Monsoon Grill - YUM!

I finally checked out the new Monsoon Indian Grill.

I went there on a Sunday night for dinner and there were quite a few people eating. The atmosphere is dim, quaint and relaxing. The service was good and our waitress was helpful with the menu. If you've never been to an Indian restaurant, you will need help with the menu, trust me.

For lunch they offer a buffet but I went for dinner so it's only a la carte, but that was OK with me because I already knew what I wanted to order.

I ordered the Chicken Tikki Masala with some naan bread. You can choose if you want regular, mild or spicy for any dish -- I chose regular because I just wasn't sure what their spice was like because I had never ordered anything before. My friend ordered the Tikki Masala skewers in spicy and he was sweating profusely and I think he looked uncomfortable. I, on the other hand, had no problem eating most of my dish.

Here's my rice and Chicken Tikki Masala.

My entree came with white rice, which I like to mix with the Tikki Masala sauce and pile it on my naan bread and eat it that way, kind of like a burrito. The chicken wasn't dry, which sometimes it can be since most cooks think: "Well, it's going in a sauce anyway..." NOT true. Even though a meat is smothered in sauce it is still easy to tell if that meat is over cooked and dry. This chicken was not.

I have to say, I enjoyed the dishes - like the plates and silverware. The bowls were interesting, with a tall handle-like piece that seems to me would cause the dishwasher a headache. The plates were rectangles with decorative lips in the plate that make it look crooked. The silverware was sturdy and heavy, unlike some places where I have been able to bend my fork or knife in the process of using it.

These are simosas: baked pastry filled with peas, potatoes and lentils. 

The naan bread was amazing. The cooks make it by throwing the dough on the side of an Indian-style oven -- tandoori -- and letting it bake until it falls off. What makes naan bread special is that it's usually made with yogurt instead of milk or water. At Monsoon the bread was fluffy on the inside and a little crunchy from the grill on the outside. I ordered a second helping because it was so good.

I look forward to returning for the lunch buffet. From what I hear they have different items on the buffet daily. If you have never eaten Indian food I would recommend checking out the buffet -- that way you can try a bunch of different dishes and figure out what you like, and what you don't like. From my experience, you will like more than you don't like!

Normally I post a map to show where the restaurant is located. Unfortunately, Monsoon Grill is so new they don't have a place on Google maps, yet. But just FYI, it's located right behind Chipotle Mexican Grill on Wanamaker Road in Topeka.