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Bindaas - Owner Ashok Bajaj Featuring Indian Street Food Inside Ardeo + Bardeo, and at 2000 Pennsylvania Avenue


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Sounds like part of Ardeo+Bardeo will be re-vamped into Bindaas, an Indian street food restaurant with Vikram Sunderam overseeing the food:

"Rasika Chef Vikran Sunderam to Oversee Upcoming Indian Street-Food Restaurant" by Becky Krystal on washingtonpost.com

At 50 seats, I'm assuming the smaller side space that used to be Bardeo will become Bindaas.  Targeted opening early August, but you know how that goes.

According to the article, Ardeo+Bardeo will continue with a dining room and the upstairs patio. 

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Sounds like part of Ardeo+Bardeo will be re-vamped into Bindaas, an Indian street food restaurant with Vikram Sunderam overseeing the food. 

At 50 seats, I'm assuming the smaller side space that used to be Bardeo will become Bindaas.  Targeted opening early August, but you know how that goes.

According to the article, Ardeo+Bardeo will continue with a dining room and the upstairs patio. 

i am really excited about this place as I love indian street food. any info on the menu (when such info becomes available) would be appreciated. 

 

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Saturday night Bindaas was hopping, four days in.  We arrived a little after 8 pm and found two seats at the bar.  The other tables were full.  The atmosphere is buzzy neighborhood bistro serving medium-ish sized plates of Indian street food.  If you are a couple, 4-5 plates will probably feed you nicely.  

No doubt the food will be compared to Rasika, perhaps unfairly, but right now the cooking isn't as refined nor as complex.  But what we ate was mostly good to delicious.  I might as well just add a couple of pounds to my waist line now.  Bindaas could very easily be our drop in for a glass of wine and a few plates place.

Avocado Golgappa ($7) are hollowed out puffed biscuits filled with avocado and drizzled with yogurt and tamarind chutney.  If these were served at a wedding as a passed hors d'oeuvres, you would stake out the waiter and grab one at each pass.  A delicious one-bite snack. 

Shisito Pepper Pakora ($6), a entire pepper blanketed in a poha (flattened rice) batter and deep fried served with a pickled onion chutney was another really good dish with a nice spice without blowing out your taste buds.  I would definitely order these again.

The Bindaas Salad ($10) was of mixed success, a bowl of diced papaya, mango and jackfruit and crispy chickpeas, slathered in a tamarind sauce.  Too much tamarind sauce really, after a couple bites I found it became repetitive.  It needs another element to play off the sweetness of the fruit and sauce.

The Uttapam with shrimp ($12) was perhaps the star dish of the night.  A crispy rice/lentil batter pancake topped with sauteed shrimp and a dollop of green chutney.  I would definitely suggest hitting the Uttapam section of the menu hard.

The Vegetable Shashlik ($12) served on a pilaf style bed of basmati rice held the other star of the night, a wonderful cube of grilled paneer.  Delicious.

Our bartender inadvertently placed an order of the goan pork and pao ($12).  After a discussion with the chef they decided to give it to us for free.  The small cubes of pork are served vindaloo style with two soft brioche style buns (apparently the pao, a Portuguese type roll).  Spoon the pork on the buns for a make-your-own sandwich.  It's tough to knock a free dish, but the pork was dry, despite being in the vindaloo and the sauce wasn't very complex. 

Perhaps my one disappointment was the vegetable "sabjee" section of the menu apparently did not make the final cut.  Alas, we won't be able to taste the eggplant, zucchini, sweet potato, and green beans.  Having a selection of vegetable side dishes would have rounded out the menu nicely.  Perhaps once the kitchen has settled in the sabjee will make an appearance.  

Five dishes and three glasses of wine was $88 with tax.  

I'll be interested to see how Bindaas grows, we enjoyed our first meal and no doubt it will be the first of many more. 

Thanks for opening in Cleveland Park!  

 

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I went last night with my wife. Unfortunately, the menu is not online, so I am approximating what we ate. I was disappointed to see no Indian beer or whiskey after the hype that Eater and co. gave their bar offerings.

