The next time you’re in need of a Costco run, head to the Elkridge store for your flats of eggs, Kirkland golf balls, and rainbow sheet cakes, but forgo the $1.50 hot dog on your way out and head to Spice n Curry instead.
Hidden in a strip mall about 500 yards away from Costco’s concrete paradise, Spice n Curry is an Indian restaurant that’s been serving an excellent mash-up of Northern and Southern Indian, Nepalese, and Chinese dishes for a decade.
It’s a cozy spot, with art lining the walls, comfortable booths, a heady perfume of curries and incense, and a menu that features both expected and lesser-known food—all of which, including the various breads and sauces, are made on-site in the back kitchen.
This means that along with butter chicken and lamb vindaloo, the lengthy menu includes Southern specialties like biryanis, dosas, and the little steamed rice-flour cakes called idlis.
Dosas, crispy thin crepes made with a slightly fermented rice and lentil batter, are a standout here. They’re a welcome dish that’s harder to find in Baltimore than it should be, as the city tends to have Northern Indian restaurants more than those featuring Southern Indian food. You can order plain versions, which come with various chutneys, or filled, like the masala dosa, which is wrapped around soothing spiced potatoes studded with fresh curry leaves.
Another hard-to-find item that’s very good here are the Nepalese dumplings called momos. Thin dough pleated around generous fillings, the momos are steamed rather than fried, then arranged in a pretty circle around a small dish of sauce.
But maybe the best thing about Spice n Curry is the thali special, the traditional lunch meal that’s comprised of a series of small dishes arranged on a tray (thali means plate in Hindi) and accompanied by naan. Here, the thali comes in either vegetarian or non-vegetarian iterations—and it’s all-you-can-eat.
It’s a smarter, fresher variation on the AYCE Indian buffet, which mostly, thankfully, disappeared during the pandemic. Here, your server will refill the dishes of dal, curry, malai paneer, raita, rice, and other items for as long as you want—with the only caveat being that you can’t share your pretty plate with your dining companion, who must get their own. Not only is this a fantastic value, but you get to explore a number of dishes while you’re at it. (The malai paneer is particularly good.) And though this all comes with plenty of naan and rice, don’t overlook the dosas, which taste as good as they look—no small feat.
While you’re feasting, there will likely be a cricket game on the big flat-screen TV, which not only adds character to the place, but makes your server happy. When I was there, an Indian Premier League game was on, and the server—who was, like the restaurant’s owner, Nepalese—did an admirable job of combining flawless service with answering questions, all while closely following the game.
It’s worth noting that the restaurant is BYOB, and thus has a drink menu of teas, sodas, and large pale glasses of lassi so frothy they resemble soda-fountain milkshakes. Conveniently, Spice n Curry is sandwiched between a tattoo parlor and a liquor store, so you can always pick up a bottle on your way in.