Indienne — Restaurant in Chicago

We celebrated our 10 year anniversary at Indienne in Chicago, and I can say it was a truly memorable evening. Although our reservation was set for 5:45 pm, we arrived a little early and were promptly seated. The front of house staff greeted us warmly, took our coats, and guided us to our table with genuine cordiality. The ambiance struck the perfect tone with warm lighting, refined yet comfortable surroundings, and a dining room that felt special without being stiff. According to the MICHELIN Guide, Indienne delivers “high quality cooking” and a refined, original vision of Indian cuisine.

Once seated, the table setting caught our eye with crisp, high quality linens, polished flatware, fine glassware and thoughtfully arranged place settings. You could tell the team cares about details, which sets the expectation for the kind of evening you’re in for. We opted to try both the vegetarian tasting menu and the non vegetarian tasting menu, and we were delighted to find our waiter both warm and thoroughly knowledgeable. He walked us through each course and answered our questions about the cocktail and wine menus with clarity and enthusiasm.

We began with cocktails. I had a tamarind whiskey drink, and my wife chose a gin based option. Both were spectacular, inventive, well balanced, and perfect for a celebratory evening. Then our first small plate (this is a tasting menu experience so portions are bite size but multiple) was a dhokla. Visually, it hardly resembled the dhokla one might expect, but that first bite was a revelation, delicate, nuanced, surprising in the best way. Next up was the pani puri with passion fruit, green apple, and buckwheat. It was decent, but we both felt it didn’t quite hit the authentic pani puri flavor we had hoped for. Following that came avocado bhel with tamarind and black rice, again well plated and interesting, but average in our eyes. Then we reached the yogurt chaat with mint, rhubarb and plums, which was something special. The presentation was beautiful and the flavors layered; it really stood out as one of the highlights.

On the vegetarian side my wife had medu vada with butternut squash, tomato pachadi and coconut chutney, and she declared it a “banger.” The vada was crisp, and the accompaniments rich and complementary. On my non vegetarian side I had the scallop cafreal with miso, golden kaluga and corn raab, which I’d go as far as to rate 10/10, easily the most delicious dish of the evening. Next came our supplemental course choices. I opted for a lobster ghee roast, and my wife had the morel manti, both at an extra cost. They were both very good, and mine especially stood out. Then we moved to kebabs. She enjoyed a celeriac kebab, and I had lamb kebabs with tamarind and mint chutney paired with chilli cheese kulcha, which worked beautifully together. The main courses followed. I had chicken makhni with naan, and she had paneer kofte with naan. It was satisfying to see more traditionally Indian items show up in this progressive fine dining format, and both mains delivered. For dessert we had two options, bal mithai and a mango delight with malted barley, aam ras and black lime. My wife absolutely loved the mango version. To cap it off, we had little treats including filter coffee bon bon, huckleberry jelly, and bhapa doi tart, a fitting grand finish to our seven course (plus treats) meal.

All told, Indienne was spectacular. From service to food to ambiance, it hit the mark for what a special occasion fine dining experience should be. Yes, it’s a pricey outing, but the quality and care made it feel justified. If you’re celebrating something meaningful, this place makes for a strong...

A Culinary Journey at One Michelin Star Fine Dining Experience I had the privilege of taking my culinary guru—my mom—to experience a One Michelin Star fine dining tasting menu. Here’s a breakdown of our experience:

Dokhla Aero This dish was a pleasant surprise! I never imagined Dokhla could be made with white chocolate, but it worked beautifully. The white chocolate melted in my mouth, perfectly balanced by the spicy chutney on top. It was a unique and delightful start to the meal.

Pani Puri While the tart/puri was a bit hard, which affected the overall experience, the flavor was still good. The real highlight was the pani inside the bubble—it was an innovative twist on this classic street food, and the burst of flavor was quite enjoyable.

Mushroom Éclair The mushroom flavor here was subtle yet delicious. The éclair itself was soft and melted in my mouth. It was a delicate balance of texture and taste, with the mild mushroom essence coming through beautifully.

Yogurt Chaat This dish impressed us both. The base layer of yogurt pannacotta was creamy and rich, while the crispy potato chip provided the perfect crunch. Overall, it was a refined version of a familiar chaat, with excellent balance and flavor.

Scallop Xec Xec The scallop was perfectly cooked—soft, fresh, and tender. The accompanying sauce was well-balanced, and the caviar added a nice touch. Overall, a delightful dish, although the caviar didn’t stand out as much as I would have hoped.

Lobster Moilee The curry mousse was flavorful, and the lobster was cooked to perfection. However, the shrimp head thecha didn’t quite come through as strongly as expected, which left the dish a bit less complex than anticipated. Still, the overall taste was good.

