Want to try Indian food...what is the best restaurant(BR) and...

While not necessarily indigenous to India, chicken tikka masala is a safe starting point.

THere are no really great Indian options in BR but the best of the bunch is

Bay Leaf Indian Cuisine
Address: 5160 S Sherwood Forest Blvd,
Baton Rouge, LA 70816
Hours: Open Sunday 11:30AM–9:30PM
Monday 11AM–2:15PM, 5–9:30PM
Tuesday 11AM–2:15PM, 5–9:30PM
Wednesday 11AM–2:15PM, 5–9:30PM
Thursday 11AM–2:15PM, 5–9:30PM
Friday 11AM–2:15PM, 5–9:30PM
Saturday 11:30AM–9:30PM

Phone: (225) 291-4250

If you are unfamiliar to the cuisine I recommend starting
with the lunch buffet so you can try a bit of everything.

One of my favorite Indian dishes from pretty much any place is Lamb Rogan Josh.

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Chicken vindaloo

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while it is definitely an excellent dish, it might light you on fire and burn from both ends. I would save it for another trip once you are accustomed to the spice level and over all flavor of Indian cuisine.

I find the curries from India's have way too much cream and therefore not as appetizing.

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ETA: A Mango Lassi is just an Orange Julius, right? (obviously with different fruit)

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No

Mango lassi has yogurt and I think a julius is just regular milk

If you're going with a date or a friend I would recommend getting an app like one of the veggie samplers and each ordering a different dish, one vegetable, one with protein like chicken or lamb.

The eggplant dish baingan bharta there is really good.

Definitely order some Naan or an order or poori is kinda cool just for the presentation

I say go to the lunch buffet. Almost every American Indian restaurant has one. You can nibble without committing to a whole dish of something you may not be in to.

Tandoori Shrimp, Naan bread garlic, and ask for the red chili sauce. I make little naan shrimp tacos with the chili sauce. Their rice is good as well.

Bay Leaf on Sherwood is a great starting point. Really good food and clean restaurant. Go for the lunch buffet so you're able to try a big variety to figure out what you like. It has a lot of spice in just about everything, but I don't mean that everything is hot. They just use a lot of pretty powerful flavors, while there's also a good bit that is.

Butter Chicken is a pretty safe starting point but don't be afraid to try something with goat if they have it. A dark goat curry is something delicious.

India's on Essen is also a good place to try, but I recommend Bay Leaf to start with as it's probably the best.