Cafe Django classy, comfortable

After a long weekend of performing, partying and holding auditions for a play, my friends and I wanted to have a nice relaxing dinner together in a comfortable, yet classy establishment. Cafe Django was the perfect match for us.\nLow lights, candlelit tables and soft jazz combine to create the sultry ambiance of this cafe, which takes its name from the great jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt.\nAlthough it was a low-key evening at the cafe that night, Cafe Django has live jazz Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings in dinning room.\nThe menu is as diverse as the jazz idiom -- curries, Thai, Tibetan, pasta, sandwiches and many appetizers provide a great mix of flavors certain to cater to anyone's taste.\nMy companions and I began with Momo, Tibetan fried beef dumplings, mozzarella sticks and Kimchi, a Tibetan dish of curried and spiced cabbage. I tried the soup of the night: creamy mushroom. Each appetizer was brought out promptly and ready to be devoured.\nThe Momo was, according to my companion, quite good, so good that he finished them off himself. The same sentiment went for the mozzarella sticks. The Kimchi was spicy and treacherous if eaten too quickly. But it was a nice beginning. The creamy mushroom soup was not too thick, too thin or too creamy. Rather, it was a harmonious blend of broth, flavor and mushroom pieces.\nFor dinner entrees, our choices were diverse. I ordered Django Curry, a dish of curried beef, chicken, shrimp and vegetables over rice. My friends tried a five-cheese tortellini with chicken and alfredo sauce (marinara is also available) and seafood pasta with alfredo sauce.\nThe curry was similar to the ambiance of the cafe, spicy yet smooth and subtle. The plate was full, with rice and curry covering every inch of the plate. The tortellini and seafood pasta came in full bowls with a ring of flat bread around it. The pastas were flavorful and filling. All sauces at Cafe Django are made in the restaurant, including their alfredo sauce.\nAfter dinner, my companions and I sat and enjoyed the low lighting, the conversation and the music of Ella Fitzgerald, Reinhardt and Louis Armstrong. In addition to being a jazz cafe, Cafe Django also has an extensive coffee and nonalcoholic juice and drink bar. \nFor dessert, my companion tried a mango smoothie and the fresh fruit sculpture. I had an almond biscotti and a chocolate shake. The fruit sculpture came out as if it was the highlight of the restaurant. It was a work of art made of cantaloupe, grape, orange and banana served with slivers of cheese. For a few moments, all we could do was look at it.\nThe almond biscotti was a tasty sliced pastry, almost like a cookie. But the chocolate shake was by far the best chocolate shake I've ever had. Although the waitress swore that it was made no different from most milkshakes, it had sweetness that I've not tasted in a normal milkshake. The only explanation I received was that they don't use a normal type of chocolate syrup, but they wouldn't tell me which one they do use.\nWhether one goes to Cafe Django to have a cup of coffee and do homework, have dinner or listen to jazz and have a glass of wine, it is one of the most comfortable and classy restaurants in town.