Sunday, February 3, 2008

Modern Indian: Marigold

Some restaurants, you really want to like. Marigold is one of them for me.
I love Indian food and the places on Devon (little India of Chicago) are just a little too far for me. And most places have no ambiance to boot. So when I heard of Marigold, a new "modern" Indian place that opened up in Uptown, I was instantly interested. Over the few months I also noticed that Marigold was getting good reviews from diners. So when my Indian friend, M,  suggested going, I jumped on the chance to go. 
First impressions are everlasting, and I must say that the first impression of Marigold was nothing but positive. The red walls, high ceilings, dark wood, and the beautiful luminaries (see photo above) were striking yet gave an impression of comfort. 
Unfortunately, the food was only ok. Some dishes were non-authentic, but they were good nonetheless.  Some dishes were kept pretty authentic such as the murg makhni and the samosa and were pretty good. But there was one dish that was unrecognisable- the lamb rogan josh, which is one of my favorites among the Indian dishes. Instead of the tangy taste that I am used to, the sauce was almost western gravy-like. Yuck! There were four of us and we each only tasted the dish, all of us not wanting to touch it. In keeping with the health craze, they served whole wheat naan in addition to the regular, and if I were to go back, I would say stick with the regular.  
Overall, I think the experience was ok, but give that the bill came to more than twice what we usually pay and the food coming  up lacking compared to our usual places, I think it's unlikely we'll be going back solely for the food. We'll only go back if we wanted Indian in a nice ambiance/decor. 

Seems like there are so many "modern" "fusion" restaurants popping up. Most of the time, they rarely seem to live up to the "classic".

4832 N Broadway St  Chicago, IL 
(773) 293-4653

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