India’s Pearl

Closed since may.

Indian food is my favorite kind of food, and I am very picky, you see. I travel all around the land, searching for the perfect Korma. And let me tell you, India’s Pearl is about as good as it gets. It’s easily the best Indian food in the state.
First of all, the place is kinda shnazzy. They have nice, deep leather booths, white table cloths, romantic lighting, and a wall of wine. Yes, a whole wall.
Not surprisingly, the wine selection is very extensive. Sorta surprisingly, all the waiters are very knowledgeable about every single bottle.
Upstairs, they have a dimly lit lounge full of leather couches where they host a pretty decent happy hour during the week, as well as some good bands on the weekend.
But no one really goes to an Indian restaurant for wine and jazz quartets. «How’s the curry,» you may wonder. Well, I’ll tell you. It’s fantastic. Every single dish I’ve tried has been deep and smoky and flavorful. My personal favorites are the chicken korma, which is a creamy curry made with cashews, and the Kerala shrimp, which is a more rare dish to find in an Indian restaurant, made from green papaya, coconut and cream. Try them both!
In addition to the food being amazing, the service is great. All the waiters are friendly, knowledgeable, and all around awesome. I would hang out with any one of them on a Saturday night.
In conclusion: eat here.

I have eaten indian food all over the world, visiting india and also munching on indian in the UK. This is by far the best indian food I have had in north america.
Everything we have had on the menu is really good. The wife is a vegetarian, so mostly we have sampled the vegetarian plates extensively. Their navartarran (sic/​vegetable) korma is awesome, a litlte sweet, a little spicy but very tasty. They also have great bhindi masala. I have really good luck with the lamb korma and lamb vindaloo, along with the duck vindaloo.
We have probably eaten there 15 – 20 times in the last two years, and its our default choice for a nice meal out. Other indian in town, and nearby just don’t compare.
The service is also quite good.
We do have one complaint, the consistency of the spice level. Sometimes mild is too mild, and sometimes its very hot.

Finally! A good Indian restaurant in Denver.
Being an Indian, i am choosy when it comes to Indian restaurants abroad. I know how the dishes are supposed to taste like, i know the tips and tricks, so most of the Indian restaurants abroad don’t cut it for me.
After a long time of not going to Indian places, 3 of us went to this place day before Halloween. Located in a hip location, the décor of the place is indeed classy.
For starters we had Chicken pakoras. With one taste of them, we all agreed that this is a game changer. Finally an Indian restaurent which doesnt skimp on stuff, and is far more authentic than the wannabes.
We tried lamb sali boti and chicken biriyani, which were just out of this world! It had been 6 months since i had biriyani in my home country, and it tasted just like the last time i had it in India. Just awesome. The lamb pieces were juicy and filled with flavors. We were all praises. Then we tried Shrimp curry, which was tasty, but not something to write home about.
Mango Lassi — more of a mango smoothie than an authentic lassi (autheitic lassi is more tangy) but it was good. Again, good ingredients, i believe. The waiter was very attentive to our needs, and friendly.
Only negative point about the place was the desserts. We tried both Ras Malai and Gulab Jamun, but were disappointed. True, our expectations were high after having the lamb sali boti, but the sweetness was dialled down to a minimum, and the Ras Malai was not as thick as we get in India.

Food is overpriced and bland. They use slightly better ingredients than Little India. I am not sure if they try to cater to Americans because it’s not authentic Indian food by any means. They have live jazz on Friday night. The place is always packed. It’s a nice place to take your date to if you don’t care for authentic Indian food.

Quite an excellent surprise for us. I had heard a number of good things about this place but we already had two good indian places that we frequent.
The dishes were all spicier than I expected. Medium was good for me but was probably closer to hot for other places in Denver. The korma sauce was outstanding, as was the raita. The biryani was a little greasy. The samosas were probably the weakest thing we had, they were fairly bland.
The décor is really nice. Upstairs there is a nice bar with live music. The drink prices are cheap. They do have a parking lot but it is not next to the building. Check their web site for directions. As expected for the area, street parking is terrible.

Time was running out on an OpenTable coupon thing that I bought for this place six months ago. Thank goodness I found it and we were able to rush in to redeem it for lunch yesterday.
You can’t use the offer for the buffet. A good thing for us, since the certificate was for $ 40 and the buffet is $ 10 per person. It was too early in the day for drinking $ 10 in alcohol each. Plus, ordering off the menu means you get to take home leftovers (and who doesn’t love leftovers) as well as pick your desired spice preference.
To start, they brought out some poppadom along with three chutneys: tamarind plum, mint with yogurt, and onion. The boyfriend and I shared an order of garlic naan and vegetable pakoras (along with a side of mango chutney for dipping/​topping). He went for chicken saag and I ordered the baigan bharta (how’d you guess?) and entrees are available at your desired spice level. I ordered spicy and it had the perfect amount of smooth, slow burn but didn’t overwhelm the other spices. It also had a ton of crisp peas and stewed tomatoes along with the eggplant and didn’t have the overly creamy, cloying orange color that I’ve seen in other versions of the dish.
Portions are actually quite large and the basmati rice served with the entrees was very fragant.
Service? Actually, pretty awesome for Denver. There were two gentlemen waiting on us and both were extremely apologetic as they «tag-​teamed» on the mojito I ordered as neither were super skilled as bartenders. And seriously, who orders non-​brunch-​related booze on a Sunday at noon? The also checked on us pretty often, keeping water refilled, etc. The mojito was not too bad, and they offered to make me something different if I wasn’t digging it. But I was.
Definitely a solid choice in the realm of Indian dining in Denver. Our main server also mentioned that we should be on the look-​out for another grouponesque deal this week. And we will!

Oh. My. God. Dal makhani. It’s just so delicious! This is the best I’ve had. The samosas are also phenomenal, and I must say, even though the place was empty for lunch, the buffet was fantastic (nothing tasted like it had been sitting out for an hour).
Just go. You won’t regret it.

Solid Indian food… for Denver.
The location is awesome, and the ambience of the restaurant is much nicer than most Indian places in town. However, the food was mediocre, ressulting in my three star review.
With that said, its hard to do much better in Denver. After going to 7 or 8 Indian places around town, this is as good as it gets. Better to skip the Indian food here in general, and load up on your next trip to DC (Rasika or Bombay Club), NYC (Tamarind), or SF (Dosa).

Went here for dinner with my parents who, like myself, love good Indian food. This place has a great location and ambiance. Unfortunately the wait staff was mediocre (our server was unable to describe their dishes very well, did not have great manners, and was inattentive– not a very bright guy). We started with Cheese Saag and the plain Naan and both were really tasty! With such a delicious start we were all really excited about our entrees.
Entrée 1: Chicken Vindaloo. What came was lamb vindaloo and when told, the waiter tried to say it was chicken– which it most definitely was not. Aside from that, the vindaloo was awful and tasted like a vindaloo– gone– barbecue sauce. One of the worst I have tried.
Entrée 2: Chicken teeka masala. Masala should not taste like marinara sauce, ever. Where are the Indian flavors and spices in this dish?
Entrée 3: Lamb Karahi. This was my Dad’s order and he really liked it, so I will trust him since this isn’t my dish preference. I tried the lamb and it was tasty and cooked perfectly.
At the end of our meal, the lady next to us went to take a drink of her water and the glass broke in half in her hand. When a buser came to clean up the mess, he said this happens every 6 months or so– not really acceptable. I would go back to this place to grab a drink and Saag as an appetizer, but never again for night out due to the disappointing entrees and unimpressive service.

Went here for a dinner date just the other night.
First off, the location/​area can’t be beat-it’s on the beautiful Pearl Street in Denver, with the infamous Stellas coffee house just across the way. Really lovely part of town, one of my absolute favorites.
I made a reservation online and had no trouble at all honoring it-​in fact, I was moved right along to my table without pause, which was nice.
Our server arrived after a few minutes and apologized for the wait (which wasn’t even really a wait) and let us know that she could answer any questions about the menu and make suggestions per what we were looking for-​a nice touch considering the impressive size of the menu.
We each ordered a beer and some appetizers (cheese and pea Samosa for me, lentil soup for her), both of which were very delicious.
After much deliberation, she decided on the mango chicken and I went for the tandoori beef kebab.
While waiting for our food we enjoyed the great atmosphere of the place, which was quite romantic and nice. Dim lighting, the slight smell of spices, all very nice.
The food arrived, with each of our plates plus a large plate of rice for us to share.
So here’s where the stars get knocked off. I paid $ 16 for my beef dish, only to find that the beef was incredibly dry and flavorless, to the point where I couldn’t even eat half of it because it was so plain and dry. I hate to knock off two stars just for that, but when I pay that much… I expect some flavor!
That turned me off a lot to the place. Still, it’s worth mentioning the service was top notch.
Maybe I’ll try the place again… but based on a maiden voyage, I’m not entirely sure. Worth checking out though, I think.

I got a groupon type thing from
and decided to try it out. And it was fine. I guess. My experience was kind of all over the place.
When we arrived on a Saturday night around 7pm we expected a wait but were told there was nothing available until at least 8:30pm but we could sit in the bar upstairs with the full menu. They had a great happy hour until 9pm. We sat down ordered drinks then were ignored for 20 minutes while others around us ordered and received their food. We finally flagged down a waiter (who I guess was the wrong one) and he took our order incorrectly. After our actual waiter arrived with our food and left, we figured out the order was wrong and I got Chicken instead of Veggie Curry. It took another 10 minutes to get our waiters attention to fix the problem and he insisted we made the mistake. In the end we got the correct food but were there for about 2 hours.
The food was actually good but a hassle to get right. They had live music in the bar which was cool but a little loud.
Bottom line, service sucked in the bar so maybe better luck with getting a reservation. Probably won’t be back to find out.

I went back to India’s Pearl with The Ladyfriend and her family, and while I had a better experience than the first time, I can’t bring myself to award more stars, because I don’t think India’s Pearl merits anything more than three stars.
Service was better this time, but our server looked like he was a 17 year old kid who didn’t have a whole lot of experience. Though he was timely, energetic, and tried real hard I thought he was a bit awkward and was surprised they didn’t have someone older. (The liberal progressive in me is absolutely furious that I actually just typed all that, but I can’t help it!)
The food seemed much better to me this time, but that may be because I had one visit under my belt and knew better what to expect. I still find that all Indian food is just sort of a sauce with various kinds of meat in it, with everything interchangeable, but I felt like the flavors were more pronounced this time, the textures added diversity to the dishes, and I was also able to try a wider range of types of plates, so that helped.
We of course also gorged ourselves on Naan, the famous Indian Pita-​ish bread. Hard for me to describe, I’m sure reviews will do a MUCH better job of explaining the food and how it works — but we had one Naan called the Kashmiri Naan, fresh hot bread with coconut, cherries, nuts and raisins. It’s definitely a little fruity, but I thought the stuff was absolutely incredible.
It’s one of those places that looks great, but just never quite does it for me. Maybe I’m just finding that I’m not really that much of a fan of Indian food…

My third time at this restaurant, this time for lunch. My companion and I tried their lunch buffet. Of many Indian restaurants in town, this buffet is the best. The tandoori chicken was all white pieces, very tender and the tandoor spices were perfect. The lamb saag, with a spinach sauce was terrific. Their Naan is thin, buttery and lovely. I have been immersed in reading Indian novels lately and smacking my lips at descriptions of the great spices and foods available in that country, so I was ready for an Indian food experience and this one is worth the calories and the relatively modest cost, most definitely.
P. S. For summer, try the chai tea on ice, it is delicious.

This is absolutely the worst Indian food I have ever had, and I’ve been to dumpy places in the middle of OK, fancy places in downtown DC, and far off places in Taiwan.
I can’t believe it has so many good reviews! Maybe the vegetarian plates are just terrible? How do you mess up samosas? At least the chai was good… even if it was in a dirty cup. Way overpriced for what you get. Maybe everybody else likes it because they’re drunk. (They serve a lot of booze!)

OMnomnomnomnomnomnom!!!
Their chicken tikka masala is INSANE goood, as is their saag paneer — the best I’ve had in the city so far.
Their chai is a special, special treat — homemade and better than the pre-​made mixes served elsewhere.
My last trip in I noticed the buffet, which looked interesting but I couldn’t stray from my standard order to give it a try.
And yes, their prices are a bit aggressive. And it’s a small business, with high-​quality fresh food that’s completely worth it.

Nice ambiance for dinners… you get the whole dark candle lit room/​lounge experience.
I’ve been here for their lunch and dinner. They only have one menu for both, with the exception that you can get the buffet for lunch. Dinner is more on the pricey side. You’re looking at about 15+ a dish. You can get vegetarian stuff for around 12+. The nan will have to be side ordered too… However! If you come here for lunch ~ their buffet is $ 9.95 and the nan is included!
The buffet is good. They’ve got: chicken, lamb, vegetarian, and fish (mahi mahi) dishes. I think you do get a decent bang for your buck… so I’d come back for the buffet, not so much the dinner. Service is also very friendly and helpful ~ I was confused by the sauces and my waiter gave me a little tutorial ~
I was also intrigued by the Mango Lassi that I saw some of the other tables ordered. It was just so yellow and happy looking. When I was paying for my check and asked about that drink, the server lady was nice enough to offer me a sample. Horray for the sample… I didnt like it (too sweet) and I’m glad I didnt have to pay for it to find out lol.
Their buffet it worth checking out.

I came here for karaōke when I couldn’t find a table for trivia at PSG next door. Karaōke takes place upstairs in the lounge area. This is a nice restaurant with very clean bathrooms. The DJ had a good song selection and since it wasn’t very crowded, you could get in a ton of songs. The only issue I had was the sound was turned down too low. You could barely hear the music, let alone hear yourself sing. When I asked the DJ why it was so soft, he informed me that the manager on shift complains about the volume disturbing the dinner patrons. Why offer karaōke if you won’t let the DJ turn the music up to a decent level?
I sampled the tandoori while waiting to sing and also had a sip of their mango milkshake. The tandoori was nicely flavored and cooked to perfection. The milkshake was another story. It was basically milk and mango juice served at room temperature. Blech! I’ll stick with my alcohol, that you very much.

I gave India’s Pearl another try last night and liked it better than last time. Here’s what I thought of what I had:
Samosa — my favorite thing of the evening — great pastry and great filling.
Mixed vegetable pakora — very «fried,» but pretty good.
Lamb karahi (lamb cooked with bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, herbs and spices — good, but didn’t love.
Tandoori pheasant (pheasant marinated in yogurt, spices, and lemon and then cooked in a clay oven) — very good.

I ate upstairs in the bar. The restaurant is beautiful. The upstairs is spacious and man what a great opportunity to rock wash park with a great bar area. India’s Pearl def. does not take advantage of this opportunity. There were maybe 3 other people in the bar, and I’m fairly sure they were employees. There was a band playing (not the best music, but it was live music).
Great food. I had the lamb Samas and some sort of red curry lamb with rice. It was fairly spicy, but you can get it more spicy (if you’re a freak like that). It seemed as if the bartender couldn’t wait to get out of there, so I felt a bit rushed, but I would def. go back. I can’t wait to try more things on the menu, and I’d love to see this place rockin’ on a friday night in the summer.