I had two The Silk Road to drink. This was basically a mango lassi, but instead of yogurt, it was rum. Delicious. My wife had a Curried Away, a gin fizz with curry spices and ginger, which she didn't particularly love, and another drink I don't remember the name of that involved jalapeno, basil, and cucumber, which she liked.

We had the Avocado Golgappa, which were delicious deep fried snacks with tamarind, raita, and avocado and the Ragda, which was basically everything inside of a samosa on a plate to start. Both were good, but the Golgappa would be a must order every time dish.

We then split three larger plates - the Chicken Kathi Roll, a kathi roll with chicken tikka masala in it, the Pork and Pao, purportedly vindaloo pork and a roll, and the Shrimp Uttapam, a rice pancake with shrimp and veggies. The kathi roll was fantastic (how could it not be). The uttapam was really good and interesting - the shrimp and veggies were perfectly cooked and the flavors mixed very well with some sort of spicy oil. The pork and pao left something to be desired - it was tangy almost like a bad BBQ sauce and did not resemble Vindaloo at all.

We also had a Spinach Paneer Naan, a naan stuffed with spinach paneer and cooked in the oven we could see from our seats. It's hard to go wrong with cheese and bread, and this was no exception. They also have a bacon cheese chili naan that I would love to try on the return visit.

Service was great - our waitress was prompt and able to answer any question we had about the menu, drinks and food came quickly. Would like to try more things on the menu -- hope they add more cocktails and beers.

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I absolutely love Rasika (both locations), but I was trying to keep my expectations moderate in light of Tweaked's comment that Bindaas isn't at that level.  Unfortunately, we were still underwhelmed.  (At least the prices are more moderate that Rasika's; we spent under $45/person including tax and tip.)  

Our favorite dishes were the bhel puri, a bowl of savory, crunchy puffed rice punctuated with sweet mango and herby sauce, and the crab idiyappam, a simple, delicious plate of rice noodles dressed with crab and a coconut milk sauce.  The seasonal vegetables, a heavily lentil based (it seemed) vegetable stew, were unexciting but satisfying over the two toasted, buttery rolls; a salad of onion, cucumber, and tomato (which came with a few dishes) added brightness.  The fish in the chili salmon shashlik -- a simple kabob of salmon, peppers, and onions over rice -- was nicely cooked, as was the more-interesting (thanks to its tamarind/fennel/black pepper-based sauce) banana leaf-wrapped market fish (dorade).  Carnivorous friends like their south Indian lamb wrap.  

Nothing we had was bad, but a lot of it was just okay.  A number of starchier dishes -- including the shisito pepper pakodaragda pattice, and especially the spinach paneer naan (like an Indian quesadilla) -- could have used more salt and were a bit bland as a result.  (The chutney helped the pakoda.)  One friend also reasonably complained that the ragda pattice (essentially a potato cake with various sauce/vegi garnishes) was too sweet.  From the reviews above, we probably should have gone with the shrimp uttapam, but our server recommended the sweet corn-pepper uttapam, which was a tender but kind of boring pancake with the advertised vegetables but not much else going on.

We tried the same three cocktails as franch, and liked them all.  I could see the Curried Away's being a bit controversial; the raw ginger spice is prominent.  At $10/each, the cocktails seem like a bargain given prevailing prices for cocktails around town.  

My biggest complaint is actually a logistical one.  Table crowding can often be a problem with small plates restaurants, but this was the worst I can recall.  Upon being seated at our 4-top, we almost immediately commented that the table seemed a bit tight.  Just how small became laughably awkward as our stream of dishes began to arrive in quick succession.  (There seemed to be little effort to pace our meal, and it went quickly as a result; we were basically ready to leave by 8:15 after a 7:00 reservation, and we took awhile to order while we waited for our fourth diner.)  For a small plates concept, the dishware itself is impractically large.  At one point, three different servers arrived within the span of a few minutes to drop off a plate, each making the same subtle grimace as they struggled to find a bit of tabletop real estate.  As a result, there was a lot of shuffling, consolidating of half-eaten dishes onto one plate, attempts to finish dishes quickly before more could arrive, and in one instance, even sticking an empty plate on a nearby shelf until someone returned to remove it.  (And a near-constant anxiety on my part that I was going to elbow a glass -- crowded near the outer edge of the table to make room in the center -- onto the floor.)  Doesn't exactly make for a relaxing dining experience, although service was very friendly.

