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reviewed on: July 25, 2008

A lot’s changed in Denver over the years I’ve been talking about restaurants in this town. Thirty years ago, anyone who opened an Indian restaurant was courting disaster. In fact, there were a brave few who tried and soon regretted it. Today, there are quite a few Indian restaurants in town, and while some of them are excellent, they’ve suffered from the sameness that afflicts other ethnic restaurants. They all do a lunch buffet. They all have the same style of cooking. They all eschew beef. In the main, their menus appear to have been photocopied from the competition.

But as Darwin taught us, sooner or later someone says, “Hey, I think I’ll try standing up on these things,” and the world changes forever. So, this month saw the opening of India’s Pearl in the old BB’s on Pearl location on South Pearl. If you ever visited that fated restaurant, you recall that they sunk a fortune into completely redoing the space, opening up the upstairs and building a separate lounge with its own bar and a stage for entertainment. And, since the upstairs had never been used before, they had to build a stairway connecting the floors. Then they did a total overhaul on the downstairs area, putting banquette seating in one part of the room, and adding wood paneling to the walls. And, as is so often the case, when they pulled the plug, the new owners got a beautiful room at the expense of the previous.

So, the first thing you’ll notice about India’s Pearl is that it doesn’t look like your typical Indian restaurant. In fact, at first glance, this might well be a French restaurant or even Italian. Then the waiter brings you the wine list, which has over 300 selections, though our task is simplified when he suggests that the spiciness of Indian food is best complemented by a Riesling or Gevertztraminer. And before we leave the topic of wine, I have to say that this is the most reasonably priced wine list I’ve seen in a long time.

Which brings us to the food, no less complicated a menu than the wine list, with 161 offerings (I didn’t count them-they’re numbered) including desserts and beverages. Fortunately, the menu is broken into sections—beef (yes, beef), tandoori items, seafood, chicken, vegetarian, etc. And if the beef was a surprise, there are many others, like a variety of duck dishes, pheasant and lobster, in addition to the more traditional lamb and chicken. We selected the Duck Vindaloo and the Dhansak Chicken prepared with yellow lentils. Vindaloo is a style of cooking introduced the Portuguese, noted for it’s spiciness, and this dish lived up to its name—cubes of potato and duck in a fiery sauce. Now, in fairness, I was offered mild, medium or hot, and I brazenly said I could handle the medium. My advice is to err on the side of caution. They can always add extra heat at the table, but it’s hard to take it out. Nevertheless, the dish, served with traditional Indian rice was extremely good. Likewise, the chicken—a much milder dish—was very flavorful. In fact, I’ll go so far as to say this is right up there with the best Indian food I’ve ever had.

We finished up with a traditional Gulab Jamun, Our waiter, in attempting to describe them, suggested they were like Indian donut holes, which they do resemble in appearance, but I guarantee you that no donut hole ever tasted as good as these syrup-drenched delights. We also watched another table order the Sizzling Sundae Brownie, a large dessert served on a super-heated platter onto which the chocolate sauce is poured where it proceeds to boil and sizzle.

It can be hard to find a parking place on South Pearl because of all the restaurant traffic, but you’ll find free parking for India’s Pearl behind the office building on the northeast corner of South Pearl and Florida, less than a half block from the restaurant. They’re also just a few blocks from the Louisianna station on the light rail.

India’s Pearl
1475 S. Pearl
303-777-1533

www.indiaspearl.com