Upscale Indian Restaurant Sanjh Opens Its Doors in Irving

A new player on the Dallas fine dining scene arrived earlier this year with the opening of Sanjh, an upscale Indian restaurant that boasts modern twists on traditional Indian food. Sanjh, the Hindi word for “evening,” is the creation of resident entrepreneur Sanjay Joshi, who says he’s long been searching to introduce Indian food to Dallas in a way it hasn’t been done before. With the help of his business partner, Prob Arora, and a 15-chef team straight from India, the restaurateur’s dreams seem to be coming to fruition.

If the words of Joshi himself weren’t enough, a packed dining room on a late Sunday night is testament enough to relaxing vibes, good food and modern twists on classic Indian specialties.
The luxury menu begins in the cocktails, each crafted carefully by mixologist Yangdup Lama, who’s received numerous accolades in Asia for his creative cocktail recipes. More than 11 cocktails range from classics, such as the old-fashioned, to Indian-inspired creations with ingredients like rose petal jam and black pepper essence.

Sip a cocktail at one of Sanjh’s dimly lit tables as you peruse the almost mysteriously ambiguous menu of modern Indian dishes, named in Hindi and labeled only by the standout ingredients in each. Staff are friendly and promptly answer questions about menu descriptions.

We started with the bharwan paneer tikka, a dish crafted from tikka-marinated cottage cheese, which splits almost unexpectedly into a center of sweetened goat cheese, and the shakarkandi chaat, a mashed sweet potato dish that’s served at the table in an almost magical spectacle of smoke, reflecting in the dish’s smoky aftertaste.

The adventurous appetizer selection poses an interesting contrast to the main menu, though. It's made up of more traditional Indian comfort plates, the standouts being the methi chaman, a dish of homemade cottage cheese cubes floating in creamy fenugreek-leaf curry. The dal makhani is a classic smoky tomato-based curry textured with black lentils and doused in melted butter. Choose from an accompaniment of naan or roti breads, garnished with enhancements like mint powder or roasted garlic before being baked to a crisp in the oven. The menu is separated by vegetable, seafood, poultry or other meat-based dishes.

Sanjh’s dessert menu seems, at first, much less complex than its predecessors. With just three options to choose from, it's undecorated by any type of ingredient labels or description. But the final plate that comes to the table proves otherwise.

The ghewar — a crispy ghee-based wafer layered between passionfruit cheesecake mousse — is a worthy competitor to the ladoo, a Belgian chocolate dome filled with six different types of nut-based Indian sweets, both of which match the rest of the menu in culinary propriety.
Sanjh’s executive chef, Balpreet Singh Chadha, is originally from Delhi, where the food connoisseur gained national acclaim for his thoughtful dishes.

“I’ve been a chef for more than 16 years, all over the world,” Chadha tells us. “But Sanjh has definitely been one of the most fruitful concepts I’ve worked on.”

Asked the secret behind the menu, the chef points to little more than authenticity.

“Cooking takes talent — yes — but I really don’t do much to change the flavors from Delhi,” the chef says. “I’m just bringing the flavors of Delhi to the U.S. and modernizing them a little.”

We hear the fine-dining spot has plans to start serving lunch on April 3 and to roll out its full menu in late summer, with menu items such as a gulab jamun cheesecake and Jalebi-based dessert in the pipeline. We’ll be back.

Sanjh, 5250 N. O'Connor Blvd., Irving. Sunday – Thursday, 5–10 p.m.; Friday – Saturday, 5–11 p.m.