Mint Leaf Pasadena - Not Your Mama's Chicken Tikka Masala

Not Your Mama’s Chicken Tikka Masala: Review of Mint Leaf Pasadena Indian Cuisine

Mint Leaf Pasadena is a charming, new, up-and-coming, Indian restaurant. Though it looks large from the outside, the inside boasts a far more intimate atmosphere. Decorated with soft golds and rich burgundies, it’s certainly a great spot for a quiet dinner.The menu is kept current, and offerings will rotate based on seasonal ingredients. Mint Leaf Pasadena’s lunch and dinner menus feature an array of rich traditional favorites and vegetarian options alongside fresh and lighter takes on classic Indian recipes.

Let me start off by saying that the service here is exceptional. This is definitely the type of place that abides by the “never let the water in the glass get below the halfway mark” rule. Everyone was friendly with a great sense of humor, and knowledgeable about the food we were getting, and we got a lot of food.

I was immediately drawn to the Mango Lassi for my choice of drink. I’ve wanted to try one ever since the ripe age of 9 when I’d seen it being made by kids on Zoom. (Only 90′s babies who grew up without cable will get that joke. To everyone else, Google is your friend; despite the questionable new logo.) Anyway, I digress. The mango lassi was delicious, creamy and smooth and definitely made with the freshest and ripest ingredients. My friend opted for the sweet lassi, which was of a thicker consistency (akin to that of yogurt, whilst mine was more of a smoothie) and much sweeter, and she quite enjoyed it.

Next came the appetizers. The Veggie Samosas were first out the gate, and had a nice, crunchy, outer layer and a surprise kick of spice to them, which paired nicely with the mint and tamarind chutney.

As someone who is absolutely not a fan of mushrooms, I have to say that the Achari Tandoori Mushrooms were a pleasant surprise. They were a lovely texture that deviated from the traditional gumminess I associate with mushrooms.

Finally, we tried the Bhel Puri, which we were told was a common Indian street food; A mixture of puffed rice, boiled potatoes, roasted peanuts, shredded cabbage and tomatoes, it certainly made for an interesting dish. Both my friend and I agreed that we’d never eaten something with that kind of exciting texture before, and my taste buds immediately began going haywire as I tried to come up with ways to describe it. It’s a light dish, the rice was not quite as firm as traditional rice and the tomato and mint flavors were just a tiny bit reminiscent of pico de gallo with quite a bit of cilantro. Certainly it was the most intriguing dish of the night.

Naan and Lacha Paratha separated our apps from our entrees, and of course I made the ultimate rookie mistake and quickly filled up on the garlic naan, which was aromatic, delightful, and much softer than any naan I’d ever had before. Imagine that you gave garlic bread a makeover, and you’d end up with Mint Leaf’s garlic naan.

Entrees followed shortly thereafter, and we opted for the Tandoori Lamb Chops, Green Pea Pulao Rice, Channa Masala, Saag paneer, and of course the Chicken Tikka Masala. What I love about Mint Leaf is that you can pick your own spice level! They use a 1-10 scale with 1 being mild, 5 medium, and 10 practically dangerous. I can handle spice with the best of them, but I don’t spice that to be the dominant flavor in my food, so I stuck around the 5-6 range, which was perfect for me, but a little powerful for my friend.

The Tandoori Lamb Chops had a wonderful crispiness to them and I personally quite enjoyed the Saag Paneer, but it’s certainly not a dish for the faint of heart. If you like spice, Saag Paneer is the dish for you. It certainly packs a punch, however I also appreciated the subtle sweetness the dish offered and the beautiful melt-in-your mouth texture that was similar to whipped sweet potatoes, even though the flavor couldn’t be any more different. But, the real belle of the ball was (of course) the chicken tikka masala.

Mint Leaf Pasadena’s Chicken Tikka Masala is bae; a word which here means the best meal of the house. Chicken tikka marsala is probably the Indian dish I am most familiar with and usually a staple at a lot of Indian restaurants, but I’d never tasted any that was quite of this caliber. The chicken was moist and the sauce (much like the Power Puff girls–cue my second 90′s reference) was the perfect balance of sugar and spice and everything nice. This is a full-bodied, flavorful, dish that I happily consumed until the dish was empty.

Though I’d stuffed myself silly, I decided to take one for the team and whip out my dessert stomach, which was running on E. It’s a hard job, but someone has to do it. We opted for the Rice Pudding and the Halwa and Kulfi plate. The Rice Pudding had hints of vanilla and really was quite refreshing after a 103-degree day. The Malfa Kulfi (Indian ice cream) was wonderful and drizzled with rose water, which made for an exceptional, elegant, dessert. We both finished off with iced chai, which was wonderfully spiced and not overly sweet and then went our separate ways to slip into well-deserved food comas.

Mint Leaf Pasadena hours of operation are: 11am – 2pm for lunch and from 5pm – 10pm for dinner, everyday except Tuesday. Mint Leaf Pasadena is currently closed on Tuesdays.

Mint Leaf Indian Restaurant

2535 E Washington Blvd

Altadena, CA 91107

(626) 460-8776

Be sure to follow Mint Leaf Pasadena on Social Media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MintLeafPasadena

Twitter: @MintLeafLA

Instagram: https://instagram.com/MintLeafPasadena