Mainstream New Orleans has not embraced Indian food, and Indian food has returned the indifference. Nirvana is the best Indian restaurant we have. By ordering carefully an eminently delicious meal will land before you. Its flavors, along with the built-in addictive qualities of Indian spices, will be good enough to bring you back again. The strong vegetarian component of Indian menus will please those of that dietary persuasion, as well as those who aren't.
Nirvana is the fifth in a series of Indian restaurants from the Keswani family, who introduced Indian food to New Orleans in 1982. This one is the more ambitious and atmospheric of their two current venues, managed by Anjay Keswani, the son of the founder. The unusual space dates back to the late 1800s, and was once part of a large Woolworth's store.
The spacious, antique dining room offers a lot of rooms room for the aromas to spread. The 100-year-old pressed-tin ceiling that seems to have been made to support an otherwise very Indian decor. Like every other Indian restaurant in the world, lunch and two dinners a week (Thursday and Sunday) are offered from a buffet. (The a la carte menu is always available.)
The price and all-you-can-eat aspects of the buffet are attractive, but resist. The cooked-to-order food is much better. It's always best to come with four or more people, so you can order many dishes and pass them around.
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