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I love Indian food. But keep in mind that India is a large country and the cuisine varies depending on region. And much like many Chinese restaurants here, some Indian restaurants serve mostly the best known dishes and those dishes most acceptable to the American pallet and do not necessarily cook from scratch. I tend to like “ethic” restaurants where a good number of the diners are of that same ethnicity – that’s typically a good indication that the food is good, fresh, made from scratch and authentic. One of my favorite Thai restaurants in Baltimore for instance was a gathering place for the local Thai expats – and the food was outstanding, the service excellent.

Personally I like Lamb Korma, it’s not too spicy as in “hot” (although I also like spicy and hot food) and I once had a very tasty goat curry at an Indian buffet, although I would caution that much like many Chinese buffets, Indian buffet restaurants are may not have the same sort of quality as a good sit down restaurant would. Tandoori chicken is also a good dish to try your first time out if you don’t want a dish that is too spicy but I’ve had some very dry Tandoori chicken.

I found this link by Ian Anderson (yes of Jethro Tull) that might be helpful.

http://www.j-tull.com/musicians/iananderson/indian.html

As others have said, tell your server you are new to Indian food and ask for some suggestions telling him or her of your tolerance for hotness, then dive in and enjoy. And please let us know how it went.

BTW, I currently work with a gal who was originally from India and she sometimes brings in home cooked dishes for me to try, mostly vegetarian although she does eat chicken and fish occasionally – very yummy but not what you’d find in most Indian restaurants.