Our dinner party was made up of the parents-in-law, my cardiologist brother-in-law, his wife ( another doctor) , yet another doctor friend and his wife. ( There is a reason for my mentioning their professions – believe me !). The restaurant is situated in the midst of a cluster of high rise buildings that house call centers. Naturally, the patrons of the restaurant include a healthy number of call center workers -which means the place is full of smartly dressed twenty-somethings with money to burn. Before we even got down to the serious business of ordering food, I was pretty impressed by the decor. Fresh from the US – where one of my pet peeves is the kitschy look of almost all desi restaurants ( the mandatory Nataraja, the tired Omar Khayyam posters etc ), I really appreciated the water fountain at the entrance. Each table was beautifully set with glass vases topped with lit, floating candles and flowers. The beige and gray color scheme was both soothing and smart.

A friend of mine here in the US had told me that I should not miss the Vodka Gol-Guppa ( aka Pani Puri – dough-fried hollow savory pastry that are usually filled with spiced water ) an exclusive specialty of this place. You see my dilemma? I am at a table with the in-laws and a majority of doctors – none of whom touch liquor and me the chhoti bahu (youngest daughter-in-law aka the bottom of the totem pole). I decided that since its been almost sixteen years since I got married – I could probably go ahead and order it without threatening the bonds of matrimony. So I did just that. The Vodka Gol-Guppa is a genius idea – 2 gol-guppas served with a choice of either tamarind -flavored or masala-flavored vodka and priced at Rs.450! (You have to know that – when I lived in India seven years ago- a plate of 6 ordinary non-alcoholic gol-guppas was available for Rs. 10 off the nearest friendly neighborhood chaat (street-food) cart). I went with the masala vodka and soon it appeared – two perfectly round gol-guppa shells, a shot glass full of masala-flavored vodka and – the piece de resistance – a 24 oz glass of cold,amber beer. I scarfed the gol-guppas which were everything you’d expect them to be- tangy, cold and slightly naughty .The cold beer stood there like a sentinel, silently. My mouth was burning and yet a curious sense of social hypocrisy prevented me from touching the beer. In my twisted world, the minuscule amount of vodka passed muster, but the thought of slurping from a tall glass of beer while surrounded by my teetotaling elders and betters was too much. I refrained.

The main courses followed. For the first time in my life I tasted the delectable “dahi ke kebab“.This is a pan-fried cutlet -type kebab , filled with an amazing mixture of hung curd, ginger and spices. Were it not for my aforementioned marital status, I could have married that kebab – it was so good. Almost as good was the tandoori chicken – props for it not being the dreadful neon orange color that one normally sees in this ubiquitous dish. The kali dal ( black lentil) was also to-die- for good. The palak (spinach) was slightly uninspired- though personally I have never found green,leafy vegetables inspiring at all .However, the naans were good. A word of caution: the spice level is extremely high in all the food.My eyes were streaming with tears – not for the beer, but because I found the food to be really spicy. The server took pity on me and brought us a dish of lovely, cooling curds (Uber tip: Water does not work to reduce the effect of too much spice – dairy – either milk or curds cools instead). At this point, a tip of the hat to all the assorted “foreigners” ( aka non-Indians) who occupied many of the tables – they were enjoying the food- spice and all – making me feel like a wimp.

Punjabi by Nature is a popular choice for business dining. Scrumptious food, great service and a nice ambiance make it the perfect place to introduce westerners to the wonders of good Indian food. I’ll definitely go there again on my next visit to India. By that time, I am sure that I would have overcome whatever few scruples I have left and will be able to do full justice to the gol-guppas , beer and all !

© Runa for Über Desi, 2008. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Punjabi by nature, Restaurant, Review

Dosa, located on 995 Valencia St., San Francisco was different in most ways. Just like my other favorite restaurant on the right coast, Dosa was trendy, pleasant and we were the only Desi’s in the restaurant, save the owner.

After a look at their menu, I settled for Bhel Puri and my friend for Pani Puri. Yes, my portion was bigger than his, but as far as the quality went, we were both surprised and amazed. Hoping that whatever we ordered next would be a disaster, I settled for a Rava Masala and he settled for a Masala Dosa.

The thing about Rava dosa is getting it right, yes it is as ‘easy’ as regular dosa, but a little extra oil can make the dosa damp and too little it could break into a million pieces. This would be the final test, or so I thought.

Again we were stumped. The dosa was amazing and the sambar would have made my mom storm into the kitchen and ask the cook for the recipe. Having been to a few South Indian restaurants, the things that everybody gets wrong are the Sambar and the chutneys. No problems here, the assortment of chutneys were fresh and exactly balanced. No too salty or ’stomach cramp inducing’ flavors. Plain well made chutneys.

After losing two rounds, I decided to give it one last shot and order their coffee. Although the friendly waitress said she could not make it ’stronger’, she assured me that it was good. After the coffee, I had to walk up to ask the owner the kind of milk they used in their coffee, it was just so… creamy.

More expensive than most South Indian restaurants, yes. Better quality and better service – definitely. I would not mind paying a few extra bucks to get consistently good South Indian food, that which every other South Indian restaurant seems to lack. As far as the cheese dosas go, I prefer to put that down under creative license.

Dosa is a hit in my books and I sincerely hope that this was not a one off day. I will update this post when I visit them again, after I get paid.

© Karthik for Über Desi, 2008. | Permalink | 21 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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Dinner was my second meal of the day and boy was I excited to see the “Zagat Rated” sign on the door as I walked into Udupi Palace at Tacoma Park, MD. That was the only high point of the entire evening.

The Decor was on par with what you would expect from an Indian restaurant, the service was nothing to write home about.

After a detailed glance of the menu, I decided to settle for one of their dinner specials, The Mysore Royal Thali. It had everything I wanted and a little bit more, so the choice was obvious.

I picked tomato soup and right then I knew I had made a mistake. Instead of getting a bowl of home made goodness, I was faced with a cup of something that tasted very close to the cans you find at most super markets. The appetizers showed up right as I was finishing my soup.

Vegetable cutlet, too hard and cold for my taste, Medhu Vada that lacked spice and a Samosa that was ok.

The main course was a bigger disappointment. The Aviyal was too hot to taste, The vegetable rice was too hard (possibly microwaved) and there was the way too sour raitha. I was not disappointed until I figured that these were not “fresh” but had been reheated. It was obvious, because the rest of the food was warm at best.

Overall, I would rate the restaurant a 3 on 10. Never will I be going back there and it certainly does not deserve to be Zagat rated as the sign up front said.

© Karthik for Über Desi, 2007. | Permalink | 18 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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