Cleveland Park was a bit of a hike for my friends and me, so we won't be rushing back to Bindaas.  But if it were on 14th Street or I lived in the area, I could see it entering the rotation.  Will be interested to read others' reviews as it evolves.  

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2 hours ago, jca76 said:

 But if it were on 14th Street

where do you live? I'm near Logan Circle and it was a little bit of a hike, but at the same time, the Uber ride was probably $7 at most. it's also very close to the Red Line for those who work downtown as well.

also, with regards to the sweetness in the Ragda Pattice, it was likely the tamarind chutney -- a flavor that I'm personally obsessed with and consume a gross amount of when I eat samosas.

EDIT: this isn't a knock on Bindaas, but holy crap, can we stop this awful trend of cocktail bars concentrating on cocktails with savory ingredients. I understand it for a  Bloody Mary (which I also think is disgusting), but THREE OF THE FOUR COCKTAILS on the menu were savory cocktails. 75%. for god's sake. this trend makes me more unhappy than the Pickles Everywhere 2k14 trend.

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10 minutes ago, franch said:

where do you live? I'm near Logan Circle and it was a little bit of a hike, but at the same time, the Uber ride was probably $7 at most. it's also very close to the Red Line for those who work downtown as well.

It's more that we didn't like it well enough to seek it out as it's not a convenient local option.  If I'm going to take an Uber up to dinner in that direction, it'll be to go to 2 Amys or Tail Up Goat.  If I want Indian, I'd go to Rasika or somewhere closer by.  

13 minutes ago, franch said:

EDIT: this isn't a knock on Bindaas, but holy crap, can we stop this awful trend of cocktail bars concentrating on cocktails with savory ingredients. I understand it for a  Bloody Mary (which I also think is disgusting), but THREE OF THE FOUR COCKTAILS on the menu were savory cocktails. 75%. for god's sake.

What counts as a savory cocktail?  None of the three we tried struck us as notably savory, and the green one (I also can't recall the name) was particularly well balanced between its herby, vegetal, and spicy flavors.  But it sounds like you and I have very different cocktail preferences.  I love the shrub trend, enjoy herbs and spices in my cocktails, and if you're making something with tomato water, I will be ordering it.  

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1 hour ago, jca76 said:

It's more that we didn't like it well enough to seek it out as it's not a convenient local option.  If I'm going to take an Uber up to dinner in that direction, it'll be to go to 2 Amys or Tail Up Goat.  If I want Indian, I'd go to Rasika or somewhere closer by.  

What counts as a savory cocktail?  None of the three we tried struck us as notably savory, and the green one (I also can't recall the name) was particularly well balanced between its herby, vegetal, and spicy flavors.  But it sounds like you and I have very different cocktail preferences.  I love the shrub trend, enjoy herbs and spices in my cocktails, and if you're making something with tomato water, I will be ordering it.  

understood re: just inconvenient enough to be annoying. I need to try tail up goat! (I was underwhelmed with 2 Amys given the hype)

I think "herby" "vegetal" and "spicy" are about what I mean when I mean "savory" cocktails. for lack of a better explanation, putting stuff that normally goes in food (and not in cocktails as of like ten years ago) in your cocktail makes me sad. we could not be more different in our cocktail preferences.

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Had a great time at the Bindaas bar recently. Started with the Avocado Golgappa -small puff filled with avocado, yogurt and sweet tamarind chutney. Really good. The mango puree cocktail was excellent. The lamb kathi roll was filled and very tasty - a little greasy on the bread but I didn't mind licking my fingers. The hard part is to dip the roll in the nice green sauce and put in some of the chopped mini salad. But it was all tasty on its own and together - so not a real complaint.  I went early when it was only half full on a weekday night - but it was really packed later that night. Definitely worth a visit to get high end indian food with lots of different tastes due to its small plate format. Probably better with a group to try more options. I think of it as a way to do an Indian buffet but with better cooking and ingredients.

