107 replies to this topic

[mongo_jones]

when in boulder, colorado do NOT eat at sherpa's.

[tryska]

aren't sherpas tibetan?

[mongo_jones]

aren't sherpas tibetan?

or at the least nepali. however, just as you have bangladeshis running indian restaurants in new york and london many indian restaurants in boulder seem to be at least staffed, if not owned, by nepalis and tibetans--something to do with the climbing culture here. sherpa's has a token tibetan section on their menu, but if the execrable momos i sampled are representative of their skills they're better off pushing their cookie cutter north indian dishes which were marginally better. what is bizarre, or not, is that the place was crammed and apparently has won awards locally. seeing all this i thought perhaps i'd caught it on a bad night but one of the people i was with said she'd been there many times before and it wasn't much worse than usual.

ah well, so far the indian restaurant record in boulder is 1-1-1.

[ludja]

San Francisco Bay area has several Indian restaurants. Sadly, vast majority of them are mediocre. They all have identical menus. There are a few exceptions, here are some of my favorites:
*  Shalimar, San Francisco: For tandoori chicken
* Vik's Chaat, Berkeley: For, what else? North Indian chaats (snacks)
* Chaat Paradise, Mountain View: For chaat.
* Dasaprakash, Santa Clara: For South Indian specialities, especially their Dosas
* Empress of India: North indian cuisine. Please note that this restaurant is a one-woman operation and stays closed a lot!
* Turmerik, Sunnyvale: Upscale north indian food. I have heard rumors that it's gone downhill recently, although when I was there, most recently about six months back, food was still great. Innovative chef.

Curious how you feel about:

Amber India Mountain View, CA
2290 El Camino Real
650.968.7511
Northern Indian, tandoori
Amber India Review

Sue's Indian Cuisine Mountain View, CA
215 Castro Street
650.969.1112
some Southern Indian

Udupi Palace Sunnyvale, CA
976 E. El Camino Real
(408) 830-9600
South Indian Vegetarian
udupi review1

I am a special fan of Sue's; haven't been disappointed in over 10 years. Flavors always bright and balanced. Some favorites are: Lamb Vindaloo, Green Chile Chicken, Mushroom Kofta Curry.

Edited by ludja, 20 January 2004 - 01:45 PM.

[claire797]

Austin, TX -- The Clay Pit

New Canaan, CT -- Thali

[e101g]

'Cumin' in Cincinnati.

Edited by e101g, 20 January 2004 - 03:29 PM.

[e101g]

'Cumin' in Cincinnati.
The menu is very extensive.
It's a very small restaurant in the beautiful Hyde Park neighbourhood.
Indo-chinese, South-Indian, North Indian and lots of Indo-Western Fusion.
And all of them are very very good.
The rasam is as good as the one my mom makes back home.
The chinese-fried rice is awesome when requested with light oil and extra chicken.
Very few dishes with heavy-cream compared to other Indian restaurants.

The service is kinda slow when it is crowded.
I think the kitchen is the bottleneck with so many different items to cater.

[bong]

Curious how you feel about:

Amber India  Mountain View, CA
2290 El Camino Real 
650.968.7511
Northern Indian, tandoori
Amber India Review

Sue's Indian Cuisine  Mountain View, CA
215 Castro Street
650.969.1112
some Southern Indian

Udupi Palace  Sunnyvale, CA
976 E. El Camino Real 
(408) 830-9600
South Indian Vegetarian
udupi review1

I am a special fan of Sue's; haven't been disappointed in over 10 years.  Flavors always bright and balanced.  Some favorites are: Lamb Vindaloo, Green Chile Chicken, Mushroom Kofta Curry.

Amber India (North Indian) and Udupi (South Indian) have both gone downhill, undfortunately. Both used to be very good a while back. I hear the Fremont branch of Udupi Palace is still good, although I have no first hand experience.

If you like Amber, check out Turmerik (Sunnyvale). If you are a Udupi palace fan, check out Dasaprakash (Santa Clara) or Saravana Bhavan (Mountain View).

I have only been to Sue's once, a long time back, probably 7-8 years ago. At that time, the food felt mediocre and severely overpriced. Could not figure out why Sue's was so raved about by the food critics. Perhaps it was my bad luck that day and maybe it's time for me pay them another visit...

[ludja]

If you like Amber, check out Turmerik (Sunnyvale). If you are a Udupi palace fan, check out Dasaprakash (Santa Clara) or Saravana Bhavan (Mountain View).

