SPICE AFFAIR

So many things go into making a restaurant experience the best—the food, service, ambiance, comfortability factor, etc. And they were all in play during my dinner at new-ish Beverly Hills eatery Spice Affair last week!

I love that they bill themselves as an “Indian Indulgence.” And that it is! This is the most beautiful, upscale Indian restaurant I’ve ever been to! Each appointment is outstanding on its own, and when you put them all together, (the agate bar top, the hanging lights, the stunning fresh flower arrangements, etc.) you have a dining paradise!

And on Friday nights they even have live saxophone music all night, performed by Mandy Faddis. What can be better?!

My friend Alice and I had attended their happening opening soiree about a month ago, and we loved every appetizer we could get our hands on (in the thick crowd,) so we were anxious to go back and sample a lot of their dinner dishes.

Spice Affair has an innovative cocktail menu, and Alice got to try the Indian version of her favorite one. She said, “Their interpretation of the famous Moscow Mule is made with cardamon, honey and ginger, and it all works!”

But we were really there for the food. We were lucky enough to work with uber-pleasant waiter, Thomas Burns, who was more than helpful. He guided us through the entire menu, and when he got extra excited about something, we couldn’t help but order it.

We started-out with a quartet of kulchas, which is flatbreads filled with a variety of ingredients, and served with a yoghurt sauce. You can’t go wrong with any of them, but my fave was the potato and peas, while Alice loved the wild mushroom. We enjoyed that they’re all very flavorful, and toasted nicely on the bottoms. They come four generous-sized slices to a serving, (served in the round, sort-of like an Indian pizza!,) so they’re fun to share.

That’s a really filling dish, so we each had just one piece, which was a smart move because there were so many more taste treats to come, especially what we tried next—one of the three most delicious soups I’ve ever had! (And the other two are long gone.) It’s the mushroom “cappuccino,” which is thus named because they serve it as they would a cappuccino. Let me tell you, I could’ve bathed in that stuff!

Alice said the soup was “lovely,” and admired the texture. I’m telling you, if you’re in Beverly Hills, and you have just ten minutes for lunch, go in there and order this puréed wild mushroom soup, and munch on some of the “papadas” (crispy baked lentils) that come in their complimentary table basket along with other crunchy treats and a couple of interesting sauces. (We both loved the sweet tamarind sauce, and Alice couldn’t get enough of the spicy mint chutney.)  It will be the best ten minutes of your day!

We followed that up with the very refreshing mizuna salad, which is adorned with grapefruit, pomegranate seeds, and feta cheese. Alice said the pomegranate seeds were “a great touch,” and she loved the “citrusy hint” provided by the grapefruit. It was the perfect dish to eat after the filling mushroom soup.

Then we moved on to the appetizers. They’re all served with thinly-sliced radish “towers” filled with salad ingredients on the plate. Our favorite was the black pepper shrimp that came with what Alice deemed “a decadent sauce!” We also enjoyed the petite rounds of spinach filled with pine nuts and feta cheese, and the little potato, asparagus, and goat cheese patties. Those three starters are a perfect combo for just about anyone. (I noticed that the entire menu features very many vegetarian offerings, which makes it easy to go with a group.)

You would think that we would be done by then, but you would be wrong! We were totally full, but needed to sample some entrees and desserts, because we had already decided we had to share the discovery of Spice Affair with you, and I wanted to give you a complete picture.  Yes, I ate all this food for you, dear readers.

The nicest thing happened between the appetizers and the entrées; Thomas brought little bowls for us, with each one having a tiny white tablet in the middle of it. We could not imagine what was going on, even as he poured hot water from a diminutive pitcher onto them.  But we watched them grow to be…wet towelettes! What a fun surprise!  I had actually been joking to Alice that I needed a finger bowl in-between courses, and the Spice Affair personnel were way ahead of me.

And the pampering continues from there. When they bring the entrées to the table, which are designed for sharing, the servers dish everything onto your plate for you. Mr. X does that for me at home all the time, but for those of you who don’t live with him, (which is everybody on earth besides me,) this is a fabulous treat. (If you really do prefer to do it yourself, just tell them. The staff is very accommodating.)

We each ate just our own entree, and I’m glad we did because I loved my butter chicken (which was recommend by Thomas, who said it’s his favorite dish there) so much that I didn’t want to share, except for the plentiful sauce that Alice couldn’t get enough of.  Don’t let the look of it scare you because the chicken is swimming in a bowl of that sauce; it’s downright heavenly.  Just the right amount of spice.  I suggest you pair it with rice, and we chose the brown.

Alice said of her fish, “The sea bass is the most tasty and tender I’ve ever had.  It literally melts in you mouth.  Accompanied by the basmati rice, the flavors together are unbelievable!  It’s a must-have.”  To have room for dessert, we had to take much of the entrees home, and found them just as delish the next day.  My chicken may have even been a bit better!

We were actually not planning on having dessert originally, because, as I’m sure everyone knows, sweets at Indian restaurants are very culturally specific, and never to my liking. But Thomas gave us the heads-up that we would be fans of the ones at Spice Affair. And he was correct!

They, of course, did offer classy takes on the usual ones, like rose-flavored ice cream, but we chose three that we knew we’d enjoy more. Thomas suggested his fave, the mango mousse, the flavor of which is very strong; Alice said the mango sort-of “explodes in your mouth.” The special “Dessert of the Day” was a more subtle fruity one—a light, delicate, and yummy strawberry panna cotta that we both really enjoyed.

But the winner for us was one that you’d never expect from an Indian eatery, but which capped off the meal perfectly—a surprising warm chocolate molten cake served with vanilla ice cream. Its title is “Chocolate Love,” to go along with the “Affair” theme. That was the perfect surprise.

Alice summed-up the experience thusly: “No wonder this place is called Spice Affair; like an affair, it’s sinfully good, which keeps you keep coming back for more!” We can’t wait to go back for their lunch and week-end brunch. They were setting-up the latter as we were leaving last Friday night, and it whetted my appetite for their fare all over again!

50 N La Cienega Boulevard, Beverly Hills  310-400-6800 www.spice-affair.com