Whitehall's Spice India is here to stay

Back on Labor Day, instead of cooking, we went to Spice India for a midday meal. What a good choice! I don't know if it was a special buffet for the holiday or if they just decided to step it up a bit, but we were blown away by the variety and the quality of the food they presented.

My husband ordered a mango lassi, a mango/yogurt smoothie that's almost like a dessert, and I had the iced tea.

We both opted for the buffet. They had 12 or 13 offerings of hot food, some vegetarian, some with chicken and one with goat meat. There were salad offerings, too, including the dreaded lime pickle, a kind of lentil/flour dumpling in yogurt, and ordinary salad fare.

I only took a little of each thing so I wouldn't get full before I'd tasted it all. The flavors were wonderful and a few dishes included just the right amount of mild burn. The palak paneer, a spinach dish with squares of fresh curd cheese, and the butter chicken, which has an orange sauce, were especially delicious. I have to admit, I was too timid to try the goat.

For dessert they offered both carrot halwa and kheer, a delicious creamy rice-pudding-type dessert. As with every Indian dessert I've ever tasted, they were yummy.

The only complaint I had was that my iced tea was too sweet, but those who have been to India tell me that makes it authentic.

We've seen Indian restaurants in Lehigh Valley like Far Pavillions in Bethlehem and the Raj Palace in Whitehall come and go. But from the number of people who were eating there, even at that odd hour, it looks like Spice India is here to stay. We certainly plan to be frequent visitors!

This post was written by Lehigh Valley InSite guest blogger Nancy Wisser, who also writes the Clonehenge blog and contributes to the Weird Nazareth blog.

Comments

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=8829920]

Is this a chain? There's a Spice India opening up on the Nazareth/Easton border next to the CiCi's and Sonic. Couldn't tell if it was an Indian restaurant or an Indian grocery store. If it's a restaurant, I can't wait!

[Nancy Wisser]

Spice India will be opening another restaurant, on Route 248 near where it crosses Route 33, near CiCi's Pizza, as of mid-December, if all goes as planned.