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Ordered a bunch of dishes - Avocado Golgappa, Shishito Pepper Pakora, Goan Pork Pao, Shrimp Uttapam, Crab Idiyappam, fish wrapped in banana leaf, and some naan.

My personal favorite was the crab dish.  Appearance-wise, it looked a mess - beige colored gravy poured over lumps of vermicelli noodles, but the flavor is uniquely delicious.  Another standout is the shrimp uttapam - tender shrimp on top of a slightly dense pancake.

I thought the golpapa, pao and shishito pepper pakora were good.  The fish was rather overcooked and generally not particularly interesting.

Avocado Golgappa.JPGShisito Pepper Pakora.JPGGoan Pork Pao.JPGCrab Idiyappam.JPGUttapam shrimp.JPGChili fish.JPG

 

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Is it just me being pedantic, or should "street food" at least resemble something you can eat while walking without utensils?

Won't help those of you who think that an extra mile in the city is too far, but Spice Xing has been successfully delivering a street food and "Indian fusion" menu, along with some classics, in Rockville for years.

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4 hours ago, DanielK said:

Is it just me being pedantic, or should "street food" at least resemble something you can eat while walking without utensils?

Won't help those of you who think that an extra mile in the city is too far, but Spice Xing has been successfully delivering a street food and "Indian fusion" menu, along with some classics, in Rockville for years.

Just as an FYI, when I was in Northwest India the street food mostly came out on small styrofoam plates or bowls that I saw for foreigners and natives ate on little, probably tin, dishes that would be washed.  Very few things were on skewers. People did eat some food while walking around, like samosas.  But mostly people were huddled around carts, especially as most dishes had optional sauces you could put on them.  

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I hate to come on here and bash a restaurant that others have enjoyed, but I found this place very disappointing.

My wife and I went the other night before a movie at the Uptown.  They told us that the restaurant was booked up with reservations, but said that if a table for 2 did not show up in the next 5 minutes, we could have it.  The couple with the reservation didn't show, so we got the table.  Honestly, after eating the food, I wish they had turned us away.

The avocado golgappa was just avocado (whose flavor was washed out and added no texture) covered in chaat toppings stuffed in the fried puri disk.  The essential element of a golgappa is the spiced water, which was in no way reflected in this dish.  The kathi roll was oily, and the spinach and paneer stuffed naan was essentially an undersalted naan hot pocket with subpar spinach and (oddly) melty paneer in it.  I think we had another dish or two, but don't really remember.  In the end, we decided to get a bag of popcorn at the movies rather than order any more dishes.

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2 hours ago, MSPB3434 said:

The avocado golgappa was just avocado (whose flavor was washed out and added no texture) covered in chaat toppings stuffed in the fried puri disk. 

If this is anything like pani puri (and it sounds almost exactly like that), I can easily see the subtle flavors of avocado being dominated - maybe it's there to provide some silky texture?

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Five of us showed up at 5pm on a Saturday.  We didn't have a reservation but the bar area was empty, so we took over the far end.  The restaurant was pretty slow at that hour as they transitioned from the brunch menu to the full dinner menu.  We ordered pretty much every item that was vegetarian and enjoyed:

Avocado Golgappa -  Even though not traditional, the play of creamy avocado, crunch of the fried puri, and the chutneys just really work (for me).

Shisito Pepper Pakoda - Nicely fried, this a great snacky dish to order while deciding what to drink and order next. 

Sweet Corn, Pepper Uttapam and Tomato, Green Onion, and Chili Uttapam - Both were good but I thought the flavor combination of the tomato, green onion, chili version was better.  I would make this my go to uttapam order.

Ragda Pattice - I didn't try this one last time and I'm glad I did this time.  Basically a round disk of soft potato in a pool of dhal with cilantro chutney.  Really good.

Pao Bhaji - Probably my favorite dish of the night, cooked down vegetables until they are like a very soft porridge, but with great flavor.  It's a lick the bowl clean kinda dish and prefect for combating the chill of winter. 

I think two people ordering the above would have a great vegetarian Indian meal.

We also got:

Bindaas Salad - Still not a fan.  I just can't get into the flavors of the fruit and the tamarind chutney mixed together.

