Too many people overlook Spice Affaire in Stamford’s Hampton Inn & Suites.
Their thoughts naturally gravitate to Stamford’s highly developed downtown district without recalling what lies just across the Mill River.
And yet, there are numerous advantages to dining at Spice Affaire on the west side of the Mill River. The traffic is minimal, the Hampton Inn’s free parking plentiful. The food is terrific, and the dining room and patio provide panoramic views of Stamford’s downtown, and more immediately, what will become Mill River Park & Greenway before too long. According to www.millriverpark.com, a world-class urban park is planned, with a three-mile greenway that follows the river stretching from Scalzi Park to Long Island Sound. Blueprints call for a sculpture garden, fountain, carousel, ice-skating rink and kayak facility. When work is completed in the next couple of years, Spice Affaire will overlook one of Stamford’s most beautiful spaces and it will be a mere stroll away from downtown.
In the meantime, the food and free parking are reason enough to visit Spice Affaire, which can be accessed from the hotel lobby or from the separate restaurant entrance.
Note the sign for Shelly’s on the River, the contemporary American restaurant which still exists within The Hampton Inn but is confined now to this lovely windowed room
as well as the bar area. The remainder of the inn’s restaurant space is devoted to Spice Affaire.
My work as a restaurant consultant with the New England Culinary Group brought me to the Hampton Inn. I parked my car in the free parking garage, then met my colleagues in the bar area.
After enjoying a drink or two, we gravitated to Spice Affaire.
Large expanses of glass looked across the patio to the Mill River Greenway construction and to downtown Stamford.
Welcomed with cleverly carved watermelons, we argued over exactly what they represented. Sophomoric jokes abounded.
Tables were arranged in a U for the meeting,
gentlemen mostly to the left
and ladies mostly to the right.
We got to meet the owners (rear) of the inn and restaurant.
Our NECG meeting got underway. We discussed diverse topics like the one year anniversary of our exciting professional organization, our efforts to stage an Uptown Stamford Restaurant Week, the burgeoning Bridgeport restaurant scene, and interesting restaurant openings all around Connecticut, a number of which are being aided by members of our group.
Soon I had a mango lassi in hand.
Wonderful food began to emerge from the kitchen. We warmed up with pappadam with mint chutney, onion chutney and tamarind sauce.
We then enjoyed dahi chat, a refreshing mixture of crisps, potatoes & chick peas with tamarind, mint sauce and yogurt,
as well as Bombay bhel puri, an addictive mixture of crisp flour and puffed rice with chopped onions, green chilies, diced tomatoes and herbs.
Those items were followed by a vegetarian platter with tandoori vegetables, bharvan aaloo, pudina paneer tikka and vegetable seekh kebab,
as well as a non-vegetarian platter with tandoori chicken, malai kebab, lamb chop and tandoori shrimp.
Note the steam rising off this delicious dish.
Other great treats were on the way. How about shaam savera, which is spinach and cheese dumplings cooked in a tomato and onion sauce?
Or aaloo gobi, which is potato and cauliflower cooked with ginger, cumin and coriander?
Or murg tikka masala, which is tandoori chicken cubes simmered in creamy tomato sauce accented with dry fenugreek?
Or shrimp kali murch, which is shrimp cooked in white onion sauce flavored with black pepper and herbs?
Or especially, goat masala, which is marinated goat on the bone cooked in a traditional North Indian gravy with a blend of herbs and spices?
These dishes were served with basmati rice
and various types of naan.
And finally, there were sweets. We enjoyed gulab jamun (a warm doughnut in sweet syrup)
and orange malai kulfi (homemade Indian ice cream flavored with nuts, saffron & cardamom set into an orange shell, then sliced and served).
We wound down a great dinner by meeting talented chef Niranjan Rayamajhi
and socializing further with one of the owners.
Spice Affaire has charms that may elude those who don’t think of dining across the Mill River. But when the Mill River Park & Greenway opens, this restaurant’s charms should be apparent to all.
Spice Affaire, Hampton Inn & Suites, 26 Mill River Street, Stamford, 203-353-1000, www.spiceaffaire.com