Hullabaloo about IndeBleu

For about a year now Shrek and I have been wanting to check out IndeBleu (http://www.bleu.com/restaurant.html). We had tried for reservations several times including valentine’s day but could never get a decent time on Open Table. Finally to celebrate Shrek’s new job, we settle to have dinner an hour earlier than usual and headed to Chinatown to have some French-Indian fusion cuisine at 6:30 p.m. last Friday.

The restaurant was larger than the façade let on. There was a bar area as you entered. To the left was a lounge area (with a tapas style menu but apparently requires a minimum one bottle order to get a table there). The upstairs restaurant area had one large room and another smaller room (looked like a good place for private parties).

We were pleased to learn there was a prix-fixe 3 course option for $49 + tax. They also had a $75 chef’s tasting menu with an all vegetarian menu for $65. Since the entrees were alone as expensive as $24 a piece, we decided to go for the 3 course option. We were pleasantly surprised with the complementary aperitifs – a vegetarian salad for me and a lobster bisque for Shrek, both very good. We nibbled on the delicious naan drizzled with olive oil and herbs brought while we waited for our first course. My wild mushroom confit with dosa was interesting though being a dosa connoisseur from South India, I thought the rice crepe fell below par. Shrek was pretty satisfied with his tandoori shrimp appetizer. I felt my entrée a falafel like chickpea pattie stuffed with paneer (or cottage cheese) was a bit dry and ordinary tasting though I enjoyed the hint of saffron in the sauce that accompanied the platter. Shrek’s sea bass was also nothing rave about. We were both very pleased with our delicious desserts—spaghetti shaped saffron ice cream served with gulab jamuns (cottage cheese fried balls in rose syrup) and the most decadent chocolate moose. Along with a beer and cappuccino, the meal came to around $125, add 20% tip and its about $150--not your regular Friday night dinner!

While IndeBleu was worth checking out, neither of us felt the burning desire to return. It seemed quite easy to get a table between 6:30 p.m. and 7.30 p.m. and appeared to be very busy by 9.30 p.m. We definitely want to go back there for drinks with friends, about $8-$10 for mixed drinks though we will need to be prepared to stand as it gets packed on weekends.