Eastern Flavors Find A Welcome in Parsippany

New Jersey takes a lot of ribbing from late-night comics and out-of-towners unfamiliar with its wonders, but residents know the Garden State is a melting pot of food choices. The one growing by leaps and bounds lately is Indian cuisine.

It used to be that you had to travel into Manhattan or head down the Parkway to Edison to enjoy authentic Indian food, but today there are more than enough Indian and Indo-Chinese-style restaurants in the Parsippany-Troy Hills area to make those road trips unnecessary.

Spice Grill is the latest in this category that we had the pleasure of sampling recently, and it’s certain we will be back. The Grill really is a hybrid restaurant since the menu includes some Chinese selections as well.

You’ll have to keep your eyes peeled, because the eatery is easy to miss while heading east on Route 46. But there it sits in a strip mall just west of the Rutgers Village apartment complex near New Road. While Spice Grill's surroundings are less than special, once you walk through the door, the atmosphere transports you, and your mood is immediately lifted.

Many restaurants with an ethos submerged in the Indian sub-continent are dark and moodily romantic with heavy curtains and gold adornments. Spice Grill is a bit more modern: It features wide windows allowing plenty of light inside and walls painted a soft cream color with accents of rich red and orange to invoke the Indian mood.

Spice Grill is the 6-year-old creation of G.S. Chauhan, a native of New Delhi, who started his first restaurant here after working in the hotel, restaurant and cruise industries for a number of years. His wife Hazel is the only partner he has. The couple lives in Parsippany and has two young children.

“We started as a small, fast food restaurant, then changed to casual and upgraded two years ago” to a more upscale ambience, Chauhan said.

So at lunchtime, the place is filled with folks in business attire and local residents in casual clothing. Evenings are divided. Many Americans come to enjoy the foreign flavors and tend to visit earlier in the evening. Indian natives usually eat later at night.

“They come with families, small children, in large groups. Nobody minds,” said Chauhan, an immaculately groomed individual who keeps a sharp eye on the dining room and the essentials of the business.

A children’s menu includes chicken nuggets, French fries and mozzarella sticks.

Spice Grill is open seven days a week for lunch, dinner and with its new banquet room, can handle close to 100 diners as needs demand. The front two dining rooms easily hold about 45.

The buffet, a popular concept in Indian restaurants, is hidden behind a half wall and loaded with plenty of Indian and Chinese choices. As soon as we sat down, a basket of warm naan, the delicious Indian flat bread, was set down and refilled as we needed more. Dishes were constantly restocked with fresh food during our visit.

The day we were there, the buffet--$8.95 on weekdays and $10.95 on Saturday and Sunday--was filled with interesting choices.

First were the many chutneys made with tomato, onion, cilantro, mint and more. Raita, the cooling cucumber dish, is welcome to refresh the palate. Indian pickle is a popular condiment with its own followers.

Warm aloo cabbage slaw caught our eye with its neon yellow coloring and assortment of spices and potatoes. It was a nice complement to the many meat dishes including tandoori chicken, “chilly” chicken and a favorite of mine, chicken tikka masala. Each one of these dishes was fresh, flavorful and moist. As for the tikka masala, too often it is overwhelmed with cream in its tomato sauce. This time, the chicken chunks were meaty and moist and the sauce had a nice balance of tomatoes and cream.

Fried rice was a nod to the Chinese portion of the menu and it was a good side dish for the many meats and vegetables. The Indian side dish of saag made with brilliant green spinach and potatoes was a wonderful addition to the plate.

There was much more to enjoy including lamb, an eggplant dish known as baigan bhartha and a mixed vegetable dish, but by this time we were running out of room on the plate and in our bellies.

Spice Grill 111 Route 46 East (973) 882-4646 Fax (973) 862-8989 Open seven days a week: Monday through Friday for lunch 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; dinner 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. (until 10:30 on weekends). www.spicegrillonline.com