Café Indigo is one of the best, if not the best, Indian restaurants in Stockton-on-Tees.  Located on the banks of the Tees, it is well situated and the interior is of modern design with a light and airy feel.  Atmosphere-wise it is difficult for me to comment, given the time of my visit.  As you might expect early evening on the Sunday between Christmas and New Year the restaurant wasn’t particularly busy.  However, the staff were polite and attentive, and the laid-back contemporary music that accompanies your dining adds to the experience.

If I have one criticism with regards the surroundings, it would we that the dining room is a little too light and that the lighting could been turned down a few candelas to give a more intimate feel.

The Café Indigo al a cart menu contains your recognisable Indian staples along with a reasonable selection of authentic Indian food.  On this occasion we decided to go the more recognisable route.

To start, we went for the boti kebab and the minced lamb samosa, which we followed up with chicken dupiaza and lamb balti.  We accompanied the main course with Palok Aloo, a spinach and potato dish, basmati rice and a garlic nan.

Taste-wise the food was excellent.  Nothing we ordered was particularly hot, and instead the flavours of the various dishes were subtle and fragrant.  The chef obviously knows his onions, or rather his herbs.  I’m not adverse to food with a bit of a kick in it, however was a nice change to be eating Indian food that was a little more mellow than I normally order. The lamb balti in particular is worthy of mention as the lamb was melt-in-the-mouth tender.

All in all the food was excellent and reasonably-priced. I did however find the wine a little expensive for what it was.  We paid around £16 for what I recall was Jacob’s Creek.  A nice enough tipple, but quite a mark-up I suspect.  The Irish coffees, that we rounded the evening off to, were also around five pounds a pop, and consequently a large proportion of eventual bill was due to the accompanying beverages.  I don’t think it is uncommon for restaurants to improve their margins with the bar bill, and to be fair the Irish coffee was among the best I have tasted.

I enjoyed the Café Indigo experience and would recommend it if you're in the area.  I would say Café Indigo is almost defiantly the best Indian restaurant in Stockton, and it probably more than holds its own whatever the genre.  Whether you're an Indian food lover or not, give it a try.

Date of visit 27^th December 2009