Restaurant Elevant, located in Tallinn old town, on Vene street, offers dishes, which "combine elements from India's long history and noisy streets of today's Calcutta, five star restaurant chefs and Northern India's homemade food, other national cuisines and Ayurveda medicine". The atmosphere is cosy, with warm tones, dimmed lighting, artwork, and plants. Daily specials available.
I found myself at the restaurant unexpectedly during a private party (therefore not paying for anything). That also meant not being able to choose any food myself, and trying many different dishes. I shall begin. I arrived for the fourth course. There was basmati rice with coriander (3,50€), bhatura bread (2€), salad (1,50€) (all previous sides come with every main dish), thin crunchy bread (õhuke krõbe leib; 2,80€), mint sauce (mündi kaste; 1,50€), raita yoghurt sauce (3,50€), saffron lamb (lambaliha safroni-karrikastmes; 15,50€), wild boar curry (metssealiha traditsioonilises vürtsikas kastmes; 15,50€), chicken curry (kanafilee traditsioonilises vürtsikas kastmes; 11,50€), baby octopus curry (väikesed kaheksajalad vürtsikas kastmes; 13,50€), spinach and cottage cheese curry (pehme India juust tihedas spinatikastmes; 10€), and vegetable curry (erinevad köögiviljad vürtsikas kastmes; 9€). Is that it? Quite a plateful, I must say. Didn't really enjoy either of the breads, maybe because they'd already cooled down by the time I got there. Bhatura was just too tough-chewy and didn't impress me. The fresh salad was okay, consisting of raw onions, tomato, and some other things (apologies for the bad memory, I went to the restaurant a few nights ago). Mint sauce was perfectly cooling with the curries, raita, however, was a disappointment, so opt for the cheaper mint sauce. The lamb was nice, it was also my first time tasting saffron, which wasn't as mind blowing as I'd hoped, but still good. All the meats were perfectly cooked and tender. The wild boar curry was the spiciest of all the dishes I tasted that night. Baby octopus curry actually had the whole octopus, not just the tentacles, which was kind of interesting. The cottage cheese curry has a misleading name, as it consisted of soft Indian cheese cubes, not cottage cheese, and the spinach part tasted more like coriander. I found myself craving more, but it was all out by that time. The vegetable curry was alright too.
But that is not all. There was a fifth course too, and that was marinated chicken in traditional sauce, or tikka masala (marineeritud kanafilee traditsioonilises kastmes; 14,50€). I would have expected it to be something to end the night in a bang, but it was just as good as the sauces in the previous course. The chicken was tender and lovely, of course.
I would've hoped for dessert as well, but I understand the torture the people who were at the party for the whole night must have gone through with all that delicious food.
Final verdict: 9 out of 10. I liked neither bhatura nor thin crispy bread, raita and the vegetable curry were average. If I had to choose three favourites, they would be chicken tikka masala, wild boar curry, and the cheese curry. I discovered the restaurant offers crocodile meat too, so that's what I want to try next. Also, the desserts sound very appetising. Definitely a very nice place altogether, even if it's a bit pricier.
Info at www.elevant.ee or Facebook www.facebook.com/restoran.elevant.
Sorry for no photos!
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