Indish

Wife and I tried Indish this past Saturday evening. It wasn’t too busy and we got right in and seated immediately. The wait staff was very friendly and knowleable when ordering. Our food arrived in good time and we found the portions to be quite small for the price. Indian food is one of our favorite and we sumised that the food at Indish was not up to the usual standards we have come enjoy. It was quite bland and lacked spicing and flavor.
Sorry Indish, you have some good +++ just have to improve on the food.

This review is long overdue. But I really needed to let the experience sink in before I could put it in words.
For those of you who prefer short, twitterish reviews: this is one of my five favorite restaurants on the entire planet. No joke. Go. Now!
And now for the lovers of the verbose arts:
Indish would be a wildly popular neighborhood eatery… anywhere but in the United States. Raj and Laura, the owners, who should be cast as the main characters in a culinary satire of The Avengers, share the dry, cutting wit that so endears European restaurateurs to their clientele. It is almost freakishly out of place, and yet strangely alluring, when found in Portland.
The food is good. I’m not one for hyperbole, and therefore I’m not going to hyperbolize a description of what is essentially comfort food. It is elegant; it is well prepared; and you will be happier once you eat it. This is dinner, not an episode of Iron Chef.
Raj has acquiesced to the strange Portland tradition of presenting two portions of what-you’re-about-to-eat discourse for each portion served — and while he does this quite well, you sense the Old World reluctance to turn a meal into a speech. Portland locals seemed to like his gastro-​rhetoric, but for me, it was that soupçon of reluctance I found most charming.
Must-​haves: the aubergine badal jaam, and for dessert, the Ras Malai Cheesecake. My advice: eat nothing all day then order two of each.
The setting is something out of a Stanley Kubrick film, had Kubrick been a happier fellow. Lots of muted tones, low glass tables surrounded by LeCorbusier love seats — intended to appeal to dating diners, a purpose in which they succeed admirably. There are standard-​height tables and chairs in the front and rear, for patrons loathe to do as the Romans did, or who are too many years into their marriages to engage in date-​like behavior.
But a neighborhood place, especially this UFO-​like establishment combining streamlined Punjab eats with European décor and banter in the heart of NW Portland, a place like this demands that you eat at the bar. For that is where things get really interesting. You might learn of Raj’s savant-​like knowledge of gin (and a penchant for the stuff too, I reckon — but never while he’s on the job).
Let Raj make you a gin martini. Just once — you can go back to vodka later. If the planets are aligned right, it might afford you a great discovery: James Bond is a wuss.
I heard a story, perhaps apocryphal, that while still back in London, living quite comfortably from what I gathered, Raj just woke up one morning, turned to Laura and said: «Let’s move to Portland and start a restaurant!» According to legend, Laura replied: «Are you out of your mind?»
Running a restaurant is a brutal business, a Sisyphean labor I would not wish on my worst enemy. Still, I for one am delighted that Raj is out of his mind, and that Laura failed to dissuade him from their Excellent Portland Adventure.

Note: gf and I are vegetarians. Indian food is typically very veggie friendly, so this is based on a veggie dining experience at Indish.
⁵⁄₅ for décor — the sofas are awesome.
⁵⁄₅ for service — our server could not have been nicer.
²⁄₅ for food — it was very meh; nothing exceptional.
²⁄₅ for price — its expensive for what it is.
More on the food: The dal and the chapatis were great. We got some eggplant thing that seemed good on the menu but turned out to be eggplant parmesan (in an indian restaurant?!). They also seemed to have gone overboard on the lack of heat. I’m from India and go back at least once a year and we don’t eat food that is so exceptionally mild. We didn’t order the spicy chutney as they suggested; I wonder if that would have made things better.
All in all: I don’t think its a great value for money. I’m not sure if there are other «fancy» Indian places in the area, but I’m not sure I’ll be going back to Indish anytime soon.

Indish has a new happy hour menu that takes a bit of a (delicious) tangent from the main menu. There are fusion items like the Chicken Korma Biscuit and the Paneer Makhani Biscuit (tender chicken meatballs in a creamy yellow sauce, and fried strips of Indian cheese with a flavorful tomato cream sauce, both on fresh baked biscuits), toasty wraps like the Aloo Ghobi Chapati or the Lamb Kheema Chapati (creamy potato and cauliflower sauteed with spices, and ground lamb and peas), and small plates of menu standbys like cornbread and ribs with tamarind barbecue sauce. Tasty!
I’m mostly writing this review because when I came on to look at the other reviews for Indish, it seemed like a lot of them referred to menu items that are no longer available and the restaurant info indicated they were still serving lunch. I’ve been living in Portland a block away from Indish since July and as long as I’ve been here they have only been open for dinner and happy hour, or as I like to call it «Drinky Lunch». If you’re stopping by, I suggest the Whiskey Sin (a spicy whiskey drink with cinnamon) or anything with gin to go with your meal. The cocktail menu is extensive, as are the liquor selections. Ask Raj for drink advice if you’re feeling overwhelmed!

Really enjoyed this different take on Indian cuisine.
Décor is lounge like with sofas and coffee tables, also some regular tables and a bar to pick from.
Food is not spicy and all tastes very fresh. We had the chapati and the vegetable samosas to start. Both were very good. Samosas were not greasy and came with a tomato-​based dipping sauce. We also requested the chili chutney as we like our food a bit spicier. For the main courses, we had the barbecued ribs (excellent with a sweet, tangy onion sauce), the tandoori chicken (moist and delicious), these chicken and mushroom meatballs in an almond-​based sauce (subtle and very tasty), and a saag/​cornbread dish with the moistest cornbread I’ve ever had and an excellent saag made with mustard greens.
Dessert was a chocolate pudding with a rum sauce (superb) and a mango coconut cheesecake (also very good).
Raj, the owner, is constantly circulating and checking on diners as well as educating them to this fresher Indian cuisine with less heat. This food is mild enough to have with a nice wine, which is a nice change (although I do usually like my Indian food HOT).
In addition, they have a superb list of hard liquors and some well thought-​out bottles of wine and beer.
Why four stars? The big TV at the bar — they could lose that — otherwise, a very good place and we’ll be back.

Amazing-​ish. (Couldn’t help myself)
Seriously though, I guarantee you won’t leave this restaurant disappointed. Raj, the owner is everything a restaurateur should be. Engaging, knowledgeable, charming with a real passion for the food and people his establishment serves.
The booze. A fantastic selection of Scotch and some very original cocktails. Raj spent nearly 20 minutes educating my boyfriend on the different nuances of scotch he ordered in his flight. Until recently I thought I had tried every variation of Bloody Mary around the block; but the extra lemon and Indian spices Raj used made for a very different, but delightful drink.
And the food. Just delicious. I’ve never had Indian food served tapas style before, but let me tell you, it’s going to be hard to go back to buffet. I’ll trade gloopy, messy curries for Indish’s small plates any day.
Some menu suggestions: Pakoras with Tomato Chutney (Indian Onion RIngs!); Aubergine Badal Jaam (Eggplant like you’ve never had it); Pan Fried Cabbage; Punjabi Five Lentil Dal.
Raj — Thank you so much for a great night out. We’ll be back before long!

Fabulous Indian comfort food. You won’t find curries and nan here. No, this is traditional Indian comfort food abounding with fresh flavors. The chocolate pudding dessert (I’ve heard this recipe called buddino at another of my favorite restaurants) is also great. Great food. Great service. Five stars.

I visited here with a pretty big crowd of folks on a Thursday evening. (There were six of us) The owner kindly allowed us to pull tables together out front and then gave us a great introduction on how the food at Indish is different from other Indian fare you might find around town.
I found the owner absolutely delightful and our waitress was wonderful. I cannot tell you how often a great food experience is ruined by crappy service here in PDX so it was refreshing to have staff that were definitely busy but still managed to get our orders fairly promptly, were friendly and didn’t just leave us hanging after our food had started coming out of the kitchen.
The food is delicious. However, do not come here expecting enormous portions of super hot Indian food. The dishes are amazing, more mildly flavored and its tapas style.
I recommend Indish if you’re not in a hurry, if you appreciate good food and an attentive host who will come chat at length with you. This is not a rush-​through-​your-​meal kind of place. Tapas-​style is meant to be a lingering experience. So sit back, sip on a great cocktail or a glass of wine, enjoy chatting with your dinner partner (s) and be prepared to feast.

I’m the kind of person who yells out song requests at concerts when I really love the band. «What does that have to do with Indish?» you say. I’m so glad you asked.
You see, a few weeks ago, I ran into Laura, head chef and co-​owner of Indish, on the street. She, like a normal person, said a hello and how are you.
Me, on the other hand? Like a deranged, gibbering fan, I interrupted to ask her to make a vegetarian mulligatawny.
Because she is a rock star.
If you’ve looked through the reviews or their website, you already know about the home-​style (i.e., ungreasy and less heavily-​spiced) food, the great date atmosphere, Raj — Laura’s husband and co-​owner — who is super-​friendly and hugely entertaining, and the badass chili chutney. Their urad dal is the first dark lentil preparation I’ve ever liked, and I enjoyed the bites of turnip and eggplant off my husband’s plate despite my despising turnips and eggplant.
But I don’t think anyone has mentioned the chocolate pudding yet. Please, for the love of God, don’t try and share this. My husband got genuinely upset with me once when my half became a 2/​3rds share. Hey, put down your spoon and all bets are off.
My very first meal out was at an Indian restaurant, and I have eaten at many, many Indian restaurants, and in 5 countries, over the years. Indish easily stands up alongside my favorites in NYC and London.
The only negative thing about the place is that they sometimes run out of pudding. I have suggested that they get a neon light for the window to signal pudding availability, similar to Krispy Kreme’s «Hot» sign, but so far, no dice.

Incredible meal, one of the best I’ve had in Portland. My wife’s vegan and they were very accommodating. Almost all the vegetarian plates on the menu were vegan or could be made vegan, with the obvious exception of the paneers. We shared the aubergine, lentils, and vegetable samosa, and I got a stewed pork dish and prawns. Absolutely everything was light and flavorful, but the prawns were among the best I’ve ever had and the pork was incredibly savory. I recommend ordering the delicious chilli chutney to add some heat.
Service was uneven and we had trouble flagging down our waitress, who was doing double-​duty as hostess. But the amount of attention lavished on us by Raj, the owner, more than compensated for it. He explained his philosophy behind the food and the wine, sat with us and went item-​by-​item through the menu, marking what was vegan or could be made vegan. Who else gets that kind of service?
For dessert, I opted for the cardamom crème brûlée and the flight of three whiskeys. I leaned on the owner’s expertise for the choices, and he explained each in detail. Where each came from, what makes them special, and his recommendations for how to taste them. And because it was my birthday, he brought me a shot of a special reserve whiskey ($ 130/​bottle). Deeply smoky, it was like barbequed scotch. Paired with the crème brûlée, a perfect way to end the evening. Highly recommended.

An Indian restaurant trying to be different.
The service can be slow.
They stay open late.
You may have to park on 21^st. If you are feeling bored, sit by the window and count the number of times a parked car gets bumped by drivers trying to parallel park.
Interesting seating, drinks and of course, the food.
Small but tasty quantities. If you are up for it, try the spicy chili chutney.
Doesn’t leave you feeling bloated. Unlike eating Indian food in a vast majority of places, you will have room for dessert. When was the last time you had that elusive room? You will feel quite light.
And so will your wallet!

Food
Very well prepared food, Excellent flavors (not the heavy oily stuff you get with most Indian.) I often get the Chapati Wraps. (indian dishes wraped up in freshly made Chapati Bread
Drinks and desert
The drinks and deserts are as good as the meals. Some of the best cheese cake I’ve ever had came from here. Weird right? But in a good way.
The Mango Cosmo is good. There’s also a good one that involves chai and dark rum.

I’m glad I found Indish because I was starting to think that I made a mistake moving onto 21^st. It looked like a fun street full of young enthusiastic people but it turns out it’s kind of stinky and creepy.
Anyway, the food is tasty if a little more than I like to pay for small plates. The owner is super nice and will talk to you forever if you sit at the bar. The bar is really nice and I’m surprised more people don’t sit there, I always do when I go. They have fresh, sustainable items on their menu, the beers are really neat, obscure English brews, and they put so much care into cocktails. I saw the owner stir a martini for 5 minutes! Who does that? Very cool.
Hooray for spicy chutney. It’s oh so hot but not to be missed.

First off, it is ridiculously dark in there. If I were looking to get drunk with the overdressed, flat-​ironed crowd, I would praise such a lighting arrangement. But if I were looking to enjoy «complex, cutting-​edge» food, I’d hope for a bit more light by which to see those morsels.
The food itself, despite what the hype would have you believe, is not noticeably different than any other Indian restaurant I’ve been to, other than they call their Naan «crispy but actually not-​so-​crispy» flatbread, and charge an arm and a leg for it instead of bringing it as the requisite side it ought to be. Oh, and rice costs extra, too.
The small-​plate/​tapas idea is poorly executed and seemed to only confuse the waitstaff and hinder check-​splitting. I went with my SO and another couple, and instead of splitting the check according to who had ordered what, they split it down the middle. Since we had ordered two dishes and the other couple had ordered eight, plus chutneys (extra $ for those, too), we ended up paying far more than we had planned on.
The rangpur G&Ts are Indish’s only saving grace, although those too were overpriced. If you live in the neighborhood, there’s a much better Indian joint nearby in the form of Swagat.

«If I were as enthusiastic about my job as Raj is about his, I wouldn’t get any work done either,» I said to our waitress at Indish last night.
Raj, out of earshot when I offered the above commentary, later ratified my remarks, saying (roughly), «Who in their right mind, after having talked to me for five minutes, could somehow expect professional service out of me?»
So be forewarned: don’t expect fast, professional service when you go to Indish. Do expect charming, unbridled enthusiasm on the part of the owner, Raj — so much so that, once he makes his way over to your table, it may still be a long while before he gets around to taking your order.
The food is exactly as he describes — a sort of post-​ethnic Indian home cooking — and certainly validates the owner’s bubbly manner. Everything was delicious and light, even the samosas — you would expect a fried pastry to be dripping with grease, but they were light and fluffy and came with a refreshing tomato chutney. The Tarka Masoor Dal gave me new hope for lentils (after an embarrassing lentil cooking incident I had this past weekend), and the Lamb Saag Tikka — best in show (read Nader A’s description for a more complete retelling).
Of course, unbridled enthusiasm is not without its drawbacks (just ask Billy Mumphrey). Raj’s wordy and somewhat disorganized menu can confuse and disorient people rather than inform them. His impassioned, though charming, sermons on why his patrons should enjoy their meals may serve to distract people from, well, enjoying their meals.
But I have faith that Raj will soon learn to curb his enthusiasm, take a step back, and let the excellent food speak for itself.

OK — I’ve been lamenting the loss of a fantastic Asian (Malaysian) restaurant — Kinta on Belmont — for the past few months. That place was so amazing, yet PDX couldn’t support it. It’s a typical story in PDX… if it isn’t Thai (we do have great Thai!) or gloppy Chinese or overly creamy Indian, PDX just can’t motivate.
So it’s time for PDX to make it happen and support a really excellent, very authentic Punjabi Indian place such as Indish. Indish offers a more traditional form of Indian food — much like what my Punjabi wife ate growing up. It’s the real deal, albeit done with a bit more culinary flair. And the best part is, unlike most food found at Indian restaurants, this stuff will won’t give you a coronary by age 40. It’s reasonably healthy, not too heavy, and super tasty.
A note on portions… they serve «tapas» portions, but really they’re much bigger and more filling than that. 3 dishes will serve most couples dining there.
BTW — you get to eat sitting on couches in this place… very laid back and great for groups/​parties. Very festive feel.

Subtlety and nuance is what makes the food here stand out. Owner Raj hails from London and is quite the charming host, taking time to explain the ins and outs of traditional Indian cuisine and deconstructing the myth of the «curry houses» which have proliferated in England. (I’ve lived in London and experienced this firsthand.)
There’s much to admire here, from the delicacy of the food (even at happy hour) to the large and comfortable dining area (replete with leather couches). Minor downsides include the folk-​rock music mélange and rotating succession of servers. But otherwise this is a refreshingly unique take on Indian cuisine, pretty much without peer in Portland.

What a great concept: Indian food that isn’t laden with curry, butter or milk. Indish serves North Indian dishes and makes everything from scratch, «except for the mixed green» the owner said. We notified the staff that we were in a bit of a hurry, some in our group had a show to catch, and they were accommodating and made recommendations in order for guests to beat curtain call.
I’m not familiar with Indian food, but after I knew I wanted something crispy and crunchy. After scanning the menu, I decided upon Pakoras with Tomato Chutney ($ 6.00). The Onion rings dipped in spicy chick pea batter sounded like it would fit the bill. Disappointingly, the chick pea batter was neither crispy or crunchy, but soft and rubbery. My threshold for number-​of-​chews are normally high, but not that night, as I was interested in a crispy and crunchy fare. The saving grace of the meal was Indish’s Lamb Kheema Wrap served with a side of mixed greens ($ 8.00). The spicy minced lamb is slow cooked with peas and full of flavor. If you like cumin, you’ll love this dish.
Indish now offers Happy Hour from 4:00PM to 6:00PM on Tuesday thru Friday and 10:00PM to Midnight on Friday and Saturday. If you are hesitant about Indish, I would recommend trying their Happy Hour. You’ll find a friendly and helpful staff, great décor and atmosphere and flavorful food (anything besides the Pakoras). Although Indish is on 21^st Avenue, street parking is difficult, but not impossible.

In my quest to find good Indian food in Portland, I finally tried out Indish. The summary: okay food, somewhat bland, though. Service needs a lot of work.
I’m a fan of what a deal this place is. You can try three different dishes from the Roti menu for a mere $ 12. Where else can you try three different dishes for so little of a price? It’s a lot of food, too!
I just wish those dishes were more flavorful. There is basically no spice to anything. Here’s a breakdown, starting with my favorites:
Tarka Masoor Dal: Very good Dal!
Bombay Potatoes: Very good, self-​explanatory.
Punjabi Chick Peas: My friend’s favorite dish.
Punjabi Chicken: A bit more flavor, but still fairly bland.
Aubergine and Mushroom Paji: Good if you like eggplant
Chicken and Mushroom Korma: The blandest dish. Forgettable.
As for the service, we walked in and the owner was the only person serving the whole restaurant. I don’t know if someone called in sick or what, but I had no idea if we were supposed to seat ourselves or wait. It took awhile to get his attention and I usually do have sympathy for this situation, but the slowness was due more to his over-​talking at other tables than from being busy. I had to walk up to get the check because I saw him standing, chatting people up. I’m pretty patient with these things, but this place definitely needed another server.

WOW! Lots of yumminess. I’ve walked by this place a bunch of times since it opened and stuck my nose to the window and thought that it looked so sterile. Maybe they did something to the place, or maybe that was a distorted perception, but from the inside it all seems warm and inviting. This impression is compounded many times over when the proprietor visits your table. I challenge you to find a warmer, more informative host.
We started with some delicious vegie samosas. From the Roti menu we each picked one from column A, one from column B and one from column C (for $ 12). So we did a Punjabi chicken, a pork dish, fried cabbage, an eggplant and mushroom dish, a lentil dal and a garbanzo bean dish. All of them were fabulous. Spicy while not hot. Lighter than Indian fare I’m used to (not at all thick and gloppy). Topped it off with the mango cheesecake. Sooo light!
I don’t usually review after a single visit but I’m making an exception — the word needs to get out about this place. If you have preconceptions about Indian food, leave them at the door and try Indish. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.