First Impressions

What to Order & How to Eat It

What to Drink

Dessert & Coffee

The Last Word

Indian cuisine benefits from thousands of years of prime position along the world's tastiest trade routes.  As a result, ingredients from around the globe such as tomatoes from the Americas and cloves from Indonesia have been incorporated and perfected into dishes that are now known as quintessentially Indian.

Like with America, Indian food changes quite a lot as you cross the country, due to the availability of ingredients, different religious requirements, and regional traditions.  Mostly around the US, though, you’ll find that Indian restaurants serve North Indian food, while some also serve a few South Indian dishes. 

Family-Friendliness

Basic Indian Food Terms

Critical Do's and Don'ts

Restaurants We Like

Indian restaurants range from casual to very fancy- know ahead of time which type you are going to and whether your kids are OK in a fancy restaurant environment.  Even the fancy places will usually have staff there who are happy to see kids, so long as they aren't screaming and hanging from the chandeliers.  Food-wise, most kids who like chicken will like tandoori chicken (this is Indian-style BBQ chicken), papadums, rice, and some of the vegetable dishes.  Even lamb skewers are not that spicy.  Butter chicken is a good dish to begin with when introducing kids to Indian curries.  If you're in a South Indian restaurant, a dosai (sometimes spelled 'thosai'), will probably also be something kids will eat. 

The Food Virgin's First Time

My first time eating Indian food is really a bit of a misnomer, because in truth, I really didn’t eat that much. It was not only far spicier than my tongue could take, but also involved a dish called ‘Fish Head Curry’, in which a whole huge fish head in a bowl of curry sauce is served at the table.