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101 Best Restaurants

Published: September/October 2008
Ultimate Northwest

Sometimes you want something different from a corner curry hut where the food comes in one style of heat - scorching - and the ambience shouts bingo parlor. Enter Vindalho: Upscale yet unstuffy and reasonable in both price and seasoning, it offers a modern take on Indian food that ranges around the country and beyond.

Recommended: Crispy-fried samosas with interesting stuffings (sweet potato, spring vegetables, fava beans); Pork Vindalho, tender and piquant from braising in vinegar; killer Goan-style mussels in coconut curry. Three chutney sampler hits: pear-ginger, mint-yogurt, red chile. The wine list by Dave Holstrom, aka Guy du Vin, smartly complements the cuisine's cumin/coriander/fennel/fenugreek overtones; seek acidic European whites, fruity reds. Still, nothing's more soothing than the rush of icy Kingfisher lager when a stray bit of chile lodges in your gullet.

Dishes We Crave

Goan-Style Mussels
People make pilgrimages to this contemporary Indian outpost for bowls of gorgeous, fat mussels in a rich coconut curry broth amply marked by cumin, ginger and tamarind paste. Shredded coconut covers the blue-black shells like snowflakes and, best of all, the large white bowl is easily tilted for spooning up that killer sauce. Or, order a side of naan bread and get primitive: rip off pieces, sop up the juices and moan with pleasure.

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