I stayed the night in Brattleboro, VT during my trip out to New England a few weeks ago. I don't know why I chose Brattleboro, but it was about 50 miles from my last appointment of the day. However, it was about an hour away from my first appointment the next morning down in Springfield, MA. In hindsight, I probably should have stayed in Springfield, but it was my first trip ever to Vermont and I wanted to take in some of the sights. Turns out that Brattleboro wasn't all that exciting and it also proved that it didn't have a lot of dining options on a Tuesday night. I had gone out to a restaurant on the outskirts of town to have dinner, but that place was closed. As was another place I had looked up that was downtown. On the way back out to my hotel on the north side of town, I passed an Indian restaurant that was tucked inside a hotel/inn. I decided to cut my losses and go get Indian food at India Masala House.
Madan Rathore is a veteran of the restaurant industry opening an Indian restaurant in Greenfield, MA in that mid-1990's. Rathore found that a number of people were driving from Keene, NH - about a 45 minute drive - to get the Indian food at his restaurant. In the early 2000's, Rathore decided to open a second location in Keene. Rathore moved to Keene and managed the restaurant there while a partner oversaw the restaurant in Greenfield.
By 2016, the Keene location was going strong, but the Greenfield location began to have problems with local health officials over a series of citations the restaurant received. Finally, the city shut down the Greenfield location and Rathore had a falling out with his partner over the ordeal.
Wanting a fresh start, Rathore sold his restaurant in Keene in 2017. He looked at opportunities in Santa Fe, NM, as well on Long Island, but he felt at home in the area and he started to look at spaces in Brattleboro to open a restaurant. He hired a young chef who specialized in French and Italian cuisine and in May of 2018 he opened India Masala House as a fusion restaurant/bar in the Quality Inn in Brattleboro.
Less than 5 months later, India Masala House was forced to move after the temporary closure of the Quality Inn. Just down the road was another hotel - the Colonial Inn & Spa - that had a restaurant attached to it, Tavern at the Inn. That business had just closed, so the move for Rathore was a natural. The new India Masala House opened in October of 2018.
The pandemic weighed heavily on a number of restaurants in Southern Vermont and the chef who contributed the French and Italian items to the menu left India Masala House. Rathore went back to the basics and went with an Indian-exclusive menu. And that menu continues to this day.
It was just after 6 p.m. on a sunny New England day when I pulled into India Masala House located along Putney Road just south of the intersection of Vermont Highway 9 which takes you across the Connecticut River into New Hampshire. (see map) I went inside and the place was empty. There were a few people on the patio in the back, but out of the sun it was a bit cool outside. The main dining room was somewhat elegant with wooden beams and supports along the ceiling. The late afternoon sun was streaming in the windows adding long shadows in the dining area.
Moments after I walked in, a lady came out from the bar area. She asked me where I'd like to sit and I sort of looked around the dining room, then I looked into the bar. "You have your choice," she said cheerfully. "I'll be your server wherever you decide to sit." I told her that I would sit at the bar and she said, "Oh, that makes my job easier because I'm the bartender, too!"
After I sat at the bar and she gave me a menu, she told me her name was Cindy and later on she told me that she had grown up in Brattleboro, but moved to Austin, TX just out of high school in the early 80's. "Austin grew too quickly for me," she said. "I moved back here after living there six years and been here ever since." I told her that I had a couple friends who had moved to Austin in the early 80's and moved out about the same time because they felt it had grown so quickly.
The great thing about India Masala House is that they had a number of craft beers from the state of Vermont to choose from. Brews from the Rutland Beer Works in Rutland, VT, Upper Pass Beer Company in South Royalton, VT, and Switchback Brewing Company from Burlington, VT were on their beer menu that was on a chalk board next to the bar. India Masala House had a hazy IPA from the Fiddlehead Brewing Company in Shelburne, VT on tap and I got one of those to start out.
The kitchen was directly behind the bar, so the smell of Indian spices was wafting through the air. Man, I was getting hungry just from the smells coming from the kitchen. India Masala House had chicken, lamb and goat dishes - all of which are locally sourced for freshness. They had biryani dishes on the menu as well as Chicken Tikka Tandoori.
I'm not much of a fan of goat for my Indian food (I have a former colleague who loves goat, but I can't bring myself to try it), but I do like lamb. But the only lamb they had on the menu was lamb saagwala - which is good, but I wasn't up for lamb and cooked creamy spinach that evening; and the lamb curry - which I did consider, but finally passed on in favor of the butter chicken. It featured large chunks of chicken breast in a creamy and slightly spicy (as I ordered) butter/tomato sauce. I also ordered a side of the garlic/cilantro naan bread and Cindy asked me if I wanted butter on my naan. I was sort taken aback by the question - I thought that all naan bread had butter brushed on it. But, then again, maybe not. Well, of course I wanted butter on my naan bread!
The chicken chunks were tender and easy to cut with a fork. The butter/tomato sauce had a slight kick, but didn't overpower the overall flavor of the sauce or chicken. I used the naan bread to dip into the sauce and it was delicious, as well. The food was a complete "spot-hitter" for me at a point where I needed some comfort food during my week in New England.
Having limited dining options in Brattleboro, VT that evening turned out to be somewhat of a blessing as I probably wouldn't have gone to India Masala House and had what was a very good Indian meal. The butter chicken was delicious and I was happy that they had a slew of craft beers from Vermont breweries to choose from. Cindy turned out to be a fun person and was a very good server. While I don't know if I will ever be back to stay in Brattleboro in the future, I'll never forget the great meal I had at India Masala House.