Roz Ka Khana

I’d heard about this place from several folks, mixed reviews since it opened in Dallas about 2 months ago, but a recent review from another foodie friend got us intrigued enough to venture out Friday night for dinner. Located in  the heart of North Dallas, this is a fine dining Indian restaurant, and Dallas has had its share of fine dining Indian restaurants that have unfortunately been short-lived so we didn’t have a lot of expectations to begin with.

The ambiance was quite contemporary and modern, with a full bar and an atypical decor for Indian restaurants which also didn’t really go with the name . Interestingly, the greeters and the waiters were all non-Indian as well, and from what we heard from the owner later, most hailed from London. We started off with some “Nimbu Paani” or fresh lime juice, and ordered samosa for appetizer. Samosa arrived before the Nimbu Paani which was good as we were famished. I have to say it was a pretty good start. The samosas were not re-heated in the microwave, seemed to have been fresh out of the frying pan, and were quite crisp and spiced right. The waiter came by to let us know that the Nimbu Paani was taking some time as it was being “freshly made”. We joked that they had probably gone to buy the fresh limes, but when the Nimbu Paani arrived, we had to eat our words, it was truly fresh and refreshing. So a good start to our dinner.

The menu was a pretty typical, traditional Indian restaurant menu, the usual vegetarian dishes, Dal Makhni, Bhindi fry, and non vegetarian dishes with chicken, lamb and goat. I have to say that when I saw that they had a lunch buffet, I had a biased opinion about what was to come. When a specialty restaurant introduces lunch buffets, I’ve noticed that it somewhat “cheapens” the menu. It’s probably the idea of “big batch” cooking that makes it lose it’s specialty charm. But most Indian restaurants tend to thrive on the concept of lunch buffets which is probably what sustains them.

Anyway back to the food. We ordered pindi chana, bhindi fry, and balti dal along with Laccha Paratha and Alu Kulcha. They asked for spice level of mild, medium, spicy and “Indian hot”. Of course we picked Indian hot and the servers were quite knowledgeable to gauge what we would have liked anyway. The owner soon came by to greet all his guests which also added a nice touch. We learned from him that this was their first restaurant in Dallas though they had been open in New York and New Jersey for a couple of years with the namesake (Mughal in New York and in Edison, NJ). He left us with the comment that he wanted feedback on what he could do to improve on the food . I liked that he was being genuine and open to feedback and criticism – something you don’t find often with restaurant owners and chefs, who are rightfully opinionated. So I was all ready with my food critic hat before the food arrived:). And of course, Girish, who has been to quite a few Indian restaurants in the US, thanks to all his travelling, was all set too to chime in. So we thought he was in for some pretty serious feedback all right:)

To our surprise – and I say that probably because of our low expectations to begin with – our experience was quite good. At the end of it, we would give the food 3 1/2 stars out of 5, 4 for the service and ambiance.
Now on to each of the dishes. I thought the pindi chana and the laccha paratha were the best items of what we ordered. The Balti dal needed some more “kick” to it but was tasty and the Bhindi could have been sauted a little longer.  The best part was when we actually provided this feedback to the owner at the end of our meal. He ordered the kitchen to re-do those dishes and sent us a “to go bag” with the bhindi, dal and a made to order kulcha for us to try at home. And he did take our feedback seriously which we gathered from our lunch the next day.

So overall, I’d say Mughlai was a good experience and we will go back again to try it. Hopefully the restaurant will survive unlike some others in the area. If they continue to strive for improvement like the owner’s mantra seems to be, I think they are here to stay.

We just returned from a 7 day cruise in the Western Mediterranean…7 days of blue and sunny skies,  sun-kissed sands, gourmet food, pampering, lounging on the magnificient Meditteranean Sea with stops in Florence, Naples, Rome, Palma Mallorca. The best part, no phones, no laptops and no access to the world. I dont remember the last time we had ever done that in our grown up lives. I did have some Facebook and Twitter withdrawals as I would have loved to tweet and check in to the amazing places we visited, but in the larger scheme of things, I was so more relaxed and calmer that this was an eye opener in many senses. To top it all, this was all in Spain and Italy, a feast not just for the eyes but for all the senses and for the foodies out there. As you can imagine, this was as much a vacation as it was a culinary fest. Tapas in Spain, Limoncello in Sorrento, Pizza and Gnocchi in Naples with Tiramisu and “Baba”…I was in food heaven.

