Tampilkan postingan dengan label Indian. Tampilkan semua postingan
Tampilkan postingan dengan label Indian. Tampilkan semua postingan

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Soup ‘n Wraps – Eden Prairie, MN

I’ve heard (from people I trust) that there’s this new amazing Indian fusion restaurant. But it’s filled with wraps and bowls. Yes, my intrigue-level was ramped up very quickly. I finally got a chance to sneak there (despite missing out on multiple invites I’m now kicking myself for). When Fire Wally told me this place is in a strip mall, I knew it was going to be good.

When I walked in, the woman asked if she could help me, and I confessed I hadn’t been here. I recommend doing this, frankly, so you get the full treatment and don’t miss out on something amazing. She explained all of the options. I could get a bowl - which I’m pretty sure is a Styrofoam to-go container with two entrees and rice; you can get a “business lunch” – which is kind of a sampler platter; or you can get two wraps with any ingredients inside. The very patient and kind woman explained the vegetarian options and also the meat options. They’ve got palak paneer, various dals (lentils), aloo gobi, butter chicken, chicken reshmi, tikka masala, lamb curry, and chicken 65. I don’t know if I’ve ever told you, but chicken 65 is my favorite of all the numbered chickens. I needed some chicken 65.

They also had samosas, which I almost got. And a samosa wrap – I can’t even picture what that would be!. And chai. And Mango Lassi. They apparently have everything (except kheer). This place is wonderful.

I decided to go with two wraps. Each one with different fillings. These aren’t small wraps, either. They’re 8 inch crosses between naan and tortillas. I don’t know what they’re called, but they’re plenty big and hearty. I got one with chicken 65 and one with lamb curry. They asked if I wanted cabbage – yes, I did. They asked if I wanted sauce – yes, I did. One was a chili paste, one was a chimichurri, and one was an unnamed dark brown sauce. They warned me the chicken 65 was medium hot, but I had them add the chili paste anyway. They wrap it right in front of you, so you can see what you’re getting. Then they give you a small side dish of yogurt in case you need to dip your wrap into something cooling. The whole thing came to $7.50. That’s amazing.

The lamb curry wrap was really quite good. The wrap didn’t get soggy and held up, even with my erratic dipping into the yogurt sauce. No bones, a touch of cinnamon, and some heat from the chili paste. Wonderful!

The chicken 65 wrap was even better!!! Wonderfully flavorful chicken bites with no gristle at all. It had some pretty solid heat, so if you’re not a heat person, don’t get the chili paste. I loved every bit of this thing. I even considered getting another pair of chicken 65 wraps. It was a tough call, frankly. When I got up to clear my tray into the garbage, I warned the staff (the chef had come out to chat) that I would for sure be back. I can’t wait to tell everyone about this place. And, they extended their hours so they’re open for dinner most nights, as well. I’m not sure what the fusion part of this place is (maybe wraps), but this is one of the best lunches I’ve had in a really long time. Hit this place up as soon as you can.

6403 City West Parkway
Eden Prairie, MN 55344






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Trishna – London, UK

After doing some research on restaurants to check out in London (there’s only a few thousand, obviously), I kept seeing Trishna on the list. It’s an upscale-affordable, but not snooty, Indian restaurant in the Marylebone area. I had walked past it on my evening stroll a few times previous, and knew I needed to check it out.

The inside is about fifteen feet wide, with six tables on the main floor, and then an unknown number of tables upstairs (I didn’t check it out). The staff here make sure you're very well taken care of. They take – and return - your coat and call cabs for you. They make sure your wine is chilled and all of your glasses don’t run out.

The menu has a tasting menu, which I think I was outside the window of availability (only served the tasting until maybe 7 or 8pm), but all of the individual items on the menu, from starters, to mains and sides, were all well described and sounded delicious.

I decided on the Dal Chawal Achar to start with – yellow lentil and rice dumplings, yogurt, papad, and pickle. For the main course, after much deliberation, I decided on the Andhra Lamb Masala with curry leaves and coastal seasonings. I also ordered a bottle of Pinot Bianco Quercus from Goriška Brda vineyards. Not a fancy bottle by any means, but I was sure it was going to be good. (I was right, for the record...)

Even before my food came out, they brought a basket full of puffed rice crisps to the table with a mango chutney and a spicy tomato chutney. Both were really good to snack on while waiting for my order to arrive. I hadn’t intended to eat the entire basket, but I looked down and it was empty. Whoops!

