Imli Inaugural Review Our Coverage Sponsored by Fresh Origins
Ginger Salmon
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A brand new spot open since May 30, 2017, Imli Restaurant has quite an array of exquisite Indian dishes that span both North and South India origins, and we're told it is urban Indian. What makes this venue different aside from the fact that they're relatively new is their use of light spices, which they can elevate if you prefer. We worked with owner Albin and Executive Chef Manuel Butler on our visit. We began with this Crispy Okra, a Tapas under vegetables. Cumin powder and chaat masala enhance the Okra, which is topped with toasted fennel and herbs. This yields a dish that is fresh, crunchy and crisp and we liked the red pepper touch also.
To us, croquet is a game you play with mallets and wickets just like Alice in Wonderland. At Imli, it involved beetroot:
We really adored the garlic aioli that graced this beetroot croquet, and it was a positive aspect to have the potato come along to the party on the plate. The presentation was festive and original, and we believe this is the first time we have ever worked with this chef.
At Imli, we understand they grind their spices once a week and a predominant spice employed is garam masala. Here, meet their Chicken Tikka Masala, a staple of Indian cooking.
We only have been eating Indian food at all for a few years (as opposed to Italian, for example, which we have always eaten) but every other time, we have never had a smoky accent on Chicken Tikka Masala, so that was original. After nine years of doing this, we don't see many things new for the first time at this stage. The tomato onion sauce is infused with smoked pepper and the chicken cooked in the tandoor becomes smoky. Bravo to this high degree of originality. The flavor was becoming without being overwhelming. Absolutely the worst thing a restaurant can do with its food is to put Peachy's Irish taste buds on fire and turn her into a fire-breathing dragon.
Meet the Ginger Salmon, which is farm-raised Atlantic Salmon we were told.
Again, we enjoyed the spice elevation that achieved a lovely medium balance, and ginger, garlic and tumeric sauce enhanced this fish, which arrived as two strips of fish, not a whole fish. The scallions were a welcome accent. The spices definitely dominated the fish.
Naan is an essential element of Indian food, and both the Garlic Naan and the Mushroom with Truffle Naan were exactly what we are looking for in Naan performance. Fresh, fluffy and flavorful, these are laudable carbs. You want to order both of them.
Even the resident Chicken Biryani monster here was impressed with her favorite Indian dish, Chicken Biryani. Here, they inventively employ cashew, walnuts, pine nuts, raisins, fried onions and cranberries and the yogurt-based sauce includes onion, cucumber, tomato, chaat masala, cumin, and red chili powder.
Finally, we met the Yellow Tadka Dal: Yellow lentils garnished with garlic, ginger and red chilis. This had a lovely spicy kick to it, and was similar to creamed corn.
Imli was Terrific Takeout and we look forward to seeing what they do next.
