Basant Modern Indian Restaurant — Restaurant in Lake View Township

I'm the first one to tell you that I dislike Indian fusion food regardless of flavors. Some things you just leave them be. I had been wanting to check this place out for a while and we finally made it. So happy to report that while the food is 'modern', it still stays close to the original Indian food. Your paneer makhani still looks like paneer makhani. Lol.

They have partnered up with this brewery called Azadi. Tried their beer, time pass: loved it. Crisp and clean beer. Others had the paan cocktail which was very creative. Could have been a tad bit more boozy. But flavor was really good.

We got the mushroom kulcha with truffle garlic butter. Great attempt but didn't get much flavor of the garlic or the truffle. Just my opinion: serving it as is meaning just the kulcha is a mistake. Needs to go with something.

The mango corn bhel was interesting. It works. I think this is the one item that may be as 'exotic' as it got.

The chicken and paneer chili (2 separate dishes) were really good. The salt in the gravy was a tad bit too much. The chicken had been treated with a grill first I think before putting it the gravy. The paneer; mmmmmmmmmm. Fresh. Taaza taaza. Soft, mulayam. Hmm some of the best paneer.

Samosas. Ok. Their samosas are probably one of the top 5 on the planet I've eaten (even compared to the ones I've had in India). The casing was beautiful. The place where the dough seals up had beautiful fork marks. The crust had that perfect crisp. The killer was the filling. Truly amazing. It has the right ratio of everything in terms of flavors. Not super spicy (hot) and a good note of the garam masala. This was probably my fav item.

The Chole batoore. The chole were absolutely heavenly. Traditional Punjabi style but did not taste like it came out of a restaurant. Actually felt home cooked. The bathura was not for me (we were 4 people and I was the only one that disliked the bathura). While a 'healthier' version for sure (we guessed it had no soda and was a lot smaller in size than what you typically get), for me it lacked the softness, the delicateness of a traditional bathura. In any case, this was a one vs three situations so you need to try this on your own and see.

Lastly the paneer makhani. Again for me, this was a bit too tomato forward (but the other 3 folks with me loved it). While I really did appreciate the 'lightness' of their paneer makhani, I did miss the creaminess you usually get. Agin, another thing you will need to try for yourself.

Now we need to see if they can maintain this standard and I...

I would say the food was decent and cocktails were good. Service extremely poor starting from the host possibly the owner who was very rude we were coming from long distance we reached within the 15 mins period of our reservation start time. Not once but multiple times the host reminded us that we have to be done by certain time. Which we were okay with but even after acknowledging this the host, our server kept reminding this to us. This whole experience was very poor and extremely rushed. Looks like they don’t have enough sitting area to accommodate 5-10 mins delays which is not so uncommon. When our food arrived the portions were small so we wanted to place order for an extra dish that’s when we were told that we only have 15 mins left to gobble our food and get out. With all that rushing and almost 200$ later not only I was disappointed at the service but also felt like a total fool for recommending this restaurant to lots of people in past. Hence a big review if you plan on visiting may be get there a day before your reservation or for sure you will feel like you are in a bake off challenge 10 mins left!!!!

Honestly Jeet, not once but many times I said I was okay been done at hour and half but I am no kid to be reminded every time I order. You could have just said no to my business clearly you don’t need it. Instead of a bad experience, I apologized that we got our kid who occupied the high chair which was one extra person… you should probably mention that on your website or open table. Put yourself in a customer shoe and see if you would appreciate a service like that. Talk about hospitality business. we were there at 6.01 left at 7.11 am placed order for an extra dish at 6.50 which you guys could have just said no to and may be work on your food portions your server never once told us two full entrees after 2 appetizers would not be enough… along with mentioning how little time I am left with may be this could be a good thing to mention…. Good luck with your business not sure retaliating here makes any sense but had to say my piece. Hope this review helps you a little in future with your...

Well this was an exclusive adventure based of my older sister and her friend to try this Indian Pakastini restaurant. Indian Pakistani cuisine is the least favorite of ethnic cuisines I like but Basant restaurant is an exception to the rule after trying the dining experience. I started off with an appetizer called the Chicken Mali Cilantro. I also ordered for both the appetizer and the main dish recommended called the Lamb Gustaba with an unusual but moist and savory basmati rice. The restaurant is a modern take to traditional Indian Pakastini cuisine which is why I went there. Chicken Mali was fresh and out of this world delicious. It was the result to break away from Tandoori chicken which is usually pan fried on a cast iron skillet with onions. They had added or made it more sauteed with cilantro as a garnish which I found unusual since I did not know in Indian Pakistani cuisine if they ever used cilantro in my other previous experiences. The main course which was the Lamb Gustaba was unique, spicy and savory. The Lamb in the form of meatballs tasted fresh and the yogurt and sauce was not too oily. I had a difficult time trying to choose between the Gulab Cheesecake and the Kheer so the Chef gave me both and just paid 1 price for the dessert instead of two. I'm glad he gave me that choice because I like the Kheer more out of its freshness as a traditional Indian rice pudding. The Gulab cheese cake was good but I wish he put more Gulab dough in between the cheesecake. When you get to the point where they have the Gulab dough and syrup it tastes delicious but they didn't put enough of it. I had addressed it to the chef. Overall it was a good experience I would come back here again to try the other dishes. Why only four stars is because upstairs I don't know what's going on despite the music they have in the background of this restaurant but I was quite bothered by the ceiling noise. Not sure if those are tenants upstairs or if there's a business upstairs where people are dancing?. Do come here if you want fresh and more modern twists to Indian...