I have only been to Sue's once, a long time back, probably 7-8 years ago. At that time, the food felt mediocre and severely overpriced. Could not figure out why Sue's was so raved about by the food critics. Perhaps it was my bad luck that day and maybe it's time for me pay them another visit...

Thanks for your comments Bong.

and for your tips re: the other South Indian restaurants. I agree Sue's is expensive; but it has measured up well for me against other places near here. *I am no expert in Indian food; just a big fan*.

Maybe I should check out Turmerik again; for me (one lunch experience) it was overprices and the flavors not very exciting...kind of like your assessement of Sues...

Thanks again!

[agnolottigirl]

India Bistro, in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood:
http://edb.seattleti..._vd.cfm?id=1700

. . . hope that link works.

[fischwlu]

Also in Cincinnati:
Ambar India in Clifton, on Ludlow Ave., and they just opened a new branch on Madison Ave. (in O'Bryonville?) called Baba. Same menu, better parking. It has been a while since I've been there but there also was an Indian grocery next to Ambar... not sure about the name though. We have had too many problems with Cumin in the past.

Edited by fischwlu, 10 February 2004 - 12:45 PM.

[chengb02]

sherpa's has a token tibetan section on their menu, but if the execrable momos i sampled are representative of their skills they're better off pushing their cookie cutter north indian dishes which were marginally better. what is bizarre, or not, is that the place was crammed and apparently has won awards locally. seeing all this i thought perhaps i'd caught it on a bad night but one of the people i was with said she'd been there many times before and it wasn't much worse than usual.

Sorry, this is going to be way off topic! I have spent a considerable amount of time in a small midwestern town with 2, yes 2, Tibetan restaurants. This would seem odd, but the town I speak of is sort of a hub for Tibetan culture. Anyways, having been to Tibet, I can honestly say that "authentic" Tibetan food is something nobody would want to eat, further, the stuff that is offered in the US isn't close to authentic and, at the places I've been to, isn't very good. Yet these places are very popular...I think people go just because it makes them feel better about themselves.

Anyways, back on subject, I haven't seen much mention about Indian food in Chicago. I know Hema's Kitchen is a perennial favorite for top honors, but interested in other ideas. I like Hema's and go every now and then, but I'm not really overly impressed with it, so I wonder if perhaps this is just my own bad ordering. As for London, I would second the recommendations for Zaika and add that while Khan's came highly recommended, I was a little disappointed with it.

[Vishal Khosla]

Chicago-

Klay Oven
414 N. Orleans
Chicago, IL 60610
312-527-3999

[Majra]

Re: South Bay restaurants

We recently moved away from the area, and are missing our favorite spots: DeeDee's on Middlefield Rd on the MV/PA border (best $5 lunch), Saravana Bhavan (best South Indian, hands down. Definitely try the mixed vegetable paratha, only served at dinner), and Amber (when hankering for high-end).

Never "got" Sue's. So blah, so expensive. If dining on Castro, I'd take any other hole in the wall Indian restaurant over Sue's.

I'm in central Florida now, where an actual branch of Woodland's is our saving grace on the Indian culinary front. It's always packed, and always good.

[mongo_jones]

Re: South Bay restaurants

We recently moved away from the area, and are missing our favorite spots: DeeDee's on Middlefield Rd on the MV/PA border (best $5 lunch), Saravana Bhavan (best South Indian, hands down. Definitely try the mixed vegetable paratha, only served at dinner), and Amber (when hankering for high-end).

Never "got" Sue's. So blah, so expensive. If dining on Castro, I'd take any other hole in the wall Indian restaurant over Sue's.

I'm in central Florida now, where an actual branch of Woodland's is our saving grace on the Indian culinary front. It's always packed, and always good.

which south bay is this? and mv?

[Majra]

Sorry, I was referring to the San Francisco Bay Area.

MV/PA = Mountain View/Palo Alto.

[Llantha]

West of London in Richmond: The Litchfield Brasserie. It's in the center of town near some art supply stores. Standard English Indian restaurant menu fare, but painfuly fresh and delicately prepared.

West side of Columbus, OH at Fishinger Road just east of the outerbelt (Ther's a Shell gas station at the corner.) It's called India Palace, I believe. It's in a strip mall. A buffet during the day although menu is available. Full standard US Indian restaurant menu. Again, fresh and beautifully prepared. More breads than a lot of places.

In either event, when I see lots of Indians (or Asians, as the case may be) dining at a restaurant, it tends to make me trust my own tastes.

[Afishnado]

I've kinda compiled a list of all Indian buffets in the Pacific Northwest, as they all have something to offer (or not!). My absolute favorite Indian buffet by far is Spirit of India, in downtown Renton Washington.

