Well Played, Orange Flying Horse

Andrea’s View:  I have always said that my favorite cuisine was Indian.  So it surprised me that Dave and I had only reviewed one Indian restaurant.  In order to correct this oversight, Dave and I headed off to Amber Indian on North Meridian.  Before coming to Amber Indian, I have to say that I already had my favorite Indian restaurant,  so my expectations weren’t set very high.  And though the dining room of Amber Indian is pretty, it certainly isn’t the fanciest.  Dave and I were handed menus and once I opened it I saw all my favorite Indian comfort dishes.  This is an extensive menu so I decided to go with a vegetarian entrée to narrow down the field.  I picked out the malai kofta.  I have had a version of this dish before, they are  “meatballs” with ground up vegetables inside.  The “meatballs” are then smothered in a spicy curry gravy.  It is served with a side of rice.  We also ordered palak pakora, which are deep-fried spinach leaves.  I ordered a glass of Indian white wine and sat back waiting to see if this restaurant could top my previous favorite.  The waiter brings us  our drinks and opens Dave’s bottle of beer with a flourish and pours it in his glass.  Impressive showmanship, but let’s wait for the food.  Our appetizer arrives, (the fried spinach), and Dave and I are once again impressed with the simple goodness of deep-frying vegetables that Americans would not think about frying.  These little spinach leaves were awesome.  These could be served at any American sports bar in place of pretzels and they would fly out of the kitchen.  They were crispy and tender and salty and mellow all at the same time.  Okay Amber Indian, I’m starting to be impressed.  Then our entrées came out.  They are served on silver platters with community rice and complimentary naan, the Indian flat bread. (I have had to pay extra for naan at my favorite Indian restaurant.)  Okay, so I put some rice on my plate and pour the malai kofta over it and I dig in.  Wow.  This was better than any dish I have had at an Indian restaurant before.  The spiciness was perfect, (I ordered it medium) and the koftas were tender and not the least bit dry or crumbly.  Well played  Amber Indian.  And it didn’t stop there.  After asking for to-go boxes, we were given a box for the rest of Dave’s dish and the leftover rice, a bowl for the rest of my gravy, and aluminum foil for the naan.  Are you kidding me?!   Usually I receive one styrofoam box for everything and I have to rely on my high school geometry to fit everything in.  Well done Amber Indian, well done.  As Dave and I left, once again too full for our own good, I said to Dave, “Well, it looks like I have a new favorite Indian restaurant.”  He nodded and said, “Yeah.”

On a side note:  The online version of the yellow pages states that this restaurant is closed.  Please ignore that, this restaurant is not closed.

Flying Horse Beer

The inside

The inside

Palak Pakora

Malai Kofta

Karahi Paneer

The spread

The outside

Dave’s View:  I’ve never eaten anything that looks like it came out a volcano.  A blazing orange so orange that the Department of Transportation of Indiana would trade in their vest.  I know most of their vests are yellow, but there are some that are a bright orange.  Orange as in hot lava orange.  They could take the cubed cheese and stick them on their vest.  Everybody would see them and no one would get hurt, plus as an added bonus,  they could pluck one-off their vest for a nice snack.  Talk about efficiency!  Take a look for yourself:

Karahi Paneer

Bicyclists, who bike at night,  could  take the cubed cheese out, use them as reflectors while slurping down the lovely peppers that were added in this dish.  School crossing guards from around the nation, if they ate enough, would turn a cool red/orange color.  Tanning salons would cease to exist.  Anarchy, anarchy, Anaaaarchy, I tell ya!!!

It won’t turn your skin orange.  I should know, I’m the whitest of males.  Nothing of this sort happened the next day.  I could have been depressed, but I wasn’t, because the taste of this dish was incredible.

It was a journey that started with Palak Pakora.  It’s fried spinach leaves.  Why this appetizer is not a regular menu item in American restaurants is beyond my belief.  The crunchiness  of the spinach is so addicting, you could sit at this place drinking beer and eating plates of Palak Pakora until your stomach burst.  It is an appetizer that could bridge cultural divides.  It could bring soccer and football fans closer  together.

Then top it all off with a Flying Horse beer.  The waiter will hopefully(because mine did), come by after your second beer and ask, “Are you flying?” Oh, yeah.  I was flying.  Flying high off of two well made dishes and service to boot.

Service:  9  Food: 9  Ambiance: 8  Total:  26 out of 30

$40-$50 with adult beverages.  Unless you are tight on money, don’t go to the buffets of any Indian restaurants.  Stay away from buffets, go to the dinner services instead.  Higher quality of food will be presented!