The Cloves Restaurant, Suwanee

The Cloves Restaurant's menu showcases the cooking techniques and ingredients that have come to define the cuisine from both the country's northern and southern states. A clay tandoor oven bakes marinated meats, skewered vegetables, and soft naan, and liberal doses of saffron, fenugreek, and ginger paste add their distinctive south asian piquancy to entrees. These flavor combinations inundate multiple taste buds, oftentimes in the same bite, as in the case of the tomato-based vindaloo sauces laced with fiery chilies and tangy vinegar.

Immense floor-to-ceiling windows flood the dining area with natural light, helping the curvaceous track lighting and dangling pendant lamps illuminate the dangling uvulas of laughing diners. Taupe-hued walls stand in stark contrast to the dark tables and flooring, and they remain relatively unadorned except for a smattering of Indian-influenced paintings.