Bannockburn's Marigold Maison tantalizes the taste buds

The first thing to hit you when you walk into Marigold Maison in Bannockburn is the tantalizing scent of cooking naan, Indian spices and sweet sauce. Decor matches the sensation — walls are brightly colored, jars of spices line the entrance to the open kitchen and ethnic decorations round out the visual experience. Once seated, we were treated like royalty from some of the friendliest staff I've met. Our meal was a multisensory extravaganza that will definitely keep us coming back for more.

We began with drinks. Marigold has a full bar with a medium-length wine list, craft beers, import beers from India and specialty cocktails. Before we came, we checked out the online menu from the restaurant's Arizona location by mistake, and thus ordered a drink this Marigold location didn't serve. But the staff is dedicated to making customers feel welcome and happy, so the bartender figured out the ingredients and made it anyway. It was perfect.

We also tried the specialty drink, nimbu pani, a homemade lemonade and limeade mix infused with ginger cardamom syrup. It was a nice bright yellow, a visual representation of the almost overpowering lemon, but otherwise the drink was relatively mild. The ginger cardamom didn't come through very much at all, which was a little disappointing.

For appetizers, we tried the chicken pakora, yogurt raita dip and masala dosa. Nine spice and chickpea flour-battered chicken came deep-fried with chipotle tamarind sauce for the chicken pakora. The batter was thin and light, with a slight spice that just caught the edge of detection. Chipotle seemed absent from the tamarind sauce, but it was still a good dip for the chicken, which was juicy and soft. The yogurt raita dip, made with coriander, cucumber, mint, various spices, and served with toasted naan, was basically an Indian-spiced tsatsiki dip.

Marigold Maison's menu offers a selection of both traditional street food and south India dishes, where we found the masala dosa, a large Indian-style crepe filled with potato and onion. It came to the table flowing over the edge of the plate and grilled, served with sambar and coconut chutney dip. If you only have time for one thing, get the masala dosa — the presentation and flavor (surprisingly similar to a German potato pancake) are well worth it.

For entrees, we tried the chicken tikka masala and chicken kashmir khorma served with homemade vindaloo hot sauce. Both were standard for the dish — the tikka masala with a tomato-cream cashew and fenugreek sauce and the kashmir korma's cashew cream sauce with mixed fruit — and could have been a bit richer to really set them apart from other area Indian restaurants. But both meals smelled delicious and were excellent versions of the traditional plates.

For dessert, we devoured the kala jamun, warm cake balls soaked in rose honey syrup and served with vanilla ice cream. The cake was fall-apart tender and moist with a green coloring inside from the spices. After a rich meal, this was the best closing note — not too sweet but just enough to satisfy an end-of-dinner sugar craving.

• Restaurant reviews are based on one anonymous visit. The Daily Herald does not publish reviews of restaurants it cannot recommend.

Marigold Maison

2535 Waukegan Road, Bannockburn, (847) 940-0200, <a href="http://www.marigoldmaison.com">marigoldmaison.com</a>

<b>Cuisine:</b> South Indian

<b>Setting:</b> Contemporary chic

<b>Entrees:</b> $14 to $25

<b>Hours:</b> 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5 to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday