Bayleaf Indian Restaurant & Bar
★★★★★ 4.5 (164)
"I was quite excited to try out Bayleaf, but I feel I may have been led slightly astray. My expectation for excellent Indian restaurants are for them to have superbly flavored dishes, no matter what is ordered. Unfortunately, dining in here on a Saturday around 1:30pm, this was not the case. While certain dishes we had during lunch had stronger flavors than others within the same restaurant, ultimately I felt these dishes lacked desired depth of flavor, and were quite one note.At first, I thought this might be due to user error. For many dishes, you can specify "how spicy" you'd like it prepared. The options are "Extra Mild", "Mild", "Medium", and "Spicy" and generally correspond to increasing concentrations of capsaicin at many establishments. However, there are a few restaurants where "spicy" does not necessarily refer to capsaicin levels, but actually refers holistically to quantity of spices and herbs present, not just chilies. After dining at the restaurant, I wondered if Bayleaf fell into this category. However, after taking some of the curries I ordered home and having them as leftovers the following day, I can state with certainty that the preparation of the dishes at the restaurant failed to optimize release of the aromatics of the spices. However, after an additional 24 hours sitting in the fridge, the curries were decidedly more flavorful than what was served at the restaurant. It would be preferable to have the flavor experience at the restaurant, rather than after 24 hours.We opted for Hara Bhara Kabob, Chicken Malai Methi, Scallop Pasanda, Badam Milk, and an order of Roti. For the pasanda, a spicy level of "mild" was selected, and for the chicken malai methi, staff recommended to get that at a "medium" spicy level. Neither one ended up lighting any fire beneath my bum or on my tongue.The Hara Bhara Kabob (appetizer) appeared to be cakes of whole spices, spinach, potatoes, peas, and herbs, served with a tomato based accompaniment. The cakes appeared to be deep fried to a dark brown, almost burnt color. While they were not burnt, it did appear that the cakes were cooked too long such that the aromatics were no longer present. Imagine taking a bite of one of the kabobs, and finding whole pieces of star anise and green cardamom in your mouth while chewing---yet alarmingly being unable to taste the anise or cardamom at the source. Aside from the annoyance of having constantly remove whole spice pieces from my mouth, the texture of the cakes were nice. The light dusting of spiced salt on top of them was pleasant, and the tomato masala dipping sauce provided a nice contrast. The cashew half in the center of each was a nice touch. Unfortunately, the cakes themselves were relatively bland.Both the Pasanda and Malai Methi were equally one note. The scallops in the Pasanda were delicious, plump, and pretty juicy. The Pasanda itself had a very nice intense tomato flavor and pretty creamy, but overall it was very one note in terms of spices. The 24 hour takeout version had a better flavor profile. They both came with basmati rice.The chicken in the malai methi was also well cooked, plump, and not dry at all. Unfortunately, the flavor detected in the curry was primarily creamy. While there were cilantro, green onions, and fenugreek leaves (and I assume other spices), all those took a back seat; overall the curry was exceedingly one note bland. I was disappointed by this at the restaurant. However, after waiting 24 hours, the takeout version achieved much better flavor extraction while sitting in the fridge and surviving a brief microwave nuke.Roti: This was user error, I should have ordered a chaapati instead. Anyways, the roti seemed naan-like, except not as soft. It was rather thick, not thin. It was large, cut into 4 pieces, and more on the chewy side, rather than being thin, soft, and easy to tear. It was drizzled with some fat. I imagine it was ghee, but it didn't have that aroma.Badam Milk: Milk, almonds, green cardamom, and I suppose sweetened with some sugar, the resulting concoction was quite thick--much thicker than milk or cream, and it had a great flavor, truly the only item ordered that had achieved a great extraction from the spices.Water served at the restaurant is served as bottled water. You have a choice of chilled or room temperature water. Menus are viewed via a QR code displayed on the table. However, ordering is done with the staff members, not online. Booth seating is available along one wall leading towards the bathrooms, while the remaining tables in the room seat larger parties. There is also seating off to the side near the front windows of the restaurant. The kitchen is visible through a couple of large interior windows.Unfortunately, flavor at Bayleaf is definitely toned down, both capsaicin wise and in terms of spices. This is disappointing.References for comparison: Chennai Tiffins in Mansville, RI and Dhaba Express in Parsipanny, NJ."
"This was recommended by our Lyft driver and man o man was he correct! We weren't ready for a full meal, but after our day of walking around downtown, this was worth it! It's a short walk from the Texas State Capital, so we did work up a bit of an appetite. Happy Hour drink prices made this "snack" stop worth it! You walk into the bar area to grab a menu and pick your seat. The décor is so random with signs and pictures and gives off the local dive vibe (which is totally my jam). The LYFT driver suggested we go with the chili sampler, which he was not wrong on this idea! This gave us the ability to try almost all the Chili. Although, there were so many items on the menu I wanted to try! NEXT TIME! List of Chili in order of flavor and YUM:Habanero - it is hot, hot, hot, hot, hot however, the flavor was just bold and came thru amazing and wasn't so hot that you couldn't find the flavor.XX Spicy TX Beef Chili - I feel like this one was hotter than the habanero, but the meat was chunky and so goodBlack Bean and Sausage - super flavorful, sausage was crispy and worked perfectlyVenison - this one fell flat for me, I do love deer meat, but I didn't get much flavor out of this one. You must order cheese and sour cream (much needed for the hotter chilis to give your mouth a bit of a break). We were served with an entire basked of saltines, which again, PERFECT! Our waitress was so kind and was on top of it the whole time. Although they had run out of Shiner, due to the race and football weekend, I still was able to get a good local Amber. My newly 21-year-old niece got a bomb drink and loved it. The waitress said she was impressed that I wasn't crying eating the XXX hot chilis, hey, I live in New Mexico, our Christmas Chile is no joke. I highly recommend this restaurant!"
"Yummy Oaxacan Food with seemingly handmade masa items.The complimentary chips and dip are incredibly unique and delicious. They resemble creamy, spicy salsa aioli dips. Try it--you won't regret it! :)The chicken mole huarache ($15) was both filling and flavorful.The interior is adorned with lots of biblical decor, which is quite interesting. There is plenty of indoor and outdoor seating available.Service was prompt! :)"