The appetizer was fantastic. Even better than I expected it to be. The balls were light and fluffy and went really well with the yogurt it was perched upon. The green seasoning, like a pesto, on top of each of the balls had great flavor, as well. The pickled carrots had an unusual cross between mustard and wasabi spices to them, but they were fantastic.

The lamb masala was also mind-blowing. It fell apart when you touched it with the fork – which I know is not easy to do with lamb. These folks at Trishna are experts, however. The dish is served in a small crock, so it looks like there’s not a lot there, but it’s an illusion. There is PLENTY of meat in that crock. The seasonings and curry leaves added some top-notch flavor to the already tender meat. I loved this thing. You can order it with rice or with naan bread, and I’m glad I ordered the naan. It was two different kinds of naan in the basket. One ad black sesame seeds in it and the other was a bit garlicky – perfect. I know British people call the wrong things “biscuits”, so they don’t understand the meaning of “sopping it up with a biscuit”, but that’s absolutely what I did with the naan. The crock and my plate looked like they had just come out of the dish washer.

I wasn’t going to, but I totally caved at the end of the meal and got some kheer for dessert. It’s my favorite. If you haven’t had it before, it’s sort of a cross between rice pudding and tapioca, made with rice and condensed milk and cardamom. There’s was served in a beautiful brass pan with all kinds of seasonings on the top of it – which I’m not used to seeing. Now every kheer I get from here out will be compare to the kheer at Trishna.

At one point, I had to use the restroom (or the “loo”) and when I got back, the server had taken my not-yet-empty wine glass. The manager noticed and came over very apologetically and brought me a new (and FULL) glass of something similar. He felt bad that it had been removed and he was going to make it up to me. Which they did, when they brought out these small bite-sized brownie pieces and another full glass of dessert wine. The small desserts were pretty good, but whenever this happens, I wish D.Rough were here, since she appreciate brownies and chocolate-y dessert so much more than I do. You would have loved these, D.Rough!! I also made sure neither the server nor the bus person got into trouble for removing my glass. It wasn’t a big deal at all and I didn’t want anyone to take any heat for the simple mix-up.

I love the variety of people in this restaurant. I heard conversations in French, Italian, Russian/Ukranian, Indian, and English. It’s so good, people from every place in the world love it. I can’t say enough about the staff - they took care of everything. There was a group of French guys flirting with the 23 year old server (I overheard them asking her how old she was) and she took it like a champ. Just smiled and push them aside to wait on other tables. Well done. The manager made sure I was taken care of, well beyond the point most places would have stopped. Truly. A very good job. For an affordable restaurant, it was an upscale experience.

Indian food in the US can be really cheap (buffet-style) or a little bit fancy. I’ve never been to a really nice Indian restaurant like this before. It changed my mind on what it could be in the US. I’m a big fan of Trishna. I’ll likely round up some other people to come here on subsequent trips back to London.

Top 5 things about Trishna
1) Andhra Lamb Masala
2) Dal Chawal Achar
3) Super service
4) Menu has some really delicious sounding items, including some unusual game hens
5) Kheer

Bottom 5 things
1) Wish I had made it in time for the various tasting menus
2) I was sooooooo full after dinner, thankfully, I walked back to the hotel instead of using the tube
3) No pakora, which I was hoping for (everything else made up for it, though, I promise)
4) It’s a little pricey, but I think the cost is justified by the experience in this case
5) I’m ruined for Indian food at every other place now that I’ve had the best here at Trishna

Trishna
15-17 Blandford Street
Marylebone Village
London W1U 3DG

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Hot Indian Foods - Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis, MN

D.Rough and I decided to meet for a quick dinner before we headed to various commitments we had agreed to separately. Thankfully, she's a genius and wanted to go to Hot Indian Foods in the Midtown Global Market. We had heard about these Induritos (basically Indian-themed burritos) and had been dying to try them.

Her and I share pretty well, so we decided to get a Curry Lamb Indurito and a Vegan Channa Indurito. We also caved and decided to get the IndoFrites (yup, you guessed it - Indian-flavored french fries). The people working there were super helpful and gave us samples of the insides of the burritos so we could decide. Really awesome and helpful.


The Curry Lamb Indurito was really quite flavorful and D.Rough liked this one the best. Lots of Lamb meat and plenty of other filling. This one held it's shape/construction really well while eating.