Chicken Katli This dish featured three layers of chicken, which were well-cooked and flavorful. The accompanying sauce was tasty, and the chili kulcha was mild, making for a nice balance. While it was interesting

Lamb Nihari This was the one dish that didn’t quite live up to expectations. The lamb was cooked well, but the nihari sauce was rather bland, and the overall seasoning felt lacking. The ribs roll, with its ginger topping, was decent, but the potato and green pea puree didn’t complement the dish well. Overall, this dish felt out of place in an otherwise strong tasting menu.

Dal Makhani A classic, and done very well here. The dal was rich and flavorful, especially when paired with garlic naan. A comforting, satisfying dish.

Mishti Doi Visually appealing, but it didn’t quite deliver on taste. It had the texture of a cracker dipped in jaggery syrup, and unfortunately, the mishti doi flavor was lost in the mix.

Tamarind Ganache This was an exciting flavor combination—sour tamarind with rich chocolate. It was an unusual, sour take on ganache, and while interesting, it might not be for everyone.

Guava Jelly A refreshing and delightful note to end the meal on. Sweet, tangy, and the perfect palate cleanser.

Service The service was overall pleasant. The staff was attentive, and they made sure to note any allergies. However, I felt the servers could have explained the dishes in more detail, and the pacing was a bit rushed. It didn’t detract from the experience, but a little more explanation and a slower pace would have enhanced the overall atmosphere.

Final Thoughts Overall, this was a wonderful experience. Despite a few missteps with certain dishes, both my mom and I thoroughly enjoyed the meal. The restaurant offers a unique take on Indian cuisine, and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to experience Indian food in a new,...

We went on a weekend and both had the non-vegetarian tasting menu. Service was great and the plating was visually stunning but I don't think this menu was for me taste-wise. The flavor profile was the same throughout the entire tasting menu and all of the courses were either oddly too sweet or not savory enough.

Dhokla aero: this opening bite already felt like a dessert to me because of how sweet it was. I didn't really like the combination of white chocolate and savory spices.

Pani puri: textually very interesting bite and had great flavors but the puri was a bit sweet for my taste.

Mushroom eclair: buttery, light choux shell with cheesy, truffle filling. This was a delicious bite but I was left wanting more intensity. A bit more tang from the goat cheese or a bit more salt would have perfected this.

Yogurt chaat: base layer of yogurt panna cotta was grainy. The dish was way too sweet for a savory course. Total absence of chaat's signature tanginess or spiciness. This felt like a disruption from the small savory momentum that the mushroom eclair had just managed to muster up.

Scallop xec xec: scallop had an unpleasant slightly fishy aftertaste. However, it was cooked to perfection and placed in a refreshingly tart broth. Lots of great flavors but lacked the saltiness that even the caviar couldn't make up for. Ultimately, I was left with another course that was missing depth or any kind of appreciable finish.

Lobster moilee: lobster was fresh and also cooked just right. With the flavorful curry mousse and tart citrus gel, the dish harmonized well. However, this potential was wasted due to inadequate intensity of savory and/or tangy flavors.

Chicken katli: The chicken was processed to beautifully deliver the kaju katli creative vision but ended up having an odd texture. Think drier, heavily spiced Spam but with no salt at all. The Amul cheese emulsion also felt a bit too rich.

Lamb nihari: one of the highlights of my meal was the lamb brisket roulade: tender and satisfyingly flavorful. However, the lamb loin was a bit overcooked for my taste. I also couldn't taste any salt in literally everything else: from meat or the daal down to the naan and the peas puree. All elements on the plate felt disconnected. The garlic naan was unacceptable at a restaurant of this caliber. It was crunchy, void of any fluffiness or chewiness, and had just a vague hint of garlic - worse than any frozen naan I have tried.

Mishti doi: delicious combination but the dish leaned a bit too sweet for my taste. Both the yogurt tart and key lime ice cream were already sweet. Hence, the addition of honey underneath really pushed it over the edge.

Overall, Indienne clearly is a restaurant with great potential as seen through the sophistication in plating and combination of complex flavors. However, it seems like its full potential is being held back, resulting in a confusing menu and an unsatisfying experience. I was stuck constantly searching for the bold, intense flavors of the Indian fare that I am so familiar with throughout the entire meal. There was a strange underlying current of sweetness even in the savory courses. While there's nothing inherently wrong with that, there needs to be enough intensity in savory quality to differentiate them from dessert courses. My friend said it felt like we just had a tasting menu full of mostly dessert-passing courses and I couldn't have...