Our first stop in Madrid was at this vegetarian restaurant called Artemisa. Great reviews from Frommer and Chow hound placed this at the top of my list. Let’s just say it wasn’t a great start to our holiday. They had sime interesting dishes like quinoa burgers and eggplant lasagna like contraptions which were edible. The quinoa burger caught my attention as I thought it was a unique and creative way to use quinoa as an appetizer and in a sandwich. But overall the food was bland and quite overpriced. Almost €100 for the five of us which by far was the most expensive meal during the course of our trip.

Quinoa Burger at Artemisa, an all vegetarian restaurant in Madrid

After a day’s stay in Madrid we reached Barcelona, the city of Picasso, Gaudi, the Segrada Familia, Montesserat, and the Tibidabo. We didn’t get to see all the sights in two days of course, but we did walk around the city to take in the local smells, and tastes. The Market at La Rambla, La Bouqueria was one such. To describe this market on thier own words, “La Boqueria is a gastronomic temple, a place that congregates all the phases in the food chain, from the producers, harvesters, butchers and fishmongers who provide the food, to the individual and professional clients who wander through this magnificent, characteristic maze of traders in charge of the market stalls.”
The pictures don’t do much justice to the lively ambience that exuded from the local markets.

Entrance to La Bouqueria, Barcelona

We boarded the cruise from Barcelona and the first stop after being at sea was in the “architectural” city of Pisa and Florence or Firenze as the locals call it. I don’t mean to be satirical when I use the word architecture and Pisa in one sentence, but we heard an interesting anecdote about the city of Pisa as we were being driven by our driver/guide. Pisa is a University town as the University of Pisa is widely known for its academic excellence. However there is one course that is not offered in this University and that is architecture. Apparently after the Leaning Tower of Pisa became the way it stands today (which is due to the shifting nature of the soil in this part of Tuscany), they decided that architecture was not the city’s panache and excluded the course from the University’s list:). I don’t know if the guide was just being glib but it was an amusing tidbit for a city so well known for its landmark.

I don’t have much to say about Firenze’s culinary offerings and not because there isn’t any, we just didn’t pick the right place to go to eat..the margherita pizza we had in Florence was worse than one I’d had in Texas:) Gelato, however, was amazing. So we knew it wasn’t Florence…it was just our choice of restaurant. The next stop was Rome, and all I can say is that, we didn’t do justice to Rome in one day. There is so much to this city that I will leave any description of Rome and of course it’s culinary delights to a separate post, when we visit Rome again:)

Naples, Sorrento and Positano, our next stops were one of the most beautiful and breathtaking sights as we drove alongside the Amalfi coastline. We stopped at Sorrento and walked through its bustling little street markets that boasted of everything from culinary treasures, olives, olilve oil, pesto, the famous limoncello, and everything else lemon, to clothing and jewelry.

A Lemon Specialty store in Sorrento

Pizza in Naples was actually an itinerary on our list, which we made quite clear to our driver/guide. I’ve got to say he was not only very resourceful but very observant… he obviously knew where to take us. We were driven to this apparently famous restuarant in Naples that sits by the Naples port, Antonio & Antonio, famous for its woodfire grilled pizza, gnocchi and dessert.

I’ve got to admit, this was THE highlight of our trip. I’ve never tasted as fresh a buffalo mozzarella and margharita pizza as this one before. We noticed the Mayor of Napoli (as the locals call the city) exiting this restaurant as we were arriving so we knew we had “arrived” as well:) This wasn’t a very fancy restaurant but had some elegance, nevertheless. Our driver/guide did very well with this recommendation and this was enough for us to tip him well. Can you tell we are all a bunch of foodies in this family?:) Bruschetta, Buffalo Mozzarella Caprese-like dish, and of course Pizza Margherita. We topped this off with their famous melt-in-your-mouth Tiramisu and the famous “baba”.

