Pondicheri Review - Upper Kirby - Houston - The Infatuation
"Pondicheri, the original all-day modern Indian restaurant in Upper Kirby, opened in 2011, and the breakfast and baked goods were so popular that a few years later, the owners opened right upstairs. But they’re not all that different: Pondicheri and Pondi Bake Lab have nearly identical breakfast and lunch menus, full of creative, colorful Indian street food and pastries that we’re very big fans of. Pondicheri also has a generally enjoyable but not exciting dinner service, which you should probably skip. A lot of the dishes at dinner at Pondicheri—like chicken and black bean samosas with cilantro chutney, carrot parathas filled with spiced cauliflower, and spicy lamb keema—are tasty, and sometimes excellent, but it’s not enough to overcome the somber evening atmosphere. By day the space is sunny and bright, but at dinner, unnatural, harsh light floods the cavernous dining room. You might as well be dining in a storage unit. So even though the breakfast and lunch at Pondicheri and Pondi Bake Lab are undeniably delicious, the Bake Lab is just a better experience. You’re missing the fun of brightly-colored baked goods suddenly filling the pastry case, folks swinging in and out for chai and egg-filled rotis, and the fact that you can lounge in athleisure with the rest of the River Oaks lunch crowd. " - Chelsea Thomas