The Vegan Channa Indurito was my favorite. Tons of veggies (duh) and filled with my favorite - chick peas. The thing was a little juicy and became messy quickly - not a complaint at all, just commenting. It simply makes you eat the thing faster. Absolutely amazing.

The fries were the real winner of the show. Super breaded and had both sweet potato and white potatoes. The seasoning on them was perfect and the spicy mayo dip that came with them was incredible. We should have gotten our own orders of these, and probably will next time. Make sure you get these.

Delicious dinner and I can't wait to go back and try the other Induritos (which also come in bowl form, if that makes you feel any better). Wonderful little shop in the Midtown Global Market (and also operates a food truck around the cities).

Top 5 things about Hot Indian Foods
1. Indo-Frites
2. Vegan Channa Indurito
3. Curry Lamb Indurito
4. Amazingly friendly and helpful staff
5. The mobile food trucks comes to YOU

Bottom 5 things
1. Nothing I can think of...

www.hotindianfoods.com

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Gorkha Palace – Minneapolis, MN

Gorkha Palace is one of those places I’ve driven by a lot, but never during lunch time since I work nowhere near the place. D.Rough and I decided to meet for lunch this week and despite planning to go to another place in Northeast, when we drove past Gorkha Palace, I knew we needed to eat there and today was the day.

The inside is smaller than I imagined, mainly because the building it occupies also contains multiple other businesses. But there is plenty of seating available. It filled up almost entirely during the lunch hour while we were there, but there’s quick turnover with an Indian food buffet, so that helps.

The buffet itself looks smaller than others I had been to, but don’t be fooled, the portions on the buffet are smaller, which means they can fit more items on the buffet, and they are fresh more often – both good things. They had these lentil crisps that looked like tortilla chips, but tasted completely different and also these Indian fry-bread things that were delicious. We didn’t see any naan on the buffet, but were still satisfied to eat the above mentioned two bread-like items.

The other items were a mix of vegetarian, vegan, and carnivore dishes, even a curried hardboiled egg dish and broccoli pakora. I filled my plate.

Then I filled my plate again.

Then I went and got some Indian-style chicken noodle lentil soup. Decent, but I wanted there to be more seasoning and pop to it. I’d eat it again, though. I also ate it so fast, I forgot to take a photo.

We had a great meal and got out of there pretty quickly so we could both get back to work. While Gorkha Palace isn’t a ground breaking Indian restaurant, it’s really good and you won’t be disappointed at all. The server was really nice and made sure we were happy with our meals, which we were.

I have trouble doing top 5’s for Indian buffets because I can’t ever remember the names of the dishes I’m eating. They’re all good though. Does that help? haha

www.gorkhapalace.com

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Funky Desi Indian Restaurant and Lounge – Moline, IL

D.Rough were in Illinois visiting my family for Thanksgiving and thought we’d try out a new Indian restaurant in downtown Moline. I remember this place being some sort of dance club or banquet hall back in the day, so I was curious what it would look like inside. Plus the name includes “Restaurant and Lounge”, so my curiosity was piqued.

The inside is a weird cross between a nice Indian-decorated restaurant, a neon-lit dance club, and a sports bar (sooo many TVs above the bar). I’m not sure what the designer was going for here, but they’ve covered many bases here – I’m not sure that’s a good thing. But this also allows for plenty of seating – booths along the walls, tables in the dance floor area, and a nice private large dinner table for large groups in the front. It isn’t gaudy, it’s just confusing inside.

We went and checked the buffet out and it looked really good, so we both went with that plan. There were plenty of things up there, as well. Too many to name, and I’d butcher the names of the things if I tried. Veggie pakora, butter chicken, tandoori chicken, matter paneer, and a bunch of other things. I loaded up my first plate and when we got back to the table, the server lady had brought a nice basket of naan bread.

The food was above average, compared to many Indian buffets I’ve eaten at. The paneer was quite good and there was also a noodle dish that I didn’t catch the name of (I’ve never seen noodles at an Indian place, so this one stuck in my head), but it was very delicious. It wasn’t very spicy, but had good flavor. I wish the vegetable pakora hadnt’ been in a covered chafing dish, since that makes it soggy (not that it stopped me from eating about ten of them). The butter chicken was also above average. Overall, a pretty good showing from this restaurant.

I even had to go back up for a second round…. No one is surprised by this, I’m sure.

I generally try not to call people out on customer service unless it’s bad, but there was a younger server there with plugs in his ears (behind the bar a lot, so he may have been a bartender) who crossed a lot of lines with customers. I know HE felt he was being sociable and fun, but he did a few questionable things, including asking two Indian gentlemen why they weren’t drinking after he had tried to push some cocktails on them at lunch. “Is it for religious reasons?” – he ACTUALLY asked these guys this and then wouldn’t let it go. These guys were not regulars or anything, there was no camaraderie here, just invasiveness. Then, he badmouthed our server to the table behind them, saying she didn’t know how to do things and that was why she was screwing up. It was all a bit more than he should have been saying. It wasn’t funny, it was inappropriate and made people feel uncomfortable. Maybe we should have said something at the time. I wasn’t in the mood to be confrontational. If the food wasn’t so good, I may have, just to vent, but I was enjoying my lunch.

Aside from the too-many-televisions-showing-sports and “that” guy, the food was decent and fresh and plentiful. And from the looks of the DJ equipment, speakers, and spinning neon light-y things, I’m guessing it turns into an equally weird dance club at around 8 or 9, when the cocktail happy hours start.

Top 5 things about Funky Desi
1. Butter chicken
2. Matter paneer
3. Our server girl was extremely nice and very competent should not have been bad-mouthed
4. The buffet area was really classy and clean
5. The unnamed noodle dish

Bottom 5 things
1. Invasive and inappropriate server/bartender
2. Odd combinations of environments
3. Too many televisions for a non-sports-bar
4. Covered chafing dishes make battered food soggy
5. Some of the booths were taken up with DJ equipment, which we thought was odd…

www.funkydesi.com

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Bukhara Indian Bistro – Wayzata, MN


 
I’ve been in the mood for Indian food for a few weeks now and I finally managed to buckle down a day to have lunch with M. and Trash Giant. I had read about Bukhara on the internet and didn’t see a lot of reviews. It was close enough to hit during the lunch hour, so I made them meet me there.


It’s got a lunch buffet, and that’s what we needed. They’ve got a pretty good sized buffet with many options for vegetarians (like Trash). We all loaded up our plates and headed back to gorge ourselves. The servers had brought a basket of naan to our table for us, so you really don’t need to get any from the buffet, but you can if you want. I did, only because I was unsure if my dining companions had ordered a special kind of naan and weren’t sharing.


There are a lot of things to choose from. Chickpea battered fried cheese, fish pakora, Matar Paneer, Paneer Makhani, Beef in a curry sauce, Chicken Tikka Masala, Tandori Chicken, yellow lentils, tofu masala, biryani rice, and a few other things I can’t remember off the top of my head.
I started with the deep fried cheese, but I was immediately disappointed with the lack of salt in the cheese. I really love chickpea batter, but if whatever it’s coating isn’t delicious too, it’s a waste. There wasn’t much flavor in the cheese, sadly. The paneers were both just a little bland. Im not sure if they’ve been sitting there a while, or just not seasoned enough for my palate, but I couldn’t tell the difference between many of the dishes. In fact, even the vegetarian couldn't tell the difference betwen the tofu and the cheese. The curry beef was one of the better tasting dishes, as were the yellow lentils (and those generally don’t have much flavor at most places). The naan was fine, but I think that’s difficult to mess up – it’s basically a mechanism for me to scoop things, and sop up juices on my plate afterwards anyway.

I tried a few different things when I went up the second time, but it was pretty much the same result (you can see the missing spot where I dove into my beef curry before remembering to take a photo – hahahaha). The second plate was also pretty lack luster.

I finished the meal with some kheer (which thankfully, they had). It was fine – nothing special, but it isn’t a hugely flavorful dessert anyway. I liked it just fine though (both bowls that I ate…).

I’m not planning any trips back here to Bukhara anytime soon. It wasn’t the best showing, even for a buffet. There are other Indian buffets I need to try!

Top 5 things about Bukhara
1. Beef Curry
2. Yellow Lentils
3. Kheer
4. Super-fast service
5. Many items to try

Bottom 5 things
1. Chickpea battered cheese – paneer pakora
2. Matar Paneer
3. Paneer Makhani
4. Tandori Chicken
5. It’s kind of a pain to get to

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