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Indian Flavors Restaurant

(4 stars from 2 rating)
Indian Flavors Restaurant 0:4

Address

http://www.indiaflavor.com
3930 Meridian St., Suite 107
Bellingham , WA 98225
(360) 647-1589

Hours

Every day 11:00 AM - 10:00 PM

Review

I love East Indian food -- chana saag, chicken vindaloo, mulligatawny, raita -- so I tend to keep my eyes open for new places to get it. When I pulled off the Guide into the Circuit City parking lot, I had a dilemma. I had already taken a few steps toward the electronics store when I spied the sign for Indian food out of the corner of my eye. I weighed my options for a heartbeat or two, and decided to blow off my errand in favor of Indian Flavors.

Indian Flavors is cozy, but nevertheless feels spacious. Its mirrored walls are spotless - as is every other corner of the place - and make it impossible to feel anything close to claustrophobic. The staff reinforces these themes by being warm, friendly and attentive, but without hovering. The menu had all my standard favorites, as well a few interesting and flavorful things I’d never tried before (try the coconut and tomato soup flavored with cardamom). Though many of the items on the lunch buffet were on the spicy side (good for me, but not so much for my kids), there was plenty of plain rice and naan to counter the heat. They also cheerfully offered to prepare something special for the kids if we needed it.

A good staff, good food and clean, well-kept surroundings would be enough to recommend Indian Flavors to me, but the place also has a somewhat eccentric charm in the form of two, flat-screen televisions, tucked unobtrusively into opposite corners of the room. That’s right -- instead of simply playing Indian music in the background, Indian Flavors shows Bollywood music videos. It’s very entertaining to sit with a belly full of good Indian food, sipping Chai tea and trying to make up plots to go along with a Bollywood video. Who is the handsome man gazing at the lovely woman? Why does she look away? Now she flirts, hiding her smile behind a fold of her sari. The scene is intimate, the man smiles confidently at the lovely woman and…suddenly, one dozen back-up dancers hop in to join him, and they begin a dance routine that reminds me a little of Michael Jackson’s "Thriller".
Written By: Lisa Holt
On: 12/7/2008

Directions

Heading north on Meridian toward Bellis Fair, take a right into the Circuit City/Ross parking lot. Indian Flavors is between those two stores.

Features

Kid Friendly | Beer and Wine | Delivery | Dinner | Full Bar | Lunch | Smoke-free | Take-Out | Wheelchair Accessible

Map

User Reviews

Glen Berry
Bellingham, WA
45rating
(1)
(1)
9/17/2009
First To Review
Options for Indian food in Bellingham are very few. I grew up in Bellingham and I was never into Indian food in part, I think, because if you never have good Indian food then it is hard to become a big fan. I didn't get hooked on it until I traveled to other places and had great Indian food.

People will invariably compare any restaurant in Bellingham to what is available in Seattle and include the qualifier that "In Seattle [Vancouver] [LA] [San Francisco] you have this awesome restaurant, blah blah blah. Well guess what, this isn't some megatropolis with crappy parking and rude people and too much traffic and insane rents and yuppies and scenesters and gangsters and hipsters running all over the place. So yeah, you can fight your way through all the crap in whatever big city it is that you come from and find a better restaurant. But are you really going to do that on a Tuesday night?

Anyway, that being said, there are better Indian places in Vancouver. Hell, there's a better place in White Rock. But the truth is, Indian Flavors is pretty damn good. Sure, the place has been under different management in the past. In the past, it bordered on terrible. Now it is a completely different game. It's a rock solid choice for Indian, and you know, better than a lot of mediocre fare you will find in Vancouver or Seattle or LA. I'm not giving in an "A", mind you, but I do eat there frequently. I used to save my Indian food trips for Seattle or White Rock but I'm finding that I'm eating a lot closer to home.

Oh sure, you want to know about the food. They have butter chicken, naan, samosas, pakora, daal, saag panir (that spinach dish). They have a host of other dishes if you are an Indian food nerd. I am not a vegetarian but the Vegetarian dinner for two goes down real nice. If you're a veggie, you'll do just fine.

So to sum it up - Indian Flavors is a rock solid, enjoyable choice for Indian. If you have modest expectations, you will be pleasantly surprised. The buffet lunch is getting more and more popular. If you have eaten there in the past and weren't into it, you should give the new place a try.
(1)
(0)
H S.
H S. 
BELLINGHAM, WA
75rating
(5)
(0)
6/6/2010
Extremely good Indian food, but a little pricey when ordering individual items from the menu.
(0)
(0)
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