Napoli Baba

I had not tasted ”baba” before until now and am hooked. These are sponge cake like brioches in syrup ( reminded me slightlyof tres leches but even better) of either rum or limoncello. The one we had at Antonio & Antonio was more like a limoncello syrup and was heavenly. This was by far our best pizza in Italy and probably my best Margherita ever so far. 

And that brings me to the end of this long post on this scrumptious note to savor the flavors that we had experienced. This was definitely a sampler of Europe’s finest gastronomic trips, only to leave us yearning for more. I’m already thinking about a longer vacation to Rome and Naples to take in everything else it has to offer, the sights, the smells and the exquisite tastes.

A very Happy Mom’s day (slightly belated) to all those wonderful loving mothers out there! How did you celebrate this Mother’s Day?

Sutra is the newest Indian restaurant in town owned by the now famous Indian born Dallas chef Vijay Sadhu. I write this with no bias and despite the fact that Chef Sadhu happens to be a good friend of ours and we have been following his restaurant stints ever since he moved to Dallas a few years ago. All I can say is that Vijay Sadhu continues to excel. We have visited Sutra about 3 times now as a family since it opened in February and I’ve been a couple of times from work for lunch, and that says a lot:) There is a dearth of good Indian restaurants in Dallas and Plano, specifically, where Sutra is located and I believe this one is here to stay.

So for Mother’s day, we decided to head to Sutra for their first Mother’s Day lunch/brunch. This was an occasion where Nikhil had two generations to celebrate with, so he and dad decided to take me and my mom out to lunch.

Sutra’s decor is minimalist yet modern, an open kitchen where you can see tandoor bread and kababs being made. You don’t hear the usual sitar or Bollywood music but a more techno vibe. So not your usual Indian ambience, quite fitting for the area it is located in within the Shops at Legacy. An impressive bar greets you as you enter and the cocktails feature a full array of interesting names – Bollywood Martini, Sutra, Jaipur, Tamarind Margarita.

Mother’s Day Lunch included a 3 course menu with champagne for $15.95. A very reasonable price point for all the items included, probably the best price in the area. Appetizer, Salad, Entree and dessert.

We started off with the Cauliflower Kathmandu, the appetizer which has become a staple already. This is the third time I’m trying this Cauliflower Manchurian inspired dish – cauliflower sauted with Asian inspired spices. The spice level was just right for us, and of course, Vijay does know that we love our food spicy:)

The salad came next – mixed greens with mango kachumber and cardamamom vinegerette. Interesting taste though I couldn’t quite taste the dressing. The combination of raw mango pieces with ripe ones added an interesting flavor though.

So far so good. We were already nodding in approval and the entree hadn’t arrived yet. There were a choice of 3 vegetarian entrees to choose from the lunch menu that day – Lauki Lazeez, Baby eggplant with gravy and Malai Kofta. Since we were five of us we ordered all three. Nikhil, being the “brat” he is, asked for Dal Makhni. Yeah, right, was my response…stick to the menu. To my and of course, his pleasant surprise, Chef Sadhu suggested he could get him a sampler of his dal, menu or not. I was impressed though I did mutter that he was spoiling my son. And I do want to add that I’m not mentioning this here to imply that you can go in to Sutra and expect to be catered to your whim every day, I’m sure there is a reason why they have a menu, but it exemplified the great service we got from the Chef.

We had tasted the Hyderebadi eggplant and the Malai Kofta before, and they were great, but the Lauki Lazeez and the Dal were the highlights. I mentioned to Chef Sadhu that I was going back to try the Dal again when it was a regular on his menu:). Flavorful and authentic would be the two words to describe the food thus far.

The best was yet to come. We had a choice of two desserts – kulfi with mango sauce and falooda noodles and a “bread pudding”.

