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Passage to India, Cordell Ave in Bethesda - Chef Mahipal Negi and Owner Sudhir Seth


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The last app to come out was the lamb liver. I assumed Indians eat offal but why haven't I seen it on any menu? The liver in this case tasted distinctly like liver but that shouldn't scare anyone away. Liver, unlike intestines, doesn't stink. It's a little firm and chewy, which is normal, and it tastes great.

Next up were the two veggie dishes and the crab masala. My wife and I loved the potatoes while the others at the table loved the spinach - it's all good. The crab dish, however, is not what I remembered as one of my favorite crab dishes. My dining companions also don't think it was the same recipe. Nevertheless, it was perfectly cooked and no parts were left behind.

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The last 3 dishes were the fish, chicken, and lamb. The fish, while covered in mustard sauce, was actually quite mild, tender and very tasty. Don't shy away from banana leaves wrapped fish, because I've always had good experiences with them. The lamb dish was quite chewy and sweet, my least favorite dish of the evening. And the last dish was the super tender chicken. We were all stuffed by the time the chicken came out. I don't think anyone took more than 1 bite but it's not the chicken's fault. I blame it on the guy who had to go suck up to his boss instead of eating Indian food.

I must thank Sudhir for hosting us on a busy Saturday evening. We'll be back to trouble Sudhir with more interesting Indian dishes.

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I am so glad that Sudhir and Ericandblueboy set this dinner up! And I am very happy to have some great dining companions. I thought the menu was so well planned with so many different tastes and offerings. For me they were all dishes that were new to me, but I would have each and every one again. And my husband was also upset he could not make it!!! But he did enjoy leftovers.

I absolutely loved the calamari in a tomato based sauce, this was probably my favorite dish of the night, although the spinach was a close contendor. It was so good, unlike all the normal calamari, I am not sure what all was in it- tomato, curry, onion, ? but I adored every bite of it. And the chicken appetizer was perhaps one of the most tender pieces of chicken I have ever had, I loved the simple, but very good flavor of it. The lamb liver was very good, not my favorite only because the calamari and chicken were so good. But had distinctive lamb, liver flavor without being overwhelming or pungent or too chewy. I thought the flavor of the dish was nicely balanced.

I really liked the mustard fish dish, although I am not a huge mustard person because the mustard wasn't overwhelming and you could still really taste the fish. The potato and pepper dish and spinach dish were incredible and lead me to believe if you were a vegetarian you could be very very happy here. I have many Indian spinach dishes I thought too rich or creamy or just not good, but this was not like that at all. It was not too heavy or rich, but still robust and flavorful. With a table full of meat lovers it is always a good thing when people are really discussing the quality of the non-meat dishes and how much we liked them.

I liked the lamb dish much more than Eric, but I have more of a sweet tooth too. I liked the flavor with the apricots, some pieces were really tender, others had a bit of chew, but not unlike most lamb dishes. I thought it almost had a sweet and sour flavor to it that I really liked. And while the crab may not have been the dish Eric was picturing it was very very good. It almost tasted like it had some nuttiness to it, maybe cashew. It was very good with the naan. I think I ate more than my fair share of crab, I was glad both the doors to the sink were push doors as my hands were gross in a great way.

The poor chicken dish... It really was good, it just was the dish we ended up not having enough room for. But I think Eric is right, if my husband had showed up we could have gotten to it.

I was amazed at the quality and value of the meal. The service was very good. Of course this was a special dinner Eric arranged, but I know many of the dishes are on the regular menu. And their were other large parties sharing lots of good looking stuff all over the room. I liked more than anything else the range of dishes that provided a unique view of many regions of India that we don't often get at Indian restaurants. I liked that I could taste so many unique flavors in one dish. It was a really great dinner. And it makes me very jealous that I don't live closer!

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Hi folks,

I am glad that you all had a great time and enjoyed the food. I am sorry that I could not stay beyond the appetizer service.

Also apologize that Eric did not enjoy the Crab as much as last time. Will have to change to more North Indian tasting food next time.

Is it possible for those who took pictures to email them to us at "passagetoindia@comcast.net", of course wherever used I can give credits if you so desire.

Until next time, hope it is soon :)

Sudhir Seth

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Friday evening started off at a friend's birthday happy hour on the front patio of Caddies on Cordell (for the record less obnoxious than I thought it would be, maybe the $1.87 pints of beer helped!). Throughout the evening we were seduced by the lovely smell of Indian food drifting down the street. When our stomachs couldn't stand it anymore, we bolted, and crossed the street to Passage to India.

Tandoor Paneer

I would have to rank the paneer at Passage to India as some of the best paneer I've ever had. Fantastic stuff.

Baingan Mirchi Ka Salan

Masala Art is the only other restaurant where I have seen this dish...so of course we had to order it. I would give the sauce nod to Masala art, it just richer and packed with more flavor. The eggplant and pepper aspect I would give to Passage to India, they us the smaller asian eggplants and the peppers are packed with heat (I feel like Masala Art has toned down the heat level since they opened). Either way, one of my favorite Indian vegetarian dishes.

Chana Masala

Passage has a small selection of dal/bean dishes under the Accompaniments section of the menu...all for under $10.00. A great way to round out the meal.

Garlic Naan and Aloo Paratha- both delicious.

Needless to say we both walked out stuffed and happy.

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These three restaurants are all related, and I know Passage to India is a good reason why we should be traveling to Bethesda more often.

While Chef Seth was the opening chef at Heritage India back in 1999, I do not believe that he has any business connection to them since he opened PTI. He also owns Spice Xing in Rockville.

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While Chef Seth was the opening chef at Heritage India back in 1999, I do not believe that he has any business connection to them since he opened PTI. He also owns Spice Xing in Rockville.

