|
|
|
2063 University Blvd E., Adelphi, Md.
(301) 434-2247
Hours of Operation and Prices
Lunch: M-F 11:30-3, Sat noon-5
Dinner: M-Th 3-9, F 3-10, Sat 5-10, Sun 5-9
Entrees: $6-$7
Brunch: Sun noon-5, $9
Other Information
• All major credit cards
• Reservations recommended weekends
• Dress: casual
• Free parking lot
• Handicapped Accessible
|
The furnishings have a kind of shopping-center layout, with row after row of leatherette booths and a stainless-steel buffet table in the center. But the walls bring India to center stage. They're rough-textured wood, hung with a gallery of vibrant photographs of India. Swagat has transported South India to suburban Maryland. The menu is, of course, vegetarian, and the restaurant serves no alcohol. Yet those restrictions seem less limiting than inspirational. One dish I'd be sure to order is khasta kachori, an appetizer of tiny, one-bite, puffed fried breads filled with a creamy-spicy-crunchy mix of chopped onions, chutney and yogurt. As for samosas and bhajias, those usually leaden fried appetizers, Swagat has lightened them.
Where else do you see five different versions of paneer, those cubes of house-made cheese so spongy and bland that they intensify a curry's other ingredients? Vindaloo curry is an explosion - not simply of chilies but of flavor, with a jolt of vinegar. At the other end of the spectrum, spinach with corn is equally complex but far more subtle. The only consistent flaw is that the solid ingredients are shortchanged; the paneers need more cheese, the other curries perhaps more cauliflower or potato or carrot. Mostly, they are sauces to spoon over rice.
Swagat's dosas are a good yard long, rolled with the usual turmeric-yellow potato filling or mixed vegetables or paneer - or as a sandwich rather than a roll. Uttapam is a thicker pancake, crisp on the surface and soft inside, studded with vegetables and served flat. Idlis are stark little pillows of plain steamed rice batter, a blank canvas for the accompanying coconut or coriander chutneys. If the menu seems hopelessly confusing, there's an easy solution: Swagat serves buffets at lunch, brunch and some dinners, so you can preview what you might like to order ... la carte next time.
© Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company
Back to the top |