I decided to be adventurous and try the bread pudding and I can safely say that this was the best adventurous decision I have made. In my humble opinion, this “double ka meetha” inspired dessert with saffron cream sauce and caramelized sugar topping was one of the best tasting Indian desserts I have had in a while. I had to take a picture of this as soon as it was garnished by the Chef himself.

Overall, a truly satisfying Mother’s Day lunch and a fitting way to celebrate. We would definitely go back to Sutra again.

Mumbai Spice!  Houston has its share of Indian restaurants – Kiran’s (reviewed here), Udipi, Bombay Brasserie, Mughal, Nirvana, and Mumbai Spice. The two that stand out are Kiran’s and Mumbai Spice. Mumbai Spice, my home away from home as Malini calls it, has some great treats. The food tastes great and the service is fantastic. Mr Bakshi, the owner is almost always there, taking care of every little detail and making sure that the patrons walk out feeling special. He has his repertoire of jokes and shayari (Hindi or Urdu couplets) that can keep you entertained.

Now about the food. The food at Mumbai is quite the traditional Indian food that you find at most Indian restaurants. His chef Buta Singh is from Punjab and he specializes in North Indian cuisine. His specialties are Tandoori Chicken, Dal Makhani, and Paneer Do Pyaza. Last night, my colleague/friend Anil and I walked in to Mumbai Spice and asked the chef to surprise us with his favorite dishes. He brought out Paneer Do Pyaza, Bhindi Masala and Tarka Daal with some White Rice and Naan.

One of my pet peeves about Bhindi Masala at restaurants is the amount of oil they use and how much they fry it. The Bhindi Masala at Mumbai Spice was done just right – not too green and not too fried – the way mom used to make it.

Paneer Do Pyaaza was good and had the right amount of spices in it. The paneer was soft and moist with enough of the spicing to add flavoring to it.

The one let down was the dal, I prefer my dal light and not thick! This dal was extremely thick and looked like it was picked up from last evening’s buffet;)

Bottomline- Mumbai Spice is a good place to eat good Indian food, though not as sophisticated as Kiran’s. But the quality of the food and the host make it a must try place in the Houston suburbs.

PS: If you do make the trip ask for the Mirchi Pakoras if you like really spicy Indian style Pepper tempuras.

Its barely our second day back from a 4 day vacation to St. Kitts in the Caribbean. Four lovely days of sun, sand and siestas…of picture perfect sights and the not so wanted tan (not for our already brown skins, that is). You could say that this was a good enough break to get me back to write again, but it was actually the one evening spent in San Juan that got me quite inspired enough to write home about. And San Juan wasn’t really the actual vacation destination. I started writing this on my phone as I was sitting at the restaurant waiting for the food to come, so I was on a roll:)

We didn’t really expect to find Indian food in St. Kitts and in Puerto Rico. Let’s just say I didn’t. I should’ve known better. There’s always an Indian restaurant where there is Girish. This is my foodie husband who has acquired this unusual skill of practically “sniffing” down Indian food from miles away, in the remotest of destinations. It must be the business traveller in him or the craving for home-cooked food , that has evolved into this unique species (Iphone toting and Google maps led) who can find himself a desi restaurant  in the middle of a desert. That was just a metaphor, but we actually haven’t experimented that in a desert yet so Girish, gear up for your next challenge:)

Anyways, to make a long story short, we had a night’s layover at San Juan, Puerto Rico enroute from St. Kitts. We decided to make the most of our one night by renting a car and driving around San Juan and of course, to find a good restaurant for dinner. A quick Iphone search yielded Tantra and this other interesting place called Bangkok and Bombay. Tantra was the farthest from our hotel so we decided to pick that just to drive around the city and take in what little we could in those few hours. An Iphone menu search for Tantra yielded an interesting description of a restaurant with an Indo-Latin inspired menu. We were intrigued and made our way to what we found out was the “restaurant row” in the heart of old San Juan. What followed was an interesting culinary experience. Not bad at all for something we stumbled upon over one night in PR.

A unique decor with a blend of East Indian, some Oriental (Buddhist?) mix, a large Ganesha, a humongous cobra atop the bar countertop, various Thai or Vietnamese inspired statuettes, ancient Indian artefacts and Indian culinary utensils on the walls, and a very inviting hookah bar like lounge area greeted us. Bollywood music videos were playing on the plasma TV which is probably a common sight in many Indian restaurants but there was something attractive about this particular setting given the ambience.

I am a vegetarian but love browsing menus just to sample the creativity of the evolved food conoisseurs out there. Shark Tikka, Seafood Rasam, Plum Duck Taco sounded very intriguing and very, very creative, so we made our way through perusing the vegetarian fare. We ordered the Artichoke tempura with a Madras-chili (rajma) accompaniment, and an Avocado uthappam (which we later realized was fish-based) and had to politely return it. So much for reading the menu:)

The presentation was equally interesting so I went ahead and included it here.

For the main course, Girish and I ordered the vegetarian sampler for two, which included, palak paneer, rajma, chana, masala dosa and sambar rice.

I asked if we could substitute the sambar rice for the kerala veg kurma with khichdi, and to my pleasant surprise, they gladly obliged. Four stars for service and flexibility, I thought. I’ve always wanted to review and savor good food but at times feel that my vegetarianism comes in the way of sampling all that I want to try… the service here put me at ease. Great service and flexibility with the menu in restaurants speaks a lot about their philosophy and practically opens up a whole new world for foodies, vegetarian or not. I was impressed, to say the least.

Sure enough, the kerala kurma and khichdi was the highlight of the meal. You could tell by the food that the chef’s specialty was South Indian cuisine, the Venn pongal or Khichdi had that authentic South Indian flavor and it was impressive that the chef had maintained that homely flavorful taste in a fusion cuisine such as this .

We learnt later that Tantra supposedly has the best martinis in San Juan, we didnt sample any that evening, but I was intrigued by a “blue cheese martini” on the martini menu..again the creativity was brimming.

Overall, a great find for us tourists and a place I would recommend and visit again when we travel to San Juan next.

I’ve taken a long hiatus from RKK, longer than I would’ve liked, to be honest. I thought Nikhil’s Upanayanam ceremony in May would be my only “short” break, but many events that happened during and after that momentous occasion only got me deeper into an abyss and updating this blog was the last thing on my mind.

Oh well, so I needed a break! I needed a diversion from the craziness and so to get away, we visited Houston this weekend. Nothing exotic and not exactly a beach resort but the hotel pool in humid Houston was enough to help me unwind. Yes, I was vacation straved! We just hung out by the pool, ate good food, slept in.

I guess I’ve rambled enough but my first post back from a vacation is obviously not out of my kitchen but of a restaurant in Houston. Let’s just say Kiran’s amazing food justified a post. I’d heard Girish rave about this place so much that I had to check her out (the restaurant:)

It was restaurant week so we were expecting a long wait but surprisingly were shown our table in about 10 mins. Amidst papad and chutney I took in the sophisticated yet cozy decor. We were handed the menu for restaurant week with the main menu. I’d heard about their roomali rotis (roomali is the Hindi word for handkerchief; meaning rotis or tortilla like Indian bread that is rolled out as thin as a handkerchief and cooked) so we bypassed the restaurant week menu (no roomali rotis there) and went straight for the traditional roti, dal (lentils), sabzi (veggies). Girish suggested the veg seekh kababs for the appetizer.

The menu was a good mix of non traditional “fusion” dishes like tandoori portabella mushrooms, Chilean sea bass with mango chutney, chocolate samosas, and to be honest, I was half expecting a pseudo Indian air that most Indian “fine dining” restaurants have; an air that only typically caters to the non-Indian crowd, but calls itself Indian. I am probably not doing any justice to Kiran’s extensive menu of lamb, venison, crab and the many palates she tends to…this isn’t because I am vegetarian but because I only wanted to taste her traditional Indian food that evening.

