Raaga - Santa Fe

Awesome hospitality, great relaxed vibe, flavorful, fragrant food. My husband and I visited here after reading the reviews, and we weren't disappointed! We were warmly welcomed by the host and the chef upon arrival and quickly seated. We had lamb curry, rosemary naan, and mango lassi. Everything was fresh and delicious. To cap off wonderful service, the chef came out to the table to chat, and he was so lovely. We're planning to come back soon! Maybe tomorrow...

My husband and I stopped eating Indian years ago when we went vegan, as it was very hard to get dishes without ghee. What a pleasure to open a menu and see numerous vegan dishes, clearly identified. The standouts for were the lentil coconut soup appetizer, the huge portioned veggie biryani, and the veggie tandoori. The wine and beer list had nice offerings, too. Quite pricey for Indian food, but more of a fine dining experience than your typical Indian place. The ambience was quite lovely and we appreciated the chef/owner checking in with us...he is quite the charmer. I'll come back and replace the fifth star when they offer a vegan naan and rice pudding; come on guys, it's not that hard, I know you can do it!

Only reason I 'm giving them 5 stars is because I can 't give it 6. Real Tandoori oven right inside the door. Not a fake 'tandoori '-like steel oven. Fresh ingredients and spices. You can smell them when you walk in the door. Late mid-day lunch in the summer. Great service. Wonderful service. My wife and I choose to share appetizers and entrees. Best decision I 've made in weeks. The Delhi Chaat was cool for a summer day. Garbanzos, blueberries, tomatoes, crisps, mint and yogurt dressing, and cucumber all chilled and blended to a pleasant opening. Next, the Lamb Samosa and Raja Tikki. Yum, with the mint chutney. Perfect blend. Lastly, Chicken Tikka Masala and Lamb Korma. Lamb was succulent and tender. Well balanced. The chicken was a fantastic blend of spicy and savory. Fortunately, we ordered smalls of the entrees so that we had a little room for dessert. We tried the Rasmalai. Thought I 'd had this before at other places. Not like this. Wife said it should have been called 'heaven '. All in all, great service. Local place with an owner that takes pride in his product. (Was proud to show me his tandoori and share his craft. Sorry, I 'm out of adjectives. The only thing left to say is that we have another 'favorite ' place to visit/share in Santa Fe when we are there again. (And, it will probably be sooner than I 'd expected.

We came here on our first visit to Santa Fe. Based on the reviews, this seems like the best Indian restaurant but we beg to differ. We ordered the garlic naan, rice, and butter chicken. We usually order the tikka masala but this time we opted for something similar to make a comparison. The garlic naan was good. The rice was dry and it was definitely not basmati rice, which was disappointing. The butter chicken was not buttery. It was in fact more tomato-ey than a tikka masala. When you get to the chicken, the chicken was flavorless. Without the sauce, the chicken could've been simply boiled and I wouldn't have known the difference. And then finally, we had a super awkward situation. The chef pictured in the yelp reviews silently, and sternly came up to us and just stood there with his arms crossed. I didn't know what to say and how to react which I found funny because I was wondering if he was trying to be funny or if he was just being weird. I figured he wanted us to comment on the food he made. Haha he asked us why we didn't finish the food. We did, we finished all the chicken and what was left was the sauce. It was really weird. I think we'll try other restaurants.

So I thought the food was ok. I'm used to the Indian food made in the Northeast so I'm not sure if the difference was due to them cooking in a different style than what I'm accustomed to. The cumin crusted salmon was ok but was very lightly seasoned. It was served with what looked like frozen vegetables which I didn't enjoy. The samosas had a thicker shell and were not as flaky as I've had in the past. The naan was good and I enjoyed the garlic naan. My friend had Pindi Chana, which was vegetarian and had too little seasoning. We did request mild but I've been to other Indian restaurants that still provide flavorful food without the heat.