Thank God for Cardamom. I can walk there, and that's reason enough to be grateful. Even better is the extensive wine list, which you don't ordinarily find in an Indian restaurant.
Smart and sleek--the work of a French designer--it's a cool place to eat your chicken tikka, but not to chow down on cheap Indian buffet food. Cardamom doesn't sink to that level. It does, however, offer a lunch special for $11.95 based on dishes from the regular menu.
That chicken tikka, murgh tikka to use the Indian name, is nicely presented, with grilled red and green bell peppers and a yogurt-mint sauce (above). It's yellow from the spicing, not tinted red with food color, which isn't allowed in this kitchen. If you insist on red tandoori chicken, go elsewhere.
Red chiles printed on the menu indicate spiciness, from one chile for subtly spiced to four for extremely hot. I found gosht (lamb) bhuna and Chetinad murgh, chicken in south Indian spiced coconut sauce, to be hotter than I expected from their single chiles.
Jhinga patia, tiger shrimp in a showy red sauce (above), didn't rate a single chile, despite its spiciness.
This was a good opportunity to see what wines could hold up to such food. Interestingly, a light, acidic French red wine, Chanson Le Bourgongne Pinot Noir 2011, which seemed unimpressive on its own, won out over a very good Malbec, Salentein Reserve 2013.
In another pairing, Marc Brédif Vouvray Classic 2012, a light, faintly sweet wine that seemed meant for Indian food, lost out to the more assertive minerality of Domaine Michel Girault Sancerre La Silicieuse 2012.
These two white wines fought it out over an appetizer plate (above) that included what I thought was the best dish of the day--jhinga koliwada. Crunchy and a little spicy, this is Mumbai style shrimp, seasoned with garlic, ginger and other spices and fried. It's at upper right in the photo.
In front of the shrimp, Cardamom's vegetable samosa is much lighter than the usual heavy potato samosas that fill you up so you can't eat anything more.
Similarly, among the desserts, gulab jamun (above) are light and fresh, not heavy balls of fried dough. Appealing in its subtlety, malai ice cream is made just with milk, no added flavorings, although it tasted richer than that. Another dessert, gajar ka halwa, or carrot halwa, is barely sweet. You could even serve it as a side dish at Thanksgiving dinner.
Cardamom opened a few months ago, replacing India's Oven. The long menu veers away from standard Indian food to dishes you won't find elsewhere, like its rendition of Chetinad murgh (above).
Care has been taken with the seasonings. For example, the spicy lamb bhuna (above) could have been a one-note dish, but it tastes of sweet spices too, and I saw curry leaves in the pot.
I've not been inspired to eat much Indian food lately, because it's so routine and sometimes over-priced in relation to quality. That's why I'm glad Cardamom is in my neighborhood.
Cardamom, 7233 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036. (323) 936-1000. Check its website for more information.
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