Sankalp - The Taste of India — Restaurant in Warrenville

I have to compliment the owner and the service for an amazing experience. This was actually the first day the restaurant open unofficially as the grand opening is still a week or so away. We decided to call to see if they were taking customers. The owner answered and said that they haven’t fully opened and they are setting up and making few dishes for family to try and then he said something I never heard from any restaurant in my life. He said for me and my family to come in and try the dishes with his family and see if we like them and give him our honest review without charging us for the dinner. I was amazed at this hospitality. We went and tried a few Punjabi dishes. I attached pics of cashew curry and paneer tikka masala. The service was impeccable. We tried the two curries and also fried corn as appetizer and were amazed by the taste. In fact we found it be fresh and very close to original taste from india. The naan was fluffy and soft not over cooked. The curries were the right spice and thickness as not overpowering. We can’t wait to try their chicken, which he said will be fresh from the butcher daily and the variety of dishes they will be offering. The atmosphere was harder to judge as they hadn’t fully set up yet. But we definitely felt very welcome and taken care of when we weee there. The silver glasses were a great...

We’ve eaten here twice now - once for a date night and one for family dinner. The menu is very deep and there were a lot of dishes that I hadn’t seen at other Indian restaurants - perhaps regional specialties - so I confess there was a lot of googling involved in ordering! For just the two of us, we wanted to try all new things - pani-puri, dosa masala, a veg delight curry, a goat roganjosh and a paneer Szechuan sizzler. The sizzler was underwhelming, honestly - mostly French fries, but everything else was delicious!

With the family (8yo boy, 4yo girl - not culinarily adventurous at all, so we knew we were in for a rough time!) we played it safer. We got some kovas, a mild chicken korma, a spring dosa and lots of garlic naan, then as a concession to the kids, we got a cheese pizza. It had a slightly different sauce from traditional pizza, but didn’t seem to phase them at all. They reluctantly took nibbles of some of the other items - there was bribery involved, and it was hit or miss, but it was their first exposure to Indian food. I thought it was all delicious. (How can kids not like garlic naan?! I swear that was its own food group for me as a kid!)

It gets busy with big family groups later than I would have expected, 8 or 9pm, so we had no trouble getting seated at 6:30...

Arrey yaar… this meal? It wasn’t just dinner—it was an emotional experience.

Let’s start with the butter chicken. The chicken? So soft it could’ve written poetry. That gravy? Rich, creamy, buttery, and kissed by just the right amount of spice. It hugged the chicken like a loving desi mom wraps her child in a shawl before school. Each bite made me feel like I was sitting in Dilli on a rainy day.

And then came the cheese & garlic naan—my goodness. Cheesy, garlicky, fluffy and crispy in all the right places. This naan didn’t just accompany the butter chicken; it performed a duet with it. I had to pause between bites just to appreciate the beauty of life.

As if that wasn’t enough, enter the homemade chai—excellent, boss. Warm, spiced, comforting, like the ending scene of every Karan Johar film. Cardamom whispering sweet nothings, ginger waking up my senses—each sip was a meditation.

And to close the curtain? Gulab jamun. Two little sweet bombs sent straight from heaven. Soft, syrupy, warm—melting in the mouth like the last note of a perfect song. I actually closed my eyes and smiled.

Final thoughts: This wasn’t just a meal. It was a journey across India on a flavor train. 11/10. Would recommend. Would cry if I couldn’t have...