Tava Delights Palates With Indian Spices

Morton Grove’s newest restaurant, Tava, was opened last week by a Morton Grove resident who thought the village could use good Indian food. Owner Mahesh Sharma is right, as the restaurant makes the area’s dining options more diverse by providing solid food and a truly novel cocktail menu.

Located in a strip mall at 7172 Dempster St., Tava is small but elegant. Tables feature white tablecloths and red candles, and you can sit at the dark wood chairs or red half-booths.

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You can also grab a seat at the bar and watch the bartender work on ornate cocktails mixed with unusual ingredients like cilantro, crushed cardamom and tamarind-date sauce. While most Indian restaurants’ drink menus are limited to some wines, Indian beers and basic cocktails, Tava’s selection really stands out.

The Indian Tart ($8) is its most popular drink, a very refreshing and citrusy blend of organic cucumber vodka, grapefruit juice, elderflower liqueur and agave nectar. The Mazadar Chai ($9) is essentially an iced chai with vodka and is exactly as delicious as that sounds. Those were just the two my dinner companion and I tried, though nearly the entire menu sounds intriguing and delicious.

Service at Tava was disappointing. Our server was very inexperienced and showed little knowledge of the menu. He brought over the bartender to discuss the drinks to us. Afterward, he was only able to explain things in a way that might be helpful to someone who had never had Indian food before, but didn’t really provide advice on what the restaurant does particularly well.

The server also gave wrong information at one point, saying that the fish that came with the dinner for two was catfish when it was actually whitefish.

We decided to go with the nonvegetarian dinner for two ($35) since it offered us a chance to try plenty of dishes. It starts with vegetable samosas and salad. The samosas were very good, with the crispy pastry stuffed with chunks of potato, green peas and savory spices. They work especially well covered in some of the spicy green sauce presented on the table. The salad is a standard mix of green peppers, cucumbers and iceberg lettuce, but it’s made special by the accompanying sweet mango-cilantro dressing.

Our entrees came out soon after we were finished with the appetizers. The dinner for two includes two pieces of dark meat tandoori chicken, a piece of tandoori whitefish and a few pieces of well-spiced minced lamb kabobs. The flaky and lightly spicy fish was especially good and the tandoori chicken was so tasty we pulled every piece of meat off the bones.

The package also includes servings of dal makhani, chicken makhani, basmati rice and naan. The dal features black lentils and kidney beans cooked with plenty of cilantro to form a hearty vegetarian dish.

The chicken, cooked in creamy tomato sauce and butter, was a little sweet for my tastes but would make a great option for the spice adverse. Tava’s naan is particularly good, crispy on the bottom and very fluffy on top.

For dessert, we went with the desi kheer, a sweet rice pudding cooked with sliced almonds and golden raisins, sprinkled with a bit of ground pistachio nuts.

Whether you haven’t tried Indian food before or are looking for an Indian spot close to home, Tava is a great option for a nice night of dinner and drinks.

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