Spinach Naan and Onion Naan - The disappointment of the night.  I know they are using the old Bardeo gas fired pizza over to make the naan, I suspect the oven temperature just isn't hot enough and they don't get that great crispy char of good naan fresh from a tandoor.  Unfortunately, I'd suggest skipping their naan.  

Granted we were at the restaurant early and things were quiet, but Bindaas was firing on all cylinders on Saturday. 

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Had a quite nice meal here a couple weeks ago. Forgot to write it up at the time, but I know we particularly liked the Crab Idiyappam (thanks to previous reviewers). My dad was very happy with the fish wrapped in banana leaf, which I liked but didn't love (it was very similar to one I'd had at Rasika, which I preferred as this was hotter without being richer in flavor - in both places, there was a tasty side of potatoes, which here helped cool the spice). Chicken kathi roll was delicious. Naan was all right but not a star. Tomato/chili uttapam was delicious (should have gotten the shrimp, though, based on reviews above, but we had another shrimp dish, probably the shrimp bezule). Roasted sweet potatoes with cumin/chili/yogurt were excellent, especially the flavors in the sauce.  (In looking at the menu now, I wish we'd also gotten the veggie shashlik - I must have missed that on the menu.) My dad loved the lamb kathi roll (I'm not a lamb fan so I only tasted it, but it was good). In general, we were sopping up all the sauces to finish them because they were delicious.

Crowded dining room. Waitress was great - when we ordered the lamb cutlet, she immediately let us know that it didn't have that much lamb, proportionally, and my dad switched to lamb kathi instead. She also told me, when I asked about lassi, that they didn't have it but could make me a drink with the flavors of mango lassi but no yogurt (basically a mango mocktail), and I liked that a lot.

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I'm a little behind on my reviews but I went here for the second time a few months ago and then for the third time about a month ago. Both times I really enjoyed almost everything. I'm still really enjoying their cocktails and most of the food. One new dish I tried was the chicken kabob which was excellent - especially the bed of fragrant rice it came on. I think all of the kabobs come with this rice (menu isn't so clear on this) making these more substantial dishes than some others.  I've really enjoyed the vegetarian pao - great bread and stew like veggies that are good with only a bit of heat. The chicken kathi roll was only ok - it is a bit oily as others have said above. The naan also is only so so - the other carbs on the menu are better. I also had the Bindaas fruit salad on both visits and really like its vibrant sweetness that is cut a bit by the spiced crunchy chickpeas. Definitely a nice contrast to the other richer, savory dishes on the menu. I also really liked the fish wrapped in the banana leaf - well cooked and tasty. My wife's favorite and one of mine is the corn uttapam - one of the best items on the menu.  I also really enjoyed the masala spiced popcorn which has a real fiery kick but is seasoned well so you still taste the other Indian spices.

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Enjoyed brunch here today, though be forewarned that the brunch menu is small, particularly for a 'small plate' restaurant. 

I enjoyed the Avocado Golgappa, which others have described. My wife remarked that it was like an Indian nacho, which I thought was a good description. The avocado does get overwhelmed (like it does in TexMex nachos) and probably shouldn't be the featured ingredient, but ignoring that, it's a damn good bite  

The Bhel Puri was spicier than the version at Bombay Curry Company, but the flavors were nearly identical. I appreciated the spice, but it wasn't as crunchy as BCC so I'd give the nod to Bombay Curry Company based on the texture. 

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with cumin, chili and yogurt was enjoyable. It was a cooling contrast to the spicier dishes. 

Our server said the Pao Bhaji was her favorite dish and compared it to an Indian sloppy joe. I don't like sloppy joes, but I loved this. It came with two buttery buns, and the Bhaji was a complex curry with a lot of flavors that melded well together. 

Finally, we shared the Egg Uttapam, sort of an Indian omelet.  It was good, but I think my taste buds were fried by this point. It was my least favorite dish, but my wife thought it was the best. 

My first- and second- graders shared the lamb and chicken khati rolls and loved them. The wrap around the meat was a thin egg crepe. I only managed a small bite of the lamb filling but it was good. 

The only disappointment was that I saw a bacon cheese naan online that I know my kids (and okay... me) would have loved, but they don't have naan at brunch. Overall, I thought the restaurant was great. I don't think I would make a special trip to Cleveland Park for the brunch, but would certainly go again if I was nearby. It also made me more appreciative of Bombay Curry Company, which doesn't change it's menu or experiment much, but I think can stand on its own with some of the better Indian food in this area. 

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I had brunch there yesterday.  The Egg Uttpam described above was pretty good, the Chicken Khati was delicious, the Avocado Golgappa was fantastic, and the Bhel Puri was also very good.  I would have liked the option to order some naan to sop up some of the sauces, etc. but it is not on the brunch menu.  The bloody mary was weak as sin and not worth even the low price it cost - it also had zero innovative qualities, nothing Indian about it.   I will say also that the service was generally atrocious.  

I arrived first (before my friend) and checked in with the host, who started to talk to me, went to clear a table, and then came back and answered the phone, leaving me standing there waiting for him to take me to a table - there were multiple open tables.  A nice staffer (a woman (manager?) with dreadlocks who seemed to be the only real professional working) saw me standing there awkwardly for several minutes and then took me to our table.  The servers all seemed young, overwhelmed, and lacking in confidence and personality.  Dirty dishes sat, there was little to no engagement, we waited too long for things --  all these little things added up.  

I loved the food, but really was bothered by the front of the house.  I will go back, because it was delicious, but I hope that the A team works dinner and I was just unlucky to get the brunch B team.  That said, the possible manager I mentioned above was hustling, and clearly noticed the failings of the rest of the staff as she mopped up after them.

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Got to enjoy Bindaas for the second night of my birthday week extravaganza.  Have to say that overall, I was very favorably impressed.  Very good food, service, and really liked the feel of the place.  Was a group dinner, so got to try bites of a lot of different dishes:

Avocado Golgappa - I was definitely a fan here.  Creamy avocado in a crispy shell with chutney.  Not sure what's not to like here.  It's not elegant, but I'm not expecting that with a street food theme.

Bhel Puri - One of my favorite dishes of the night.  We ordered more and I could have gone back to the kitchen again.  To the point where we were all transcribing recipes from the Indian guy at our table.

Crab Idiyappam - Enjoyed this dish, but I have to say it's dense.  Was the one thing on the table that didn't go back completely devoured.

Cauliflower Pakora - Really good pakora.

Pao Bhaji - Another one of the favorite dishes of the night.  Just a phenomenal veggie stew.  I'd probably eat far more veggies if they tasted like this.  I'm also guessing that they wouldn't be so healthy.

Pork/Chicken/Lamb rolls - Yes, we had them all.  Don't judge.  Favorites were the pork and chicken.  

I believe there were also deserts, but I think I had hit my limit at that point and bowed out.

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had brunch here yesterday. i'm not sure i see what the fuss over the avocado golguppa is about--it tasted like standard dahipuri to me, i thought the avocado would add more but i didn't taste it much at all, only the yogurt and date chutney. that being said the puri themselves were absolutely perfect--a great size, delicately thin, no unpuffed hard edges--i would love to have these filled with the traditional stuffing and water. The pao bhaji was quite good. though the spices were good i think what distinguished this version was the texture- i think they use cauliflower instead of the more usual potato or something because this version seems lighter than the other versions i've had. 

the best dish we had, hands down, was the egg uttapam. it was two thin uttapam each with a layer of egg/tomato masala stacked on each other like a napoleon, with a bit of potato curry on the side. first, that potato curry was amazing. I've had a lot of it in my life--it's one of my favorite dishes--and both my husband and I thought it was among the best we've ever had, the texture was somehow lighter than usual (the potato seemed fluffy!) but the flavors of the spices were so strong and clear. they really should offer that as a separate dish. and the egg/tomato masala was really good too. it was mild and almost sweet, but that contrasted beautifully with the uttapam's sour flavor and its toasty bottom. really good. 

The service was nice and very attentive as well. 

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On 6/19/2017 at 6:24 PM, Simul Parikh said:

Sounds delish... 

I made pav bhaji yesterday (yay, instant pot!) and used cauliflower in addition to potato and it definitely lightened the texture.

I have never attempted to make Indian food (other than a very basic curried chicken) at home as I am a so-so cook and not up to anything complicated, but I do have an Instant Pot....

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Five of us had dinner at Bindaas last night.  Luckily, we were not seated in the cramped dining room, but taken through Ardeo's to their upstairs "annex."  There, all the tables were for 4 or more and there was more room between the tables.  I think their larger parties are seated up there.  Oh yeah, the food and service was great!

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I love that the downtown/foggy bottom outpost of Bindaas is open for lunch. Back in December, we had a great meal of lots of dishes. Today, I used a delivery service and really enjoyed my masala popcorn and pao bhajii (buttery toasted buns that you spoon essentially veggie sloppy joe onto - very tasty despite the way that sounds). I also had the spinach paneer naan and it was ok. At both locations, the naan is the weakest link. Its not bad but none of the special flavors really add much flavor beyond the plain. I've been to the CP location numerous times and always enjoyed everything but skip the naan. Get the uttapams or rice dishes instead or the great popcorn for your starch. 

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Still not eating out much, but did have a very nice dinner on Saturday night at Bindaas in CP taking advantage of their outdoor streetery. I thought it was plenty warm with the heaters but some of our friends were still a bit chilled. The 5 of us started with great cocktails - 4 Instant Dharmas (tamarind tequila) and 1 Fool's Gold (citrus rum for me). Then the parade of dishes, nicely spaced in serving so the table was not overflowing:

Bhel Puri - very good, we all liked the added mango pieces

Punjabi Samosa - very good but less exciting than the other dishes. It comes with 3 pieces but they nicely let you buy extra pieces for a few more dollars - this way each of us could have one and we didn't need to share.

Cauliflower Chili Pakora - nicely fried and not too heavy but only so so flavor. Not very spicy and the pink onion chutney didn't add that much. I'd probably skip this one next time.

Dahi Papdi Chaat - they said there was a kitchen mix up and so they brought up this complimentary even though we didn't order it. That was our luck because it was really good. Thin crack with a small ball of potato on top covered in sweet yogurt and a few counterbalancing spices for a really flavorful bite. Adding to the rotation for next time.

Pao Bhaji - still one of my faves. The rolls are so buttery and the vegetable filling is really good. This is a must order.

Trio of Uttapams - our Indian friend pointed out these are not really street food but rather what you would get in someone's house and they use the same batter as dosas just thicker for a pancake. No wonder we love them. The Corn-sweet bell peppers continues to be my wife's favorite. The Chili tomato one continues to be good too. I also liked the newer zucchini - peanut one for its different nutty flavor. All come with very smooth coconut chutney which is a nice balance with the uttapam.

Vegetable Kofta - like other dishes in kebabs section it comes on a nice bed of yellow rice but I was not a fan of the kofta. Its texture was odd to me (after biting into the small ball, it was like unpleasant mush) and the sauce wasn't to my liking. Next time pass and I'll get a different kebab.

Banana leaf steamed bass - fish was cooked over but it was slathered in the same coconut curry that made for a bit of an odd texture. It probably would be better if the chutney was served on the side. It was with some chopped raw veg and really good fried potato cubes.

Onion naan - Bindaas redeemed itself after many past lackluster naan breads. This was very tasty and studded with diced onions. Much better than past experiences. I would order this one again (although the onion kulcha I had at Indique a block a way in past years was still better).

Overall service was a bit slow but very friendly and nice. We weren't in a hurry so we enjoyed the rare event of actually eating in a restaurant.

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We had a very good dinner at Bindaas, with an opportunity to taste a number of dishes. For a Sunday night the dinner rush was on, with a number of larger groups in the restaurant and only a few open tables.

We started with the Pao Bhaji and the Bhel Puri--both were really good. The Puri was very spicy, even to my (accommodating) palate--it was just right! The Pao Bhaji almost seems like a standard order, as we observed that almost every table there had at least one order. The Uttapam (corn and pepper) was delightful, as were the spinach kofta (which we ordered as a main) with saffron rice. We also tried the Dahi Papdi Chaat and absolutely loved it, as we did the sweet potatoes. Great meal and nice to see a busy restaurant.  

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