My two local cousins and I all have birthdays in July and August, so every year, we usually book a nice summer outing to celebrate each other and enjoy a nice evening out. This year, we chose to check out a relatively new restaurant in the West Loop neighborhood called ROOH which calls itself, “Progressive Indian Cuisine in a Vibrant Atmosphere;” and vibrant, it is! Every corner of this place is seriously insta-worthy and I took a TON of photos! When you enter, you are greeted by a very large. stunning mural of a South-Asian woman with a longing look on her face. Next to her is a very long, bright, and inviting bar, with exquisite floral arrangements in the corners and along the entire bar.

In the back is the restaurant area, which is relatively small, and it was pretty full the whole time we were there. It was cosy, with gorgeous chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, one mirrored wall, and one painted white brick wall. The banquettes were bright blue in color, and the seats were comfortable. This place is hip and super chic.

Our service was pretty good, although I think the main courses came out a little too quickly after the second course, but this is a pretty minor complaint. We were talking a lot and eating pretty slowly, so we were taking our time. Our server was thorough, although spoke extremely quickly. I’m not super familiar with Indian cuisine besides the basics, so I didn’t catch everything he was saying, so I was slightly annoyed, but I already pretty much knew what I wanted to order, so it didn’t really impact me much.

The food was plentiful and excellent. We chose the four-course Prix Fixe menu for $65 (very reasonable) which actually allowed you to choose the second and third courses and your dessert, so it was a super flexible menu, which was great, since two of us are meat-eaters, and one is a vegetarian. The first course, which was served with the second, is Green Pea Kulcha with goat cheese. This is basically a naan-type of bread stuffed with a green pea spread. It was really tasty, and the goat cheese dollops on top really brought a nice tang to the otherwise relatively bland bread and peas.

For the second course, my vegetarian cousin ordered the Avocado and Green Chickpea Bhel, which was nice and spicy. The Chickpeas were a really nice consistency and almost had a crunchy texture which contrasted our other choices nicely. The Grilled Prawns came with three enormous prawns that were in this beautiful, smoky Masala sauce. I ordered the Tandoor Smoked Pork Belly, which might have been some of the best pork belly I have ever ordered. It is hard to get the cut of Pork Belly such that it has a perfect mix of meat and fat because usually there is too much fat; but it was perfectly balanced and was in a lovely curry sauce topped with a jalapeno pepper, and a crunchy sesame curry leaf crumble, which had the texture of a pork rind. This was my favorite dish of the night.

For the third course, both of my cousins ordered the Tandoori Cauliflower, which looked amazing. It was a huge roasted cauliflower, about a half of a head, cut into several large pieces in a delicious sauce. You could choose from naan or rice with your third course, and they both chose naan. I found the naan a bit dry – almost as though it had been cooked a while ago and then just reheated. You definitely need to dip it in the sauce. I ordered the Butter Chicken. It was a very large portion with two chicken breasts cut in half, so about 12 ounces of meat at least. The chicken was super tender, and the sauce was delicious – spicy, without being too spicy. I ordered rice to go with my main dish, which I think was easily the right call. You could choose from plain basmati rice or saffron, which is not even a choice – saffron every time. The rice was super fluffy and mega flavorful from the saffron, and mixed up with the butter chicken sauce was just dreamy. It was so much food that I brought home half of my main dish for my husband, who gobbled it up at lunch.

Dessert was a major highlight of the meal. They brought us all little candles in bowls to blow out for our birthdays which was a cute touch. My cousins both chose the Chocolate Rum ball, which looked like a super large Hershey’s kiss cut in half and filled with fluffy and decadent mousse. It was served with toasted milk ice cream. My cousin Irene said that there were a lot of layers to the flavors of the dessert and Vicki said this was the best dessert she had ever had in an Indian restaurant. I ordered the Tutti Frutti Cassata which was was a rose semifreddo that was tucked in with candied papaya. There was ice cream as well, and some crunchy crusty sweet bits scattered throughout as well as delicious macerated strawberries on top. I loved this dessert. It was the perfect size and didn’t contain any chocolate OR citrus (which I just don’t love in dessert at all). The desserts were beautifully plated as well.

I cannot end this review without commenting on the supremely cute and delicious cocktails. I am not really a fan of all the fancy weird cocktails and mixology that are mega popular these days, and typically prefer something fresh or fruity, made with a clear liquor that isn’t gin. The specialty drinks at ROOH are based on Ayurvedic principles and are divided into six categories, displayed in a round chart, which we all thought was cool. I had the Himalayan Sunset which was a rum drink made with blood orange, mint and some ginger beer. It was sweet, but also a little tangy from the ginger beer, so it was perfect for me. Vicki had the cutest and most delicious drink at the table, which was called Last Hara, which was a vodka and tequila mix with aloe, cucumber and mint. It tasted so fresh, and I’m glad I didn’t order it because I probably would’ve had six of them. Irene got the Hyderabad Tonic, which was categorized as “astringent,” which is exactly how it tasted to me. The base of the drink was gin, which is not for me, but she loved it, so it was perfect for her!

ROOH is definitely elevated Indian cuisine, and a welcome opening in the West Loop. The food is really delicious and are generously portioned. The cocktails are innovative and delicious, and you can easily find something you would like on the very detailed and unique cocktail menu. The place is very chic and very insta-worthy. I would recommend ROOH if you are looking for something different and interesting in the West Loop.