Food still fab at Marigold Maison's new Lincolnshire location
Formerly a Bannockburn eatery, Marigold Maison recently relocated to Lincolnshire, taking up a spot once occupied by Go Roma. The restaurant reopened in March. We stopped by for a weekday lunch to try out the new digs.
It's smaller than the last location, but the restaurant feels more intimate. There's a full bar, subtly striped walls and a rustic wood floor. But the design feature I liked the most were framed collections of actual spices and peppers organized into fun designs.
The lunch menu at Marigold Maison, helmed by executive chef Sunil Kumar, is a smaller version of the dinner menu, containing Indian specialties, street food options, soups and salads, and a bread selection, with the addition of easy-to-take-away bowls and wraps.
For starters, we ordered two specialty drinks, plus paneer pakora and some garlic naan. I had the nimbu pani, a cold drink with lime juice, lemon, ginger and cardamom syrup. It was nice and refreshing, with the just-right balance of citrus and ginger. The cardamom was almost overpowered but definitely still there. My husband ordered the chai latte. The menu described it as a “cold, milky, Indian-spiced tea,” but it was served hot. Either way, the spices come through and the combination made for a good cup of tea.
The paneer pakora features chunks of paneer cheese, coated in a blend of chickpea flour, spices, garlic and ginger, then fried. It was served with three sauces: mint chutney (a little spicy), tamarind (not too sweet and our favorite choice) and raita (like an Indian tzatziki). Overall this was a great appetizer. The cheese seemed pretty fresh, and the coating was light, thin and nicely spiced. I would order this again. The garlic naan was soft, but a little dry and could have used some more garlic. We loved that it was clearly homemade, and it still tasted great.
We both chose masala bowls, which come with a choice of protein, a tomato butter sauce, fenugreek, spices and basmati rice. I ordered mine with cauliflower and my husband got his with chicken, both ordered mild. The portions for both were deceptive - it doesn't seem like a lot of food, but that bowl is bigger than you think. Mine was delicious: smoky with a kick from spice that I wasn't expecting but was very happy about. My husband's was a little bland but was good nonetheless. We think he actually got the mild sauce and I got the regular sauce. I would recommend going regular instead of mild. It's a lot more flavorful.
We did, unfortunately, have some service issues with a problem waitress the first time we went. But, those problems were completely resolved on a return visit - everyone was cheerful and pleasant, our meals and drinks came out right on cue, and everything tasted great.
Dessert was the kala jamun, cake pops soaked in rose honey syrup with vanilla ice cream. The cake was served piping hot, so the ice cream was a welcome addition to help cool everything down and complete the flavor profile. We've had this at other Indian restaurants, and it's usually sickly sweet. This one wasn't. It had a mild sugary taste, and nothing overpowered anything else. All in all, it was a great way to end a good meal.
Restaurant reviews are generally based on one anonymous visit. The Daily Herald does not publish reviews of restaurants it cannot recommend.
Marigold Maison
900 Milwaukee Ave., Suite E, Lincolnshire, (847) 940-0200,
Cuisine: Indian
Setting: Casual
Entrees: $10-$28
Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5 to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday