How Rice N Spice sizzled its way into downtown Bloomington

BLOOMINGTON — Residents can now spice up their palette following the addition of Rice N Spice Indian Grill to downtown Bloomington, at 110 W. Washington St.

Owned by husband and wife, Manoj Tamang and Puja Rani, the restaurant aims to offer the best North Indian food in town.

"I think we only have one more (northern Indian) restaurant in town," Rani said, noting most of the others focus on South Indian flavors, which makes Rice N Spice a little different. "... And we are serving great food."

The restaurant owners also plan to offer American breakfast alongside their traditional North Indian food, she said.

Rani was raised in Hariyana, India, near Delhi and moved abroad in 2008 to obtain a hotel management degree. This led her to the restaurant business, and she started worked as a cook in a five-star hotel in Delhi. She then met her husband, who is Nepali, while on a trip to Dubai, and they moved to the United States after they married in 2015. After living in a few states and traveling throughout the Caribbean, they moved to the Chicago area, where they worked for Maharaj Indian Grill.

After about two years, they decided they wanted to starting looking for a place to open a restaurant of their own.

Rani said she saw a listing for the former Michael's Restaurant on Facebook Marketplace and drove two hours just to see it in April. The couple ultimately decided to buy the space from the former owners, moved to the Bloomington-Normal area in July, and then opened Rice N Spice on Sept. 28.

"I think this is the first Indian restaurant in downtown Bloomington," Rani said, adding that customers seem to appreciate their investment in downtown.

Popular menu items at Rice N Spice include the garlic mozzarella naan; momos, which are Nepalese dumplings; and sizzlers, which are their tandoori dishes served on hot plates. Tandoori dishes are typically meat-based and cooked in a tandoor or clay oven. Rani said they call them sizzlers, because the dishes are "sizzling hot," and the sound often catches customers' attention when they are served in the dining area.

Rice N Spice also offers an occasional lunch buffet, which they previously had on holidays like Halloween and Diwali. They plan to offer Thanksgiving and Christmas buffets as well.

Rani said a popular buffet item is the Panipuri, which is a deep-fried, breaded and hollow spherical shell filled with a combination of potato, onion and chickpea. Rani said "Panipuri," means water and food, so they are essentially water bowls.

She said they are considering making Panipuri a permanent menu option since several customers have requested it.

"People are coming back, ... like regular guests, and they are bringing families and friends," Rani said. "So, I love to hear those comments from the people when they are very, very happy, and it's makes us motivated to keep doing what we are doing."

Rani said they plan to debut a breakfast menu in the next two weeks, which will be offered 7-10 a.m. Tuesday through Sunday in addition to normal lunch and dinner hours.

The regular Rice N Spice menu include appetizers, like momos, pakora, samosas, chicken lollipops and paneer; soups, salads and sides; various curries and specialties made with egg, goat, lamb, chicken or vegetarian; a few seafood options, like amritsari macchi fried fish, prawn angare and fish tikka; desserts, tea and coffee; biryani and other rice entrees; various breads; and cold drinks, including lassi, soda and lemonade.

There are several vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options throughout the menu, as well.

Tamang noted the key difference between North Indian and South Indian cuisine is North Indian food tends to be more rich and creamy, with strong flavors but typically mild to medium in spice level.

"You can feel that taste and aroma, everything, so you can tell it is good food," he said.

People who are not familiar with Indian food sometimes assume it is all very spicy, but Tamang said that's not the case.

Rani added that she's heard from a lot of Americans that they enjoy Indian food especially in the winter because a lot of the meals have ginger, garlic, cinnamon and other spices that help make your body warm, but not in a spicy-hot way.

She said they are looking forward to growing at Rice N Spice but are focused on the Washington Street restaurant before they consider additional locations or expansion in the future.

"We try to do our best with good food with the good service and with the good attitude, so people can be happy and stay connected with us and keep coming back," Rani said.

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