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Seattlest Pix 09Nov25
Can't Miss It: Thanksgiving Eve
We were warned: "Go to Taste of India, and you'll get addicted."
Pull up to the restaurant and you'll notice their sky blue sign, proudly proclaiming "Winner of the Zagat Award." For food? Décor? Service?
No. We think Taste of India must have gotten a Zagat Award for chai. And little did we know that the restaurant is full of chai pushers.
Like the start of most any addiction, we brought it on ourselves. (Okay, maybe we have a genetic pre-disposition to chai. Best not to get into the addiction debate here.) Sitting at the top of the drink list, for the cost of a $2 bill, the call of chai pulls you in: "An ancient tea of India, made up of milk, cardamom, cloves, fennel, and sugar." Mmm… fennel. A natural digestive aid. Perfect for the variety and abundance of dishes we ordered that night. Was it naan or roti? Biryani or tandoori? Masala or vindaloo? Rogan Josh or Josh Rogan? Wait…Josh Rogan…he wrote the second segment of Twilight Zone: The Movie, and is actually a she (Melissa Mathison) – the screenwriter of The Indian in the Cupboard. But that's the other kind of Indian. Our heads are spinning.
Really, we don't remember what we ate. The food was fine, but it's the drink that dominated. We'd heard that chai's a relaxant, a stress reliever, a wellspring of well-being with a warm and soothing effect. That it's difficult to resist a second cup. How could we, when about a dozen different servers were constantly coming to our table to inject us with another hit?
They pushed, and we partook. It was a symbiotic relationship. And it was great. We're not sure how to count the cups of a bottomless cup, but we now know that too much chai starts out relaxing, then soon sends us into our own Twilight Zone.
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Taste of India is the sister restaurant to the (in)famous Cedar's on 50th, and is consistently less busy but yet still somehow manages to cook up the exact same dishes and employee the same water-pushers and chai fillers, in addition to serving the same sweet tasty chai (for which they frustratingly refuse to pass along the recipe to!). So if you're feeling the pangs of addiction, you can alternate between the two locations just to mix things up a bit.
i used to live a couple blocks away, and it was hard to not go there at least once a week.
I didn't know this place was the same as Cedars, and I love Cedars. Exactly the same? Same food, same chai, same 18 billion water pourers? I think I'm going tonight.
Taste of India = major yum
Funny... I know they're sister restaurants, but I've never had any desire to go to Cedars. People always told me Taste of India was a little better. Will have to check it out sometime, and maybe put on some chai armor or something.
I did go last night and it is exactly the same. I'd say the dining area at Cedars has slightly more intimate rooms, but same everything else.
Dan, how was the chai - and was it bottomless?
Chai was exactly the same as at Cedars and I love the Chai at Cedars. It's a little on the sweet side and just generally delicious. Not only was it bottomless, but I doubt I saw the middle of my cup. They are serious about the refills.