They often have lamb on the buffet, and they bring fresh hot naan to your table!

http://spiritofindia.com/

[Monica Bhide]

I just did an article for Washingtonian Magazine (May 2004) on the best Indian restaurants in the DC metro area. The piece is not online yet but you can find it at your local newstand here in DC. I hope you will enjoy it!

[Rushina]

Hi all,

Please help me out with this,

If an Indian was in your city, where would you send him if he was longing for indian food. (FYI, I am compiling this for an article). I would appreciate it if you could mention the city, regional cuisine that the restaurant serves and the contact details or website.


Rushina

[Monica Bhide]

Hi all,

Please help me out with this,

If an Indian was in your city, where would you send him if he was longing for indian food. (FYI, I am compiling this for an article). I would appreciate it if you could mention the city, regional cuisine that the restaurant serves and the contact details or website.


Rushina

Rushina - if you look thru this thread and then head over to the individual state forums you will find a lot of what you are looking for! Good luck with your article

[gingerpeach]

In the Seattle metro area, our faves are Tandoor in the University District, and Mayuri or Savoy on the Eastside. Indian food is our favorite Sunday brunch option!

[anil]

In VCE

Sri Ganesh
S.Polo 2426,
Venezia, IT

It started off catering to offbeat locals and hidden food helpers from the sub-continent who work in the tonier and upscale Italian eateries in city It is really off the beaten path and not so easily idenitfiable. The Lunch menu is simple fixed rice and a non-veg dish, or ar rice and a vegetarian dish.

Now a days it has started seeing ''desi's" come by in large numbers thanks to BPOs and CCs It does satisfy a desires of many who only want to eat vegetarian and be asured that no animal fat went into its preparation.

[worm@work]

I find both Mayuri and Savoy rather dull and I find that they suffer from the same problem most Indian restaurants do, namely no interest in using fresh ingredients. I've pretty much given up on eating good South Indian food in / around Seattle. However, I've been to Punjab Sweets in Kent, WA 2-3 times and have always been more than happy with the food. The food is always freshly prepared and the Makke di roti and sarson da saag smells xactly like they used to at my punjabi friends' homes. The Bhatura is amongst the best I've had in the US and the chole (made in the Punjabi/Sikh tradition where its dark rather than light like the Sindhis make em) is wonderful too. I always end up overeating leaving no room for dessert so I cant comment on the sweets.
The service is nothing to write home about since its a really small place and being a family run place, orders often take time to arrive on a crowded Saturday/Sunday afternoon. Might be a good idea to call and order on your way there - I usually do that and they have hot yummy food waiting by the time I reach the restaurant.

- worm@work

[gingerpeach]

Good call, worm@work! I love the chole at Punjab Sweets. Everything I've tried there is good, but I keep returning to the chole! Would also add Pabla's in Kent (Renton?). All vegetarian, kosher, delicious samosas at lunch.

[Sleepy_Dragon]

I find both Mayuri and Savoy rather dull and I find that they suffer from the same problem most Indian restaurants do, namely no interest in using fresh ingredients. I've pretty much given up on eating good South Indian food in / around Seattle.

That's a shame. I recall Mayuri being great back when they ran their Queen Anne location, they had such wonderful masala dosas, vadas and lamb keema. But, this was around 7 years ago, so maybe things have changed for the worse. Oh well.

One place I keep meaning to try is Udupi Palace in Bellevue, have you been there yet? Only thing that stops me is needing to take two buses to get out there.

Pat

[worm@work]

Udipi Palace, Sleepy_Dragon is definitely not worth two buses and your time.. I assure you. If its masala dosas and wadas you;d like, then I very sincerely invite you over to my house (which is also on the eastside unfortunately but I promise you the visit will be worth two busrides! I live really close to the Bellevue Transit Center). I promise you it'll be at least as good as the average South Indian households dosas back in India. As for lamb keema, unfortunately, I havent tried making that at home yet.. what with being a vegetarian and all :). Let me know if you'd like to take me up on that offer.. I'll need a couple of days notice to soak the rice and dal for the batter!

-worm@work [Edited to correct a typo].

Edited by worm@work, 09 July 2004 - 02:19 PM.

[Matthew Grant]

Bearing in mind that this is the India Forum any chance of some recommendations in India?

[Episure]

Bearing in mind that this is the India Forum any chance of some recommendations in India?

Which part of India?

[Matthew Grant]

Delhi (aside from the obvious Bukhara)
Agra
Udaipur
Jaipur
Ranthambore
Kota
Jodhpur
Jaisalmer
Bikaner