Carol DeptollaMilwaukee Journal Sentinel

Jul. 25--Its name means peacock, the colorful national bird of India. But Mayura Indian Restaurant isn't as showy as you might expect -- the owners let the delicious food, not the decor, strut its stuff.

Certainly, Mayura is in a pleasant space in a newer strip mall on Farwell Ave. Natural light streams in from large windows facing the street; the walls are a warm, buttery color and the tablecloths burgundy -- not the iridescent blues and greens of a peacock. The modern pendant lights are about as showy as it gets.

All this means you don't have to spend much time gaping at the 90-seat restaurant. So turn your focus to the plate. Start with sev batata poori ($4.95), and you'll be transfixed.

This grab-and-eat appetizer is typical chaat, or Indian street food. More than a half-dozen small, rounded wheat-flour shells, delicate and crisp, cradled chickpeas, cubes of potato and bits of red onion. Yogurt and tamarind chutney drizzled over the top gave the dish a sweet tang, while further crunch came from the sev, crisp chickpea-flour noodles. I generously offered the last one to my dining companions but selfishly wished no one would take it.

Appealing, full flavors and well-prepared foods marked most of the dishes I tried at Mayura, which opened Dec. 27. It's owned by Manjit Singh and Laxman Kailas, who also own Taste of India in Brookfield. The menu is shorter than at Taste of India, but I found plenty to like, including a wide variety of vegetarian options.

I was taken with Mayura's uncommon seafood samosa ($6.95 for two), as well. These fried triangular turnovers held bits of seasoned shrimp and mild fish, with a slight heat.

Lighter in substance but not in flavor was a chunky tomato cilantro soup ($3.50), made potent with cumin seed and cloves.

Other appetizers include chicken mint malai kebab ($11.95), marinated in a creamy mint mixture and baked in the super-hot clay oven, the tandoor. The mild flavor was good, but the boneless pieces of white meat were on the dry side; fortunately, it was served with a yogurt dipping sauce.

If you have a fear of fire, you will be safe at Mayura. Dishes can be ordered mild, medium or hot. The mild dishes I tried were truly mild, without even a hint of heat; they weren't least-incendiary-mild, as you sometimes find at other restaurants.

Vindaloo often is among the hotter dishes on an Indian restaurant's menu. I ordered Mayura's goat vindaloo ($13.95), and requested it hot. "Are you sure?" the server asked. Uh-oh, I thought. "Yes," I replied.

I expected a fire-throwing heat but got something substantially less than that. Still, it was plenty spicy, and the goat meat -- served on the bone, in a sauce with large pieces of potato -- was tender and mildly flavored.

A dish from the south of India was a hit at my table: Chettinad chicken ($13.95). Coconut milk and grated coconut thickened and flavored the sauce that bathed the tender, boneless chicken pieces, and fresh curry leaves added a bright note.

Lamb has a presence on the menu, and both dishes I tasted were a success: chunks of tender lamb with roasted, mashed eggplant ($13.95) and seekh kebab ($13.95), seasoned minced lamb baked on skewers in the tandoor.

Seafood has its place, too. Machhi masala ($13.95) features either tilapia or catfish on any given night, our server said. The filleted pieces were marinated in yogurt, cooked in a mild curry sauce and remained nicely firm.

Vegetarians have a dozen choices from Mayura's menu, including two I thoroughly enjoyed: mellow, creamy palak panir ($11.95), finely chopped spinach with cubes of springy, mild homemade cheese, and the buttery stew of dal makhani ($9.95), dotted with tomato pieces and flavored distinctly with cumin and cardamom. The menu describes the stew as kidney beans and black beans, but they appeared to be black lentils instead.

Most of the main dishes are served with rice pullao, basmati rice made even more fragrant with the addition of cumin seeds, but you'll also want to order steaming hot, unleavened bread to sop up the full-flavored sauces.

Plain nan is available, but I was tempted and won over by a robust garlic nan ($2.95), which I could smell before I saw it, and a refreshing ginger nan ($2.95). The tasty Mayura special nan ($3.95) combined those elements and then some, adding potatoes and onion to garlic and ginger.

Among desserts, the house-made mango ice cream ($4) with nuts was luscious, tasting very much like fresh mango. Faluda, another ice cream dessert, is based on the traditional Indian beverage, combining vanilla ice cream interspersed with sev, the chickpea-flour vermicelli, and rose syrup. Think rice pudding, but with noodles and ice cream standing in for rice and custard.

Service was polite, knowledgeable and largely efficient, aside from a couple of gaffes.

The bread we ordered was forgotten, or nearly so, on all three visits (though the last server noticed before we told him), and we ended up waiting for our check on the least-busy night. Servers were diligent about refilling water glasses, and drinks orders were taken quickly after we were seated.

Mayura has a full bar and some wines, but I liked an Indian beer with dinner, such as Flying Horse ($6.95 for an oversize, 22-ounce bottle) or Kingfisher ($4.25), or a cold yogurt lassi ($2.95) to douse the heat. A cup of weakly spiced milky masala tea ($1.75) paled in comparison with other chai teas I've had.

It was the rare case of missing flavor in meals that were full of punch and redolent with cumin, coriander, cinnamon and the other spices of Indian cooking.

On the way out, from a small bowl at the corner of the bar, help yourself to mukhwas, a mix of fennel seed, candied fennel seed and shredded coconut. Pour a spoonful into your hand and pop it into your mouth. It's an Indian breath freshener and one last palate-pleasing jolt as you leave Mayura.