Mint Progressive Indian

Before Mint, if you wanted an upscale Indian meal Downtown, it simply wasn’t a thing. This spot on 1st and Spring is practically begging to host a corporate Happy Hour, with elegant decor and a subdued atmosphere that, frankly, we find boring. But such is Downtown after 5pm. The restaurant specializes in modern riffs on classics, like tandoori pineapple burrata or duck shawarma kulcha dusted with foie gras powder. While the small plates mostly blow it—thanks to mistakes like soggy fried cauliflower or the aforementioned kulcha stuffed with dry, too-gamey duck, the entrees are more forgiving in the form of velvety butter chicken tenders you could flake with a fork, or paneer arranged in rosette shapes that would be insufferably precious if not for how tasty they are. Is it stuffy? Yes. Is it expensive? You bet. Are we coming back for the fancy little paneer pinwheels? Yeah, probably.