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Jewel of the Crown
7373 Scottsdale Mall, Suite 1, 480-949-8000

It’s not my fault that I am ignorant about Indian food. There have never been more than a handful of Indian restaurants in the whole valley. I suppose it’s because we aren’t as cosmopolitan as Chicago with neighborhoods of Indians and the cultural influence they add to a city.

Still, my ignorance was no excuse for the stunt I pulled back in the 80s when I narrowly escaped arrest after storming the kitchen of a Phoenix Indian restaurant Dr. Jones style, brandishing a revolver and whip, hoping to free throngs of untouchable slave children from their cruel masters. I’m not an expert on the statutes of limitations, but since that restaurant is long gone and I am hardly identifiable after 20 years of unscrupulous behavior, I decided it was safe to try one of the Valley’s most noted Indian venues and start off fresh with a clean slate and plenty of questions about the menu.

A favorite of the theater crowd, Jewel of the Crown has been serving Indian cuisine for many years tucked in a nook of the Scottsdale Civic Center. We arrived at seven and started off with Gin Tonics while we waited for my wife to arrive. Along with the cocktails were some complimentary goodies to nibble with some very unique dipping sauces, one of them, a distant cousin of tomatillo salsa; the other, a sweet plum sauce.

Once the ice was shaking in our glasses, our host helped us pick out a starter of freshly made Indian bread known as Naan ($1.95).

There were six of us including our five-month-old daughter. We decided to each order something different and without us even knowing it, everything arrived dished separately to the center of the table so we could each try a bit of everything. I really like this kind of shared dining, it makes it like Sunday dinner with the family and you get to try a variety of stuff.

The Jewel separates its entrees into categories, which can then be prepared with different anchor ingredients like chicken, fish, lamb, shrimp or beef. The categories are Curries, Masalas, Kormas, Saags, Vindaloos, Biryanis, and Karahis.

My pick was the Lamb Saag ($11.95). Saags are spinach dishes and this one was made with minced lamb cooked in a complex variety of spices, chopped spinach and just a bit of yogurt to give it depth. This was one of my favorites and would definitely be a pick in the future. One of the members in our party is a traveling nurse, and we found out that while she has dated many Indian doctors, she has not dined in an Indian restaurant before. She chose the Lamb Curry ($10.95) and checked out our server more than once. Curries are a pretty large category as I understand it and their flavors are very regional to different parts of India. This curry had a tomato and garlic base and was very savory.

I had paired the entire evening with an Indian Pale Ale Beer brewed by Red Hook. It was a good choice but I could tell that some of our picks really needed some wine next to them. The Chicken Vindaloo ($10.95), a spicy dish made with tomatoes and potatoes, would have been a great pair for a sweet and bright Sauvignon Blanc. The Jewel has a Dry Creek Fumé Blanc on their list, which would work out great.

We finished the evening with Pistachio and mango ice cream and an order of rice pudding before trekking out into the rain. I really enjoyed the environment and pace of the restaurant. If anything, I think we sped ourselves along too quickly and should have paced ourselves differently with more drinks and starter items but there is always a next time. Find out more about Jewel of the Crown at www.jewelofthecrown.com.