It is a sublime and surreal experience eating in a good restaurant during a pandemic. Many have braved the great indoors with abandon, but we have been somewhat hesitant to engage in that pre-pandemic full blown dining experience. And so it was a special occasion to find ourselves seated across from new friends in a new restaurant this week to remove our masks and forgo incessant hand-washing or sanitizing, to enjoy the pleasures of Indigo. Granted we chose a night and a part of the season where Rehoboth Beach at night is void of crowds and parking is a breeze, still it felt utterly beguiling to be out and entering a restaurant; I was so happy and gobsmacked I nearly hugged the nattily dressed host, instead we vigorously shook hands and I said thank you for being open, to which he replied, "Welcome back." It was a moment of bliss.
Indigo: Indian Cuisine Rehoboth sits about half a block from the ocean boardwalk, near the Penny Lane arcade of shops. The facade is unassuming, but once inside the warmth of its lighting and colors really draws you in assisted by the staff who are very welcoming and gracious. And all have keen senses of humor.
There were four of us -- our friends had not only had been to the restaurant before, but one had grown up eating the very cuisine featured on the menu, which offers plenty of vegan and vegetarian options for my fellow food conscious folk out there. Being the dork that I am, I had printed off the Indigo menu and had highlighted in yellow the dishes I and my wife had chosen earlier -- vegetable pakora (veggie fritters); Tandoori Chooza (wife's chosen chicken dish); Aloo Goghi Masala (cauliflower and potatoes in onion, tomatoes and spices mix for moi), and Naan, "just keep the naan coming" we said). Naan is tear-shaped pieces of light bread, and it's the stuff of dreams my friends. All entrees come with Basmali rice and vegetables of the day. Oh and Spicey Pickles for me, because I love spice (folks this is spice with a capital H and is not for amateurs so tread lightly when it comes to the pickles). I had a mango drink to start called Lassi, which was akin to a milk shake or yogurt drink and it was dee-lush-ees!
My assessment is that I'd eaten some of the best Indian food of my life; my wife wasn't crazy about the chicken dish, and the fritter was a little too dry for her palate. So, take from this what you will. Great waitstaff; very clean and aesthetically pleasing environment.
We did have dessert, but I've forgotten the name of it but it was small breaded spheres soaked in a beautiful syrup.
"Welcome back."
Yes, sir, yes indeed, and thank you. read more