A 50’s style diner. Black-and-white checkered floor. Booths with red-and-white striped benches.
Does this sound like an Indian restaurant to you?
It didn’t look like one to us either. However, we were in for a surprise, because Nikita India (4612-A, W. Market St., telephone 852-2077) provided delicious, spicy Indian cuisine in a building reminiscent of an old-timey soda fountain.
Quick service and an attentive staff made the occasion even more enjoyable, as did the televisions projecting Indian soap operas, the traditional mosaic murals on the walls, and the lively Indian music broadcasted through the sound system.
The restaurant was very tidy; even the restrooms were clean, which is something both of us value highly. The staff is polite, friendly, and very conscientious; our glasses were refilled as soon as we emptied them.
Nikita India prices a modest $10 for most dinners, and every Sunday and Wednesday the restaurant offers a dinner buffet for $9.95. Lunches are approximately $6, with buffets Tuesday through Sunday.
Our dinner consisted of a bread basket ($3.95) filled with three types of Indian bread, malai kofta ($8.95), and aloo palak ($7.95). The bread basket gave us an excellent source of wrappings for our delectable vegetable dishes. Malai kofta is a dish of mixed vegetable balls with a sauce that could’ve been a meal on its own. Aloo palak, or spinach and potatoes, was a hearty mixture with a pungent spinach taste (only meant for true spinach fans). However, Holly found it quite enjoyable.
For you carnivores (like Eamon, who was pining away for a lamb dish all night), Nikita India offers lamb, chicken, seafood, and goat. The only meat you won’t find in this restaurant is beef because of the sacred state of cows. They also offer desserts, but neither of us had enough room left from the meal to try any sweets, no matter how tempting they sounded in the menu.
Overall, Nikita India is a very welcoming environment, with friendly staff and tasty food. In fact, we’re planning to visit them again this Sunday to enjoy the weekend buffet.