I am a little conflicted about my review but my feelings are complicated. I should say that I'm an avid fan of Indian food and lived in both NYC and NJ where there are large Indian communities, allowing me to become well-aquainted with their cuisine.
The cuisine at Rose Indien is well-presented, fresh, carefully seasoned and tastes homemade. The service is warm and welcoming and the restaurant is decorated tastefully in a Indian-chic modern style. It's a very welcome addition on rue Marietton! I found the dishes were made with the clear intent to appeal to French tastes. In addition to a gentle approach to the spices, the dishes were presented in a more attractive and sophisticated style than what I'm used to. The owner confirmed they desired to make the dishes more appealing to French sensibilities. A good business knows it's market and I would highly recommend this restaurant to anyone new to Indian cuisine or those who've tried it before but found the food lacking sophistication. Especially as it's quite hard to find a really good standard Indian restaurant in Lyon.
However, for those like me who are already very familiar with the cuisine, whether they are French or not, you might not be completely satisifed overall. To make it more attractive, there's less sauce, less creaminess, less messiness : ) But I like palak paneer to be creamier, richer, even a bit greasier. I enjoy curries with the meat, or veg, swimming in sauce so I can sop that sauce up with the naan. While I like a beautiful presentation as much as the next person, I don't mind if the actual food looks rather unattractive and unsophisticated. Flavor and richness is the most important aspect for me, I'm not willing to skimp.
Will I go again? The owner seemed open to adjusting the food per my requests and I want to support this kind of classy restaurant in my neighborhood so I will definitely go back. Though I would expect the dishes be larger for this price point, particularly the rice, but that's another quibble. My partner, who's French, and has travelled extensively in India, felt the restaurant deserves 3 stars but agreed to go back as well. We are, without a doubt, a tough sell! So while our search for the best Indian restaurant in Lyon continues, I warmly welcom Rose Indien to our community. read more