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| - 1) After reading these steps, immediately go see Ancila.
2) Eat here, often.
3) Repeat.
We decided to try Ancila's based on the 5-star reviews from 4 people. That isn't exactly a ringing endorsement but it seemed the best option.
We parked out front on a frigid, blustery Tuesday evening and joked there was not a soul in the place except for the warm, friendly woman behind the register. I asked if we needed reservations and we laughed for a minute before picking out table.
There were no menus, no place settings, and the place was sparsely decorated, no frills. The woman behind the register approached to ask how spicy we liked our food, from 1-10.
She explained 7-8 was fairly spicy for Indian and that 9-10 is almost too hot to taste the food through. We both settled on 8.
Next, she asked what styles we liked. My friend mentioned vindaloo; phaal was the first thing in my head. Our host informed us she would create a couple of dishes and solicited protein choices. Chicken for me, goat for my friend.
After walking into the kitchen and not reappearing for a few minutes, we discovered she was also cooking our food. We had a couple of beers and some papadum and in 15-20 minutes, our food was done.
It was phenomenal! The goat dish was a coconut-based dish from Southern India and the chicken was in a fiery tomato base. Our host/waitress/chef quipped the goat dish was Muslim while the chicken was Christian and we laughed about negotiating peace through food.
Our multi-talented host was Ancila, owner and namesake. My friend asked if she recently opened, hence the lack of customers.
Ancila replied she prefers word-of-mouth advertising and desires to keep the dining experience personal and unique. It is.
If you're still reading, stop. Go there. You won't regret it. Oh, one tip from Ancila: call ahead and talk to her about your spice preferences, the sauce preparation takes a while and if she can get started before you arrive, you won't wait as long for your food.
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