We ordered pindi chana, dal makhni and bhindi masala to go with the famous roomali roti. The bhindi looked like it wasn’t fully cooked, but the chana and dal looked fine. Again keep in mind I was the skeptic here, so I was all set to critique the food. Surprise, surprise! From the veg seekh kabab (paneer and vegetables baked in a tandoor), to the dal makhni and even the seemingly under cooked bhindi, the food was delightfully flavorful. There was something pleasantly homey about the taste, not what I expected from a “fine Indian” restaurant. The dal makhni reminded me of a dhaba (local highway restaurants in India, street food) like taste with just the right amount of spice. The food wasn’t masked with butter and cream , the usual ingredients used to tone down the spice in Indian food in most other restaurants. It was obvious that Kiran’s was really committed to retaining the true homemade Indian flavor in her cooking, despite the fancy ambience not that any of those should be mutually exclusive. That was just what I was used to seeing in my cynical opinion:)

As a generous gesture from the chef we were also sent a sampling of her melon gazpacho, again, spiced just right for the Indian palate, with a tomato base, watermelon, chilies(?) and cilantro, almost giving it a melon chutney like taste but with a soup consistency. Very interesting combination.

After this delightful introduction I had to try her dessert. We requested the chef to “surprise us”. I really didn’t want to restrict my taste buds to an Indian dessert so was anxious to see what was brought out. It was another treat, her famous (I know now after reading up on the restaurant) crème brulee trio (pistachio, saffron and cardamom). I have to say, I love crème brulee by itself but this was what I would call Crème Brulee meets Shrikhand (an Indian sweet dish made with strained yoghurt). A perfect end to a perfect evening!

I’m not a reviewer so my rating doesnt matter at all, but I would give Kiran’s 5 stars for excellent ambience, service, a very creative menu and an amazing flavor to her food. And a huge thanks to her to get me back to RKK again:)

You’re correct in the assumption that of the 12 days I spent in India, more than 8 were at restaurants. I visited 4 cities in 12 days, and each one had its own specialty, Hyderabadi Biryani, Bombay pav bhaji and gujarati food. I probably spent the most time eating at home in Chennai. I had to ask my sister in law Meena, to make this dish for me and of course share it on Roz Ka Khana. Its called Ambat (Sour) Bhaaji (vegetable dish). Its made from sour greens like amaranth or puli keerai as we say in Tamil. Can also be made from spinach leaves. The sourness to the dish comes from adding the tamarind.

Ambat Bhaji is a Tanjore Marathi inspired dish and is sort of a hybrid between a sambar (lentil and vegetables soup) and a koottu (vegetables in gravy).

Ingredients:

Spinach – 1 bunch. You may also use amaranth.

Tamarind – lemon sized ball

Turmeric – 1 tsp

Asafetida – a pinch

Toor dal (yellow pigeon peas) – 1 cup boiled and mashed

Methi seeds (fenugreek) – 1  tsp

Dry red chilies – 4-6

Chopped Cilantro – for garnish

Method:

1. Wash and chop the spinach. You can chop the spinach and steam in a heavy bottomed vessel with a little bit of water. This helps retain the green color better. You can also microwave the fresh spinach. Alternatively, you may use frozen spinach.

2. While the spinach cooks, soak the tamarind in a little warm water, and squeeze it to extract tamarind paste. Alteratively, you may use about 1 to 1 1/2 tsp of tamarind paste. Add water to this paste (about 1 cup) and take this tamarind water in the heavy bottom vessel (kadai)

3. Add the spinach, salt and asafetida to the tamarind water. Let this mixture boil till the raw smell of tamarind goes away.

4. Now add the boiled and mashed toor dal. Boil for another 5 to 10 minutes till everything is well blended.

5. Now dry roast the methi seeds and the red chilies, grind to a fine powder. Add this powder to the dal mixture and boil one more time for another 2-3 minutes. Garnish with cilantro leaves and serve hot with white or brown rice.

In the above picture, we mixed the mashed dal with the ground powder and then added the mixture to the tamarind water. You may do this as well, but I think adding the powder at the end and then boiling provides an added taste.

My 2 day trip to Chennai was dotted with some saree shopping, jewelry shopping (the fashion and the junk jewelry kind - not the 24k gold Thangamaligai kind:), of course, some food – the restaurant and home-cooked kinds!

We visited Cream Center in Raja Annamalai Puram on Chamiers Road. This is the same Cream Center that has had its origins in Bombay (I know – I can call Madras, Chennai but I just can’t get myself to call Bombay Mumbai) and this time I had planned to visit newer places in Bombay so I figured I would get my Cream Center fix in Chennai . The menu was exactly the same as I remembered it, but I also knew what I was going there for…..the carrot pickle with the famous Chole Bhatura. This was my favorite restaurant in growing up, during my annual visits to Bombay, and though Cream Center got its name from its famous ice-cream varieties, I loved it only for the carrot pickle!

Only they had now morphed from a Punjabi menu to a Mexican, Italian and rather Continental menu but with a desi flair. I say desi flair as even though the menu had items like Tostadas, Nachos, Sizzlers etc, the “refried beans” were more like mashed rajma unlike the pinto beans that you get here in the US. Nonetheless, I ordered the Chole Bhatura and couldn’t wait to indulge in my favorite pickle. I was quite disappointed, I have to admit. The chole was fine but they had messed up the pickle! Soggy carrots were all I got. They had obviously been sitting in the oil for a while. And the Bhatura looked like it had been sitting in the same oil too..well, you know what I mean. It was as oily as the pickle.

The Dum Biriyani however was a pleasant surprise as I had, by now, dismissed the food as being mediocre. The Sizzler was a hodge podge of pulao meets veggies meets samosa meets fries! Yes, it had a samosa perched on top of the rice concoction and though the description on the menu intrigued me, it didnt taste as good as it sounded.

I think the best part of the dinner was the dessert..or maybe it’s just my sweet tooth that makes me love anything that has sugar and chocolate. The sizzling brownie was a hit with the kids too. Brownie with vanilla ice cream in a sea of bubbling hot chocolate! Yum! That’s all I could say before I burnt my tongue!!

The Verdict - Cream Center Chennai wasn’t half as good as the parent in Chowpatty, Bombay. There are better restaurants in Chennai to spend your money on.

Once again, I’m back after a long pause. This time, I have a valid (well, sort of!) reason for the silence. I was on my annual trip to India..the usual, 2 week visit, filled with travelling, jet-lag, and an over-stimulation of the senses that leaves me wanting a vacation after the vacation. Only this time it felt a little different. I was visiting India without the rest of my family, for one. Nikhil was in India for over a month with his cousins and my trip was planned solely to bring him back home. This time the 2 weeks was filled with the same crazy travelling, jet-lag and did I mention, eating to my heart’s content, and, shopping? Those were a part of my previous trips too, but this time it felt a little more relaxed. I felt like I was savoring every minute of my trip, taking in all the flavors, the smells, the food, like there was no tomorrow. Maybe it was a new fangled appreciation for food or the fact that I really tried to plan my visits to the various cities so I could make the most of my stay and savor the local fare. I took lots of pictures and tried to capture many foodie moments that I will recount here.

My first halt was New Delhi, more of a transit stop on my way to Hyderabad. I was only there for the night, but was bright eyed at 9.30pm when I reached my hotel and absolutely famished. And no wonder..it was time for my lunch! Girish had suggested I eat at the Bukhara, and am I glad I did.

The restaurant is rated not only the best in New Delhi but one of the top 14 in the world according to UK Magazine, and is supposedly one of Bill and Hillary Clinton’s favorite places when they visit India. The restaurant has apparently added the “Hillary Platter” recently to their menu! The cuisine is one from the north-west frontier, prepared in a clay ‘tandoor’ oven, in a kitchen area that is visible to customers, and which adds to the experience. Another unique fact about the restaurant is the red and white checkered apron they offer you instead of a napkin to tie around your neck before you attack the food with your bare hands. Yes, they do not give you silverware, as that takes away from the taste, they claim. And they are absolutely right! Meals are expensive, but the food is to die for! Bill Clinton, on one of his visits apparently said he wished he had two stomachs! Let’s just say I ate like I did!!

I ordered the Vegetarian platter which had a sampling of their famous tandoor vegetarian options, succulent paneer tikka  (grilled Indian cottage cheese), tandoori phool (gobi or cauliflower), tandoori aaloo (potato), roti (bread) and the world famous Dal Bukhara (black lentils simmered in gravy). This was followed by rasmalai for dessert. I was in heaven with all the food options in front of me and me being me, I absolutely had to sample them all. All I can say is that the UK mag is about 14 ranks off the mark and I have a renewed respect for the Clintons …if only for their taste in food:). I spent the night tossing and turning with my stomach full of tandoori delights, but it was worth it!

Next stop…Chennai. Yes I did say I was going to Hyderabad, but that was only for a day, and I was soon on my way to Chennai to meet the in-laws and of course, see Nikhil after a whole month! Chennai food round-up coming up next…

Having spent 3 days every week on the road for the last 10 years, my Roz Ka Khana is typically at a restaurant. I try to mix the cuisines (not really) but prefer to stick to Indian food if I can find one and I have found one in almost every city I have visited from Albany, NY to Wichita, KS. I classify these Indian restaurants in three categories “Thank you this feels like home”, “Great! I can bring a client” and “Is this some kind of a joke?!”. I will refrain from commenting on the last category (not worth my effort), as they also have a tendency to disappear from the face of the earth in a few months. I will, however share my thoughts on restaurants that warrant a review on the first two categories.

One of my all time favorite places is Rajdhani in the Greater Los Angeles area, specifically in Artesia, CA. Rajdhani is a Vegetarian Gujarati restaurant and what puts this in the “home” category is not just the homely food but the very welcoming owners. As you walk-in to this restaurant you are personally greeted by the owner on most days. Unlike many other Indian restaurants, the food is personally served to you by waiters and and doesn’t offer a buffet.

The waiter brings out a thali with 5 katooris (cups) and 2 steel tumblers for chaas and water.

Rajdhani has a Prix Fixe menu that changes daily and has some constants – hot, unlimited chapathis, puris, rice, and khichidi, aam ras, gujarati kadhi, sambar, papad, dhokla with blanched chilis and chaas (spiced buttermilk Gujarati style). The menu includes three other subzis, and one appetizer. This week when I was at the restaurant the three subzis were Ravaiya Potato, Okra Masala, and Black Eyed Peas. The mouthwatering dhoklas were soft and served with mint chutney on the side.

The desert choices include – Srikhand, Kulfi, Gajar Halwa, Doodhi Halwa and Mohanthal. They give you all of this for a price of $13.99 + Taxes.

The okra is well done and has a balanced level of spices perfect for a person who prefers mild dishes. I need my food to have a higher degree of heat to it and the owners of the restaurant know me quite well by now, so my thali usually has extra blanched chillis

The chapathis are thin with a little ghee on it and did I add that they are unlimited! The waiters bring out chapattis as the patrons finish them – nothing like hot chapathis straight off the skillet (tava) .  

After the 8^th or 9^th chapathi that they bring out to me, I finish up and asked for a finger bowl. Ah the quintessential finger bowl found in upscale restaurants in India! Yes they have it here and I thoroughly enjoy using it. With the main course over the waiter then asks me for my choice of desert – and Srikhand it is! I do have to take my Gujju friends there to get their opinions about the Srikhand but in my mind it was one of the best!

As an aside, my 6 year old son loved the food too and feasted on the srikhand and puris like there was no tomorrow, Malini had to force him to stop!

I try to visit Rajdhani atleast once when I am in the LA area, even if it takes me across town to have lunch or dinner. This restaurant absolutely would fall in the “Thank you this feels like home” category.

~Girish