is definitely a non-​traditional, fusion Indian cuisine.
What I do love about Indika was its atmosphere. There was a strong, lively vibe inside the restaurant, with a mix of both young and old eating. The avant-​garde decoration was eye-​catching and the receptionist had a bubbly personality.

I’m a fan. This is a fun place to try with a large group. We tried their Sunday Prix fixe and loved the variety. The desserts, however, were underwhelming. I did enjoy their savory items.
We ordered the following small plates:
Spinach potato cake
Starfruit and avocado pakora w/​a pickled mango vinaigrette (my favorite dish)
Corn bhel poori chicken samosas with saffron yogurt
Akura parsis scrambled eggs with green onion masala
Lamb dhansaak with onion pilaf
Fish Kofta Curry with Idlis
Cauliflower, panner and black been biryani
Eggplant and potato curry with poor is
Chickpea crêpe stuffed with mushroom masala
Coconut pancakes with bananas, blueberries and cardamom yogurt
For Dessert:
Halwa with saffron crème anglaise
Chocolate mousse with salted Pistachios

Came here for mother’s day brunch– and boy was it delicious! but first lets start with the atmosphere– it was busy here on mother’s day but the atmosphere was still very calm and zen. There wasn’t loud noise or anything overbearing and the décor was beautiful with drapes hanging from the ceiling. Indika had a very cool vibe.
Our server was extremely good– he asked us if we didnt eat any certain cuts of meat– and made sure the food came out right as we finished the last coarse. Also– our glasses were never empty for more than 5 seconds. The service was superb.
The food and drinks were absolutely delicious– with so many combinations of exotic indian cuisine with fusion twists– there were many items on the menu that knocked my socks off. The Samosas, Lamb Vindeloo, the vegetable biryani were just a few! All of the foods were very good alternate takes on indian food.
Lastly the venue was very pristine and clean.
I would definitely return.
My experience was 4 star only because they did things a little differently on mothers day apparently– they did not provide a lot of meat in many dishes. And because of that it seemed a little overpriced.

Been waiting so long to try this place out… SUPER EXCITED!!!
Ambiance is upscale casual with a cozy authentic feel. Doors to the restaurant are these really cool carved wooden doors. Furniture pieces scattered around from India really gives this little eatery a genuine Indian feel.
Waitress (Kali) was well informed about the menu and described the food preparation and ingredients used in each dish.
Ordered:
1.lamb shank — let me just say that the bone literally slipped out of the meat effortlessly!!! Coriander and Rosemary are popping on the palate with every bite… the meat is just falling apart with the touch of a fork or spoon!
2.saffron scallops — 4 scallops cooked to perfection, this was the least spicy menu item we ordered… little bit more tame but still buttery and good! Served with asparagus…
3.Kashmiri chicken biryani — bowl of deliciously spiced rice dish that is just PERFECT… never had biryani with so much texture! Peanuts and pumpkin seeds are a great touch! This dish has a great smokey taste!
4.cauliflower paneer kofta — 3 delicious kofta balls served in a green sauce and topped with cauliflower… simply delicious
chutney chicken — one large chicken thigh served with asparagus and covered in a spicy tomato mango sauce. THE SAUCE IS AMAZING. Great balance of sweet and spicy! Chicken had a delightful mango flavor!
6. Black bean biryani — again smokey rice dish this time with corn, cauliflower and green beans… so many textures and flavors!
So fulfilled and content after this ethnic feast!!!
Thank you Indika for giving Houston such a great culinary experience!!!
and thank you Kali for being such a great waitress!!!

Wow, what can I say? This place definitely lives up to its name. Located on Westheimer Rd, it’s really easy to find. We were greeted by a friendly staff and immediately served a complimentary appetizer consisting of cucumber slices and pickled eggplant. It was a little weird at first, but I actually grew to like it a lot.
FOOD AND DRINK: (4.5÷5)
This place is a tad pricey, so my friend and I decided to order an assortment of appetizers so that we would get to try a lot of different things. We got the 1) Sweet Potato Samosa Chaat, 2) Saffron Saag Paneer, and 3) Garlic Crusted Naan, and for dessert, 4) Rose Cake.
1) Sweet Potato Samosa Chaat. Wow, presentation was spot on. It was simply scrumptous. The plate came with 3 samosas drizzled in a green sauce topped with mint and pomegranate seeds. I was highly impressed.
2) Saffron Saag Paneer. OMG THE BEST. I’ve always been a fan of Saag Paneer, but this one topped all the other times I’ve had it. It was the perfect level of spiciness: not overwhelming but still bold in its flavor. I don’t know too much about Indian food, but I would definitely get it again.
3) Garlic Crusted Naan. You can’t go wrong by order the naan here. Super fresh and delectable, our naan also came with a side of the pickled eggplant we were served at the beginning of our meal. The eggplant was sweet and tangy and went perfectly with the naan. I really wish they had given us more, though. More of everything!
4) Rose Cake. Very… rosy. The cake was made with coconut shreds, topped with whipped cream and strawberries, and soaked in a strawberry sauce. The rose flavor came more as an aftertaste, and it’s not something I would necessarily eat all the time, but I could certainly enjoy it occasionally.
At the very end of the meal, our server brought us some complimentary cookies that tasted like shortbread, patted with powdered sugar. Needless to say, I was quite pleased with all the free things we were getting.
SERVICE: (⁵⁄₅)
Service was top notch. Our water glasses were never empty, and our waitress was very patient and meticulous in explaining several items on the menu. There were simply too many to choose from!
PARKING: (⁴⁄₅)
The valet is complimentary and it wasn’t terribly crowded when I went (around 6pm Sunday evening).
COME AGAIN?:
This restaurant absolutely deserves its 5 stars. I would give it 6, if I could, because it’s just THAT much better than the other 5 star restaurants I’ve been to. If you’re in Houston and/​or you enjoy Indian flavors, this is a MUST-​VISIT.