I guess a better way of phrasing it is that Heritage provided a source of the cooking for the other two, and there are similarities in their cooking now.

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Never been here before. What should I order?

A regional mix (the menu is divided into north-east-south-west), making sure to pay attention to the east, and to trust vegetarian dishes (gourd, lotus root, etc.) and lighter meats (e.g., fish, especially in southern preps). Favor breads over rice, and make sure to order raita and pickles as condiments. Go for dishes with longer names, like logpathgamini suchak darshak harit tame loh pattika.

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Feast for two last night was spectacular. I asked Chef Seth to order for us, and here is what he came up with:

Apps:

TANDOORI SCALLOPS (Charbroiled giant sea scallops) - three absolutely gigantic scallops, assertively spiced, and still quivering in the center. Fantastic.

CALAMARI (Stir-fried calamari and onions, flavored with lemon and coconut) - Sure is nice to have calamari prepared without being battered and fried, and still be tender.

Mains, both from the West Indian section:

GOAN SEAFOOD CURRY (Mixed seafood in a coconut, coriander and garlic sauce) - Tons of shrimp, fish, calamari, and mussels in this amazing curry gravy - if the dining room weren't full, I'd have picked up the bowl and drank the gravy after the seafood was gone.

SALLI BOTI JARDALOO (Parsi style lamb stew with apricots and straw potatoes) - I love lamb and apricots, though I'd never had them together until this dish. One of my regular favorites here (and also served at Spice Xing).

Sides

Onion Kulcha

Aloo Gobi

Spice/pickle plate

And, yes, this was way too much food for two. Lunch for 2 is sitting in my fridge.

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Feast for two last night was spectacular. I asked Chef Seth to order for us, and here is what he came up with:

Apps:

TANDOORI SCALLOPS (Charbroiled giant sea scallops) - three absolutely gigantic scallops, assertively spiced, and still quivering in the center. Fantastic.

CALAMARI (Stir-fried calamari and onions, flavored with lemon and coconut) - Sure is nice to have calamari prepared without being battered and fried, and still be tender.

Mains, both from the West Indian section:

GOAN SEAFOOD CURRY (Mixed seafood in a coconut, coriander and garlic sauce) - Tons of shrimp, fish, calamari, and mussels in this amazing curry gravy - if the dining room weren't full, I'd have picked up the bowl and drank the gravy after the seafood was gone.

SALLI BOTI JARDALOO (Parsi style lamb stew with apricots and straw potatoes) - I love lamb and apricots, though I'd never had them together until this dish. One of my regular favorites here (and also served at Spice Xing).

Sides

Onion Kulcha

Aloo Gobi

Spice/pickle plate

And, yes, this was way too much food for two. Lunch for 2 is sitting in my fridge.

Read this, please.

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When I started this thread seven years ago, I wrote that Passage to India may have had the best Indian food I'd ever eaten. For some reason we hadn't gone in more than a year, so last week we took two friends, and... it was the best Indian food I've ever eaten. Every bit as good as I'd remembered. We had sev-murmura chaat, samosa chaat, Mangalorean lamb stew, kumbalanga payar olan, aloo phoolkopir dalna, mah ki dal, missa-soya roti, nan, and chaina kheer. With mediocre Indian food, everything tastes just generically spicy, with one or two spices predominating, but at P to I everything has layers and layers of flavors. Absolutely delightful.

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Well dinner last night just makes me want to go back more quickly than the last time around.  Had dinner with a friend who lived in London for a while and was missing some good Indian food.  We all got the chef's sampler, which was a nice way to taste different things.  One friend got chicken and lamb, me and the other friend got vegetarian.  We started with a small salad, samosa and a fritter, our friend had some different chicken and lamb preparations we tried and everything was tasty.  For the entree, I only had my own, which has a carrot raita, lentils, aloo peethi, cucumbers and tomatoes, paneer in butter sauce and a spinach dish fairly common (forget the indian name for this dish). It came with rice and naan and was a nice way to eat through some different tastes.  Although I found the choices to be very traditional and less of a chefs choice.  It would be fun to have one that was a bit more wild, but all the food was delicious.  It ended with a rice pudding with mango and cardamon.  We had a great time and it was nice to catch up with friends I don't get to see too often, especially since one is getting ready to be deployed.

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Not a fan of Indian food in general but after reading reviews here I'm willing to try 'the best' we have a new friend that is just learning the joys of good restaurants so I picked this for us when she suggested Bethesda for December as I know here husband loves Indian food.

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20 minutes ago, MarkS said:

Going tonight.  Per Don's recommendation as my last dinner in Moco. What to order?  It all seems good.

Tandoori Scallops and Crab Masala are my two favorite apps. MUST get the pickle plate. Some people prefer to order all over the menu, but I like to pick one region and dive in. I find myself doing the West region a lot because that's less represented on most Indian restaurants here.

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Dinner Tuesday was excellent.  Had the eggplant with peppers mentioned above , Bhel Puri (my go to appetizer) and a lamb dish my wife picked out.  All great, no leftover and could not have eaten a drop more.  Also had a garlic naan, Onion and Pepper salad and a bottle of Riesling.

Service was excellent and the meal was a notch or two above most Indian restaurants in the area.   Thanks all for the recommendation.

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Passage to India has added delivery through some of the apps - a welcome addition to our dining out-in retinue.  Wish I had the time/energy to go pick it up, but the delivery makes a bid difference.  They've also added some more dishes you'd traditionally see at Indian restaurants (tikka masala, lamb ghost, etc) to the menu which let's us pick up a couple things for the less adventurous eaters.  The cooking is still great - I hope these changes let them keep doing what they're doing!

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