Spice Affair Awards

Spice Affair Restaurant Review:

Spice Affair serves up Indian cuisine with a modern California twist on La Cienega Boulevard, Beverly Hills' Restaurant Row. This expansive establishment encompasses a dining room with booths and tables, a private dining room and a banquet hall with its own entrance. (Both private spaces are outfitted with projectors and retractable screens.) Guests who linger in the lounge area and at the luminescent bar can order from a separate menu of fusion small plates, including a chicken tikka masala taco with homemade chapatti serving as the shell. The wine list showcases good selections, while the mixology program boasts premium cocktails such as the Golden Elixir, made with saffron-infused vodka among a dozen ingredients. The kitchen makes its own blends of spices to great effect. To keep the food on the lighter, healthier side, the use of ghee, creams and high cholesterol oils is limited. Start off with contemporary creations like the tandoori artichoke hearts or duck and date mélange served on papdi bread. Continue with selections from the array of breads (roti, naan, etc.) and the signature dum chicken biryani, in which the crust is peeled back table side to reveal the fragrant mixture of chicken, basmati rice and broiled saffron strands. Among the vegan dishes, we like the ginger okra and the tangy stuffed eggplant. Plentiful gluten-free options are available, including lamb shank vindaloo, butter chicken and shrimp and scallop moilee (Kerala-style coconut curry). Finish your feast with rose kulfi, an Indian dessert that resembles ice cream.