Southern Spice has been building a steady following of satisfied fans since it opened its doors at in the Bay Town Plaza last year and I recently joined their ranks.

Since I’m a creature of habit and almost invariably opt for saag aloo and chicken tikka masala at Indian restaurants, this time I put my dining companion and myself in the hands of co-owner and head chef Rajesh Srinivasan.

What followed was a culinary tour of the best on offer at this relative newcomer to Cayman’s dining scene.

We started off with some delicious lassi drinks - a sweet plain one for me and a mango one for my pal. Lassi is a popular chilled yoghurt-based drink and a wonderful accompaniment to any Indian meal. Diners are also given complimentary chickpea salsa to nibble on while they contemplate the menu.

Since our menu contemplation had been averted, all we had to do was sit back, nibble our chickpeas and sip our lassis while Chef Rajesh and his team prepared our dinner. First up was an impressively large platter of appetisers that included lamb vada (fried minced lamb cakes), vegetable samosas, tandoori shrimp, tandoori chicken, lamb kebab and chicken vepudu (an Indian version of fried chicken).

All proved very tasty and, in hindsight, we probably should have just had a nibble of those as well because a feast of incredible main course dishes were on their way.

Chef Rajesh presented us with eight ramekin-sized dishes of entrees. We gazed at the colourful display of food before us, confident that since they looked like small portions, we’d have no trouble finishing them off, but that was before the bowl of rice and two huge naan breads appeared before us.

One of the breads was a flavoursome garlic naan and the other was a sweet and tasty surprise - a Peshwari naan, which contained a paste of almonds, coconuts, dates and raisins. We were later taken into the kitchen to see firsthand how the naan is cooked in just seconds on the side of the stone tandoori oven.

We started at one end of our selection with shrimp malabar. The succulent seafood was prepared in coconut and chili masala, which is a slightly creamy, spicy tomato sauce, and scented with fresh lime. The piquant combination of citrus and tomato was one highlight of a meal that had several of them.

The next bowl featured a hearty and thick chicken jalfraisse, cooked with onions and bell peppers. This earthy, textured dish is the kind of food you’d really welcome on a cold winter’s day - or in an air-conditioned restaurant on a balmy March evening in the Caribbean.

Next up was my old favourite, the chicken tikka masala, and it did not disappoint. The sauce was the perfect blend of creaminess and spiciness and the chicken was wonderfully tender.

Onto the next choice - the lamb rogan josh. This Kashmiri dish was mildly spicy, with a heavy, brown sauce that went well with the melt-in-your-mouth lamb chunks.

Then there was another lamb dish; this time with, as menu put it, “very healthy” saag (spinach). It was right, it tasted pretty healthy.

By now, we were nearing the end of our row of dishes. The remaining two were both veggie options - a mushroom and peas kadai masala and a mutter paneer (peas and cottage cheese). And we were glad we’d left room because both were delicious. The mushroom and pea kadai masala had lots of vegetables in its yummy thick sauce, while the delicately flavoured mutter paneer, in its light, yet creamy sauce left us wanting more, but unable to fit in anymore.

We sat back and surveyed the damage, and realised we had utterly failed to do this meal justice. We were entirely full, but had barely made a dent in the dishes. 

So, when the chef emerged from the kitchen to chat about the food and offered us dessert, we politely declined. And then he started going through the list of desserts on offer - sticky toffee pudding with ginger and cardamom, coconut cheese cake, kulfi... We buckled and agreed to try the kulfi, a frozen, milky ice-cream flavoured with cardamom. It’s the perfect dessert for when you simply don’t think you can fit in another bite, because even though it looks like it would be creamy and heavy, it’s actually very light and delicate and icy.

Chef Rajesh then recommended some very tasty cardamom masala tea that he assured us would assist with digesting the array of superb dishes we’d just consumed.   WH

Southern Spice is open for its $11.95 lunch buffet from 11.30am to 2.30pm daily and for dinner from 5.30pm to 10pm. Call 949-5550 for reservations or take-away.