If you’re familiar with DC, you know the story about Georgetown. Back in the day, the majority of the people who lived in Georgetown were the higher-ups, like US Senators and people with old money. That’s one reason why it’s so damn hard to get there. The lack of public transportation was basically Georgetown’s moat to keep the commoners out…
Luckily, Georgetown has chilled out a ton, making way for lots of cool places to go out and, most importantly, to eat. One of the newest additions to the Georgetown food scene is a quaint little place named Curry and Pie that serves a variety of Indian food and Asian Fusion pizzas. From what I hear, the restaurant that used to be in the Curry and Pie space was a late night haunt for drunk Georgetown students, which could be one explanation for pizza remaining on the menu.
One of my favorite things about Curry and Pie is the fact that their menu is extremely innovative. Once I found out the owner landed in DC after having an extremely successful restaurant career in Ann Arbor, it was clear that this guy knew what he was doing in terms of curating a menu. But would the food be good? Yes. One thousand times yes.
I started my meal with the Tandoori Tamales and Lettuce Wraps. You wouldn’t expect tamales to be served at an Indian restaurant, but that is what’s so neat about this place. Stuffed with Tandoori chicken and served with an incredible smoky chili sauce, these tamales were amazing. Plus, if you come to Curry and Pie and get these, you can tell all your friends you’ve tried Mexican-Indian fusion before. I bet they’ll be impressed. The Lettuce Wraps were a very light and refreshing item in comparison to the rich tamales. Each bite was full of tender chicken and green peppers, but don’t forget to add the chutney sauce, which rounds out the flavor profile.
For the main course, I wanted to try a variety of different things. I settled on the Karahi Chicken, Lamb Chettinad, and Chicken Tikka Tandoori. I’m going to tell you right now that every single bite was incredible. I intentionally rationed out my portions for each of these dishes to ensure I had enough food for doggie bags to-go, because I wanted these flavors to last longer than just this moment in time.
While I am an Indian food veteran, the Karahi Chicken was unlike any dish I had ever eaten before at an Indian restaurant. This dish is sort of a stir-fry-style curry chock full of chopped peppers, onions, tomato, and huge hunks of boneless chicken. Each bite was like an explosion of flavor, and I relished every moment. The Chicken Tikka Tandoori was also fantastic. In my experience, it is very common for this chicken to come out pretty dry due to the heat of the Tandoor oven, but these chicken morsels were extremely succulent and moist.
My favorite of the bunch was definitely the Lamb Chettinad, which was essentially tender chunks of lamb served in a coconut curry sauce. The sauce was so rich and savory, it was almost like gravy. As I sat in the sunny window booth, savoring this Chettinad alongside Curry and Pie’s fluffy Basmati rice, I realized life doesn’t get much better than moments like those.
As a NOBREADer, you should know that all of the curries on the menu and most of the items from the Tandoor oven are gluten-free. Unfortunately, Curry and Pie does not yet serve gluten-free pizza, but the traditional Indian dishes are the real star of the show at this establishment. If you live in Georgetown, or even if you don’t, Curry and Pie should definitely be in contention for your go-to Indian place.