Travel By Jury

Check your Urban Spoon app, Google it, Yelp it, Yahoo it – everyone agrees and this Louisville local can concur – Kashmir is Louisville’s best Indian restaurant, hands down. It’s won the local independent paper, the LEO‘s, “Best Indian Restaurant” every year since 2002; the only reason it didn’t win in 2010 was due to a fire that closed the (ultimately relocated, one renovated house down) restaurant for most of the year. Kashmir has bounced back, however, and the place is hopping; if you go on a weekend (or during a warm evening) you can expect to wait, as Kashmir’s excellence is no secret around town. Not only do they have a tasty lunch buffet, but their dinner menu is huge. Think the usual tandoori (but never dry!), several different types of fresh-made nan, vindaloo and saag dishes, but you have to sample their curries – they are flavorful and bright and oh-so-yummy. You either get low heat (“mild”) or high octane (“hot”) in terms of your spice choices, but if the waiter recommends a level to you, take their advice – lamb briyani (infused with raisins, nuts, and fresh peas) is plenty spicy, even at the mild level. Their vegetable samosas are the best I’ve ever had, and you’d be a damn fool to pass up their chana masala. There’s not a bar, but they have a decent wine and beer list to help you cool off your exotic-spiced tongue – that is, if you’re not feeling the pistachio-colored and delectable kulfi ice cream. The family-operated business offers absent-minded but friendly service with a smile, and, as you roll yourself back to your car (park across the street to save hassle) you’ll be so glad you took a little trip to Northern India via Louisville.

Filed under: Great Eats, North America Tagged: | beer, curry, family business, fire, fresh vegetables, friendly folk, Google, great eat, Indian food, Kashmir, kulfi ice cream, KY, lamb briyani, LEO, local favorite, Local Review, Louisville, lunch buffet, masala, nan, Northern Indian cuisine, Northern Indian food, popular, re-opened, saag, tandoori, Urban Spoon, vegetable samosas, vegetarian, vindaloo, wait, wine, Yahoo, Yelp