Our friend Erin is in town, so we went to dinner last night with her and her mom. It was a sumptuous dinner with plenty of appetizers and dishes to choose from. Loved it all and will be back.

Only one of our party had been here before. Andaaz opened in 2021, but we haven’t been. The location is the spot formerly known as Rezaz’s, which was a favorite mediterranean eatery of ours for years since coming to the Big Town.

Our appetizer choices:

Gobi Manchurian: So good! Fried cauliflower with a ginger garlic sauce.

Masala Crab Cakes: I love crab cakes. These were tasty but no more than most I’ve had in any other cuisine. The star was really the tomato chutney.

Crispy Spinach Salad: A revelation! Who knew you could fry leafy greens and still have them be dry, crunchy, and palatable, not to mention delicious?

Vegetable Samosa: The usual potato and peas in a crispy dumpling pocket. Could have eaten just these and called it a night.

But noooooooo….

Mains included:

Dal Makhani: Delicious black lentils, and lovely.

Lamb Roganjosh: Lamb was tasty but a little tough. Some gristle. Sauce a pleasure.

Saag Paneer: Tender flavorful cheese. A very bright, light spinach sauce.

Chicken Badami Korma: Chicken was tender and juicy. Great sauce.

Lots of bread and rice to sop it all up.

The only thing that disappointed me was the lamb, but they have plenty of other lamb dishes on the menu, and I’ll probably try them when I return.

Because of course we’ll go back. We didn’t know what to expect. Mela in town has been our go-to Indian place for so long, mostly because it is located on the way out of downtown, so we have been in the habit of stopping there for takeout. But we really need to change it up. Andaaz is far more elegant than any of the other Indian restaurants in town, and a perfect spot to take visitors from out of town. Definitely on the pricey side, with meat and vegetable entrees in the $20+ range.

Nestled in Biltmore Village, with its own small parking lot.

Before eating, we had drinks at Village Wayside Bar & Grille, which was another place we’d never been. Located in the village’s old train station, with a cool bar with a fireplace. Been there 14 years. Popular with after-hours service industry folks. (Our server at Andaaz admitted, “I go to Wayside to drink.”) Presiding over the bar at Wayside was one of our old bartender pals. The sandwiches and sides on their menu looked really good, so I’ll have to add it to my chowhound rotation.

Humorous moment of the evening: when I checked in at Andaaz, the host and hostess looked at my surname and asked if I hadn’t been there earlier in the week. I hadn’t. I admitted that though I lived in town, I had never visited since they opened. Maybe someone had the same surname as me? It used to not be that common a name, I said, but it was slowly growing.

The owner, Al Singh, said his name was very popular. We laughed, because, well, sure.

I said that with the pandemic, we had not been out much.

He said he was glad to have me.

I reached out and gave him an impromptu hug, which I hope delighted more than frightened him.

Hugs or not, I’ll be back.

All photos by me.