Before the widespread popularity of Indian cuisine, having a meal with a little kick to it meant eating a chili dog while playing hacky sack. Keep peppery flavours in the air for as long as possible with today's Groupon: for $15, you get $30 worth of East Indian cuisine and drinks at Daawat.

Daawat unleashes ebullient East Indian fare awash in soft lighting, music, and plush red carpets. A copious menu blends the traditional flavours of Indian cuisine such as cumin, bay leaves, and turmeric into dishes that propel eaters to dig into authentic bites without the potential to lose luggage on the way there. Fork-guided tours can commence with succulent appetizers such as mulligatawny soup ($4.95) in vegetarian or chicken options and the battered and deep-fried onion bhajia (7.95). Daawat's skilled chefs charm vegetarians with meatless plates that include the spinach-laden potato carnival that is palak aloo, and chana masala, which tosses gleeful chickpeas into a kiddie pool of onions, tomato, and aromatic ground cumin (both $10.95). Spice seekers can take on the chicken vindalloo (14.95), which introduces boneless chicken pieces and potatoes to a curry sauce so spicy Ed Sullivan would only film it from the waist up.

After meals, tuckered tongues can find sweet respite in servings of pineapple yogourt ($3.95) or saffron-smooched rasmalai ($4.95). With more than 90 beers, wines by the glass, and a plethora of cocktails, Daawat's bar makes certain guests have plenty of ammo for gracious toast-proposing and dignified vermouth-gargling contests.