Last night a gaggle of us descended upon Ganges (The Place) to eat Indian. The restaurant has been remodeled since my last visit. I like the new look. The new restaurant resembles the one in Sanlitun with ornate patterns etched out of the wooden panels lining the walls and clear and purple colored chandeliers. Because of the dance performances last night was packed. Call ahead for reservations. I would have never done so but because the size of our crowd luckily this time I did.
The food is typically Indian with spicy hot curries, creamy non-spicy curries all which come vegetarian, or with lamb, chicken, or tofu. Indian food is interesting in that each meal can have super spicy dishes the effects of which can be countered by yogurt drinks or dishes. So you can have your proverbial cake and eat it too.
We started out with the veggie pakora (deep fried cone shaped dumplings with vegetables inside), sweet corn vegetable soup, palak paneer (chunks of cheese cooked in a spinach puree) and butter chicken (a non-spicy curry). Most of us stuck with the mango lassi which is one of those yogurt based drinks that is perfect for countering spice. I highly recommend the Indian tea they have although a few cups will have you up half the evening. One cup after dinner for me acts like a digestive much the same as coffee. Our entrees were lamb vindaloo (red curry), the tandori chicken, vegetable achari (spicy vegetable curry with a slight pickle taste), and Paneer Pasanda (a first for me this dish has veggies sandwiched between two slices of cheese and cooked in a spicy curry). We asked for the food to come in two ‘waves’ – first the non-spicy then the spicy in the same order as I mentioned above. Naan and two types of rice were served as well.
The food was very good with the highest praises going to the butter chicken and the paneer pasanda. My personal favorites were, and always are, the lamb vindaloo and the tandori chicken. To be frank, all of the dishes I’ve listed in this review are crowd pleasers. As with Chinese food, I recommend going with 5-6 friends so you can affordably try more of the menu.