Kismet Modern Indian

Tucked away on a side street in Alexandria, Virginia you will come upon Kismet Modern Indian. I would say this is probably in the top 3 Indian restaurants I have visited in this area. The head chef is Chef Ajay Kumar, a winner of the Bib Gourmand for his cooking at Karma Modern Indian Washington, DC. He brings his passion and talent to Kismet, and I for one am so thankful. I think he presents Indian food from a new perspective while sticking close to the flavors lovers of Indian food have come to know. The menu is laid out to take you on a journey with your taste buds, and your palette will be grateful. I was with a friend, and we did not hold back in trying as many items as we would. Let me tell you about a few of those items.

I started off with Tangy Sweet Potato as the starting course. The plate was dotted with three different sauces which you could eat with the grilled sweet potato. One I recognized as tamarind and the other two, one green and one white, I did not recognize. I enjoyed the tamarind most followed by the green, which was herbal in flavor. The sweet potato itself had this deep smoke flavor from being grilled with a nice bite to it. I will say this dish is more than enough for one person, and I suspect it would have satisfied two people.

Moving to the main course I had a beautiful Roasted Lamb in Ghee. The best thing about this dish is that it was the best lamb I’ve had prepared for me in a long time, maybe ever. I don’t use those words carelessly. There was such a depth of flavor with the spices that just made this succulent lamb stand out. The lamb was fork tender and the ghee added a beautiful buttery flavor. Then comes the aromatics of the sauce that was deep in flavor and could make you feel like you were in India. I’ll be returning for this dish in the future.

I paired the lamb with Dal Makhana (slow cooked lentils with butter and cream). I love lentils, especially when they are prepared to perfection. We have that here in the dal makhana. There is just something satisfying from the first to the last bite of this dish and goes so well with the garlic naan. The lentils were cooked to the perfect texture, and the spices used with the dish left me with a smile on my face. If you go to Kismet for just one dish, then this should be it.

Ending the meal was Warm Carrot Halwa. I’ve had this dessert many times before and I have to say this was one of the better versions of it. It was buttery, sweet, and nutty in taste. In this version the carrots were ground a little more than usual than what I’ve had before, but I was completely okay with this. The fine chop on the carrots made it have a smoother texture than previous versions. I think between the coconut medallions and the carrot halwa the carrot halwa was my favorite.

If you are ever in the DC area, a trip to Kismet should be on your agenda. For those people are live in the area, this should be on your calendar now to visit. Chef Kumar is a master in the kitchen, and a wizard with spices. I can’t wait to get back and try some of the other dishes from Chef Kumar, specifically the grilled lamb chops.