Redmond's Karma Cafe: Stick With The Side Dishes

----------------------------------------------------------------- Restaurant review / Redmond

Karma Cafe, 16564 Cleveland St., Suite S, Redmond. ($) Lunch Monday-Saturday 11 a.m.-3 p.m., dinner Monday-Thursday 5 p.m.-9 p.m., Friday-Saturday 5 p.m.-10 p.m. ($5.95-$9.95). Non-smoking. Beer and wine. Mastercard, Visa. Wheelchair access. 425-883-4443. -----------------------------------------------------------------

Early last summer, in a move that turned Redmond's health-conscious eatery, Jack Sprat's, into the Karma Cafe practically overnight (Hold the no-fat veggie lasagna! Throw some nan in the new tandoor!), Billsville quietly welcomed this adorable East Indian restaurant.

Lunching in the Windows-on-the-Mini-Mall-World dining room, I was entertained by a contingent of tap-dancers in the studio across the courtyard, charmed by the sweet, earnest ministrations of first-time restaurateurs Lucienne and Virendra Aggarwal (she hails from Australia, he from New Delhi), and delighted by the cafe's very contemporary design. Hand-painted fruits and vegetables decorate the tabletops; stainless-steel cheese graters and colanders cleverly double as lighting fixtures; walls are drenched in shades of eggplant and lime. There's nary a buffet table in sight.

Instead, a blackboard stated the day's lunch specials: four $5.96 entrees, culled from the standard menu (the same at lunch and dinner) paired with sides of dal (yellow split peas), rice and nan. Taking advantage of the wallet-sparing specials allowed us to sample a chicken and a vegetarian dish from among the a la carte listings while splurging on numerous extras.

Among the truly great additions to our meal were Nimbu Pani (a sweetened fresh-squeezed lime drink), and Himalayan Chai (a rich, milky, house-ground ginger-, cardamom-, fennel- and cinnamon-laced tea and the next best thing to a warm down comforter on a cold gray day). We devoured a pair of perfect samosas (one of only two appetizers offered), followed by swaths of nan, warm from the tandoor. I was intrigued by the sour, potent Indian pickle - chiles and exotic fruits in mustard oil, a trip-around-the-world experience - and impressed by a refreshingly tart cucumber-y raita.

Then we forked into the rest of our meal and - smite me with bad karma for saying so - suddenly things went awry. From the disappointing Malabar Chicken and saag paneer, to the way-too-salty dal, to the plain basmati rice (with every hint of fragrance and flavor sapped out of it) - all remained unfinished at meal's end. Which left us room for dessert: an earth-shatteringly exquisite ice cream.

SAMOSAS: Perfect, crunchy, fried little hat-shaped packages of cumin-scented potatoes and peas.

MALABAR CHICKEN LUNCH SPECIAL: The menu says "coastal inspired curry with coconut flavor." I say, "small bowl with mini-bites of ho-hum chicken floating in a thin, acidic, tomato-colored broth." Curry? Coconut? Really?

SAAG PANEER LUNCH SPECIAL: Cubes of mild homemade cheese hiding in dull, underseasoned chopped spinach. A vegetarian favorite that I've always liked. Until now.

KARMA KULFI KESAR PISTA: Saffron, rose water and cardamom scent the Karma Kulfi Kesar Pista, a creamy, pistachio-flecked ice cream (an Aggarwal family recipe). This is what the world's most expensive perfume would taste like if you could eat it.

ITEMIZED BILL: LUNCH FOR TWO SAMOSAS: $3 MALABAR CHICKEN LUNCH SPECIAL: $5.96 SAAG PANEER LUNCH SPECIAL: $5.96 CHUTNEY (PICKLE): $1 RAITA $1.50 NIMBU PANI: $1.50 HIMALAYAN CHAI: $1 ICE CREAM: $2

TAX: $1.99 TOTAL: 23.91