Haggis

This is sad news. I wonder if the closing will be final, or if anyone will bother to resurrect it in the future. My favorite meal there was always the RTR Zakuska, which is assorted hors d'oeurves, followed by Karsky Shaslik Supreme, which is saddle and kidney of lamb. Can't say if either of these will be up to the standards of years ago, or even if they still appear on their menu (haven't been to RTR in 7 years). Cabrales, if you go and are at least two in your party, get the Chicken Kiev and Karsky Shaslik Supreme between you. Those were RTR's two tastiest entrees, and were always reliably consistent.

When I first began enjoying Indian food on a regular basis, around the late 70s, I would frequently order mango chutney with my meal, or, if it was a complete thali, this would often come automatically. I deduced that if I liked mango chutney, I'd probably like mango pickles, right? Wrong! How horribly salty and stark tasting, I thought, and no subtlety whatsoever. Lime pickles tasted even worse to me. For years, though I continued to enjoy Indian food, I put the thought of ever ordering pickles out of mind, sticking to my chutneys and raitas instead. Then, circa the late 80's, I started going to Jackson Diner in Jackson Heights, Queens. This was back when it was arguably the best Indian restaurant in the NYC Metro area, a claim it can no longer come close to making. Anyway, they put mixed pickles out on their buffet, and despite my aversion, I would sometimes place a tiny spoonful of these on my plate just out of morbid curiosity. I would manage a small bite between morsels of the other foods I loaded up on. Maybe two or three such bites during the course of the entire meal. Hmmm, I thought, not as bad as I remembered. Still not tasty, but seemed somehow appropriate to the cuisine. I would hit Jackson Diner maybe twice a month in those days, and each time I'd take some pickles, and finally they began getting their own small condiment plate, instead of occupying a mere corner of my larger plate. I'd sample more and more between bites, and eventually I began actually craving the taste almost as a palate cleanser. Sure did do a good job of halting the tastes of the other spices, so after some pickle, the next bite of another dish would taste anew. I still did not think they were in any way delicious, but they were now a necessary part of my Indian dining experience. Fast forward another decade or so, and I'd say in the late 90s is when I started appreciating the actual taste of them, and not merely their presence along with other foods. Sure took me long enough! I have a couple of questions regarding Indian pickles. First - about their salt content. Is it any higher than the typical American style sour pickle? American pickles don't taste too salty to me, they taste just-right salty, even though a quick read of their nutrition labels would illicit a "yikes" on sodium content. Indian pickles, even though I really like them now, still taste way saltier than American sour pickles. Another question I have is regarding mango pickles, specifically. Is it by design that part of the pit is left on? Or is this more a result of an automation process? It seems to me that it helps the mango slices hold their crescent-like shape, so I am guessing it is meant to be. Finally, I will leave you all with a recommendation for my current favorite Indian pickles served in a restaurant. This would be at The Indian Taj, Jackson Heights, same block as Jackson Diner. They serve a lemon & chile pickle, on the medium to mild side, but they also serve it with added sliced carrot and small bits of cauliflower. Heavenly! The waiter tells me that only the lemon and chile is long term pickled, and that they add the sliced carrot and cauliflower to the brine later. These pickles might also serve as a re-introduction to someone who has been turned off to the taste of sharper pickles, much as I was more than twenty years ago.

There are a number of good fillers to compose veggie burgers from. Most whole grains work well, with sticky, slightly overcooked brown rice being maybe the easiest to bind. Whatever recipe you finally settle on, let me suggest that you use bread