Pabla Indian Cuisine

You would expect almost any restaurant downtown to be busy at 7:30pm last Friday. Not so for Pabla Indian Cuisine. The other half and I had enjoyed the lunch buffet months ago and we thought we'd give it a try for dinner. People who looked like they were from India were seated at two of the three occupied tables so we took that as a good sign.

Pabla is located at 1516 2nd Ave and it's the closest Indian restaurant to Pike Place Market. The decor is a kooky mix of country kitchen and leopard print wallpaper borders, safari animal print chairs, fake flowers, framed Indian prints and statuary and 1980's lighting fixtures. It is very clean, but it will probably make you laugh.

Service was super slow...it took about 45 minutes for any food to arrive at our table.

The food was good and extremely affordable. We ordered #6 Mixed Appetizers: Samosa, Pakora and Chicken Tikka- $5.99. The fried goodies were yummy but the Chicken Tikka stood out for it's perfect Tandoori cooked flavor and moistness.

#20 Daal Soup- $3.99 was light, delicious and infused with cilantro, like drinking an herbal broth.

#27 Chicken Korma- $14.99 was a little strange looking. The boneless breast of chicken had been cut into large cubes that just didn't look like real chicken. It was of course and the buttery Korma sauce was decadent and rich, with cashews and raisins and that great curry flavor. We asked for medium/hot spice but it was more like medium.

For me the best part of the meal, #81 Garlic Nan- $3.50. Big chunks of garlic on pillowy bread with crispy toasted bubbles, sprinkled with fresh cilantro.mmmmmmmmm.

I had a Taj Mahal beer, a lager with notes of honey that paired well with the spicy, rich food. All in all, Pabla is worth the trip if you've got a jones for Indian. They also have a huge selection of vegetarian dishes.