A spin-off of the popular Aditi, Amma serves up South Indian vegetarian, only at vegetarian-stingy prices. It is not a restaurant to travel out of the way to visit, but Georgetown residents and shoppers, weary or wadless after an afternoon of plunder, will find it a smart spot to fill up on the cheap.

Located at the western end of M Street, just before Key Bridge, Amma is a walk-up space, super clean and calming, with an obstructed view of Arlington from second-floor windows. Its designer has made the most of a minimal budget.

The industrial-cafeteria-style chairs and tables and abstract prints symmetrically arranged suggest a Target-like sensibility. But there are Indian touches, too -- sitar music on the stereo and sari patterns (under plastic) on the tables. The usual (rowdy or ostentatious) Georgetown crowd isn't represented here; customers are international hipsters, some chattering in foreign tongues, some alone, none on dates.

The lone waiter, an Indian gentleman with elegant manners and attire, behaves as if he is serving you in a place of the highest rent. And somehow, the cafeteria chairs, paper napkins, plastic silverware and Styrofoam plates suddenly seem chic.

Amma's menu offers the usual Indian extremes of flavor: the spicy, the salty and the sweet. Entrees and appetizers all build on basics -- potatoes, lentils, peas -- but spice and package them in clever Garanimal-like combinations, sometimes with sides of coriander or coconut chutney.

Your order arrives instantly. The kitchen probably prepares dishes in large batches, then keeps them on a low flame, with an occasional mushy result. Specialty breads, however, such as dosa and puri, are made to order. Oily but competent, they do impress the eyes, arriving in proportions to fill your tray. To supplement your meal, order the mango or lemon pickle.

The salty lassi, a tangy yogurt drink, also pushes the dimensions of a meal, while a sweet lassi or mango lassi makes a quenching dessert. Sweet options include gulab jamun, a flour ball soaking in rosewater syrup, or ras malai, a curdled-cheese ball in condensed milk, which tastes a bit like wet cheesecake.

-- Rob Kunkle