Spice Xing

One year ago, I drove 26 miles to Rockville Town Square, in what felt like the deadest-of-door-nails winters. I remember that the landscape looked monochromatic--nature was too afraid to show itself because it knew it would get frozen or sleeted on and have to retreat. I even recall the streets of Rockville Town Square being a grainy white, either as residue from recent bad weather or in anticipation of icy roads.

I went in search of Spice Xing, a top 100 restaurant and sister restaurant to another top 100, Passage to India. Unsurprisingly, however, it's taken me this long to write it up. I was spurred into recounting this trip more quickly, however (so, one year later instead of two) because Spice Xing is also on the top 100 cheap eats, so two Xings in hand are better than one in the bush.

Unfortunately, however, I have little recollection of what exactly I ate, save for dessert, which you'll understand later. I did take some creepy photos of myself, however, which I can say because it was me of one year ago. To my credit, I think I wanted to catch the decor behind me, without  food-touristy-like turning around completely. The decor on the other side of the restaurant was equally celebratory of food photography, with images of menu items posted along the wall.

 
















Spice Xing (pronounced "crossing") offered a buffet that afternoon, but I wanted to specifically pick my lunch.     It was all very good: simple in its construction with determined and good flavors. I think I had uttapam or baby dosas. This isn't starting off very well, is it? It was a pancake with a potato concoction underneath, with a lovely thick sauce in the top right, made of some sort of pepper or chili. Hm.

Next, I had garlic naan, a side of raita (yogurt sauce) and something else. I can tell you some items on the menu I remember considering, I'm just not certain which item I decided on: lamb roganjosh (lamb curry with onions and Garam Masala), lamb ishtoo "stew" (lamb stewed with onion, cardamom, and curry leaf) or salli boti jardaloo (a Persian-inspired lamb and apricot stew). This is a bit embarrassing.

 To my credit, though, I remember exactly what the dessert was and might even suggest a trip to Rockville for it alone. You'll notice I had quite a bit of food (albeit apparently not memorable) but after ordering the below, managed to eat most of it. It's tandoori pineapple: ginger-lime marinated pineapple grilled in the Tandoor oven. The presentation was dramatic, the pineapple was juicy and flavorful, and it felt like an indulgent but healthy Indian version of a banana split. And now I'll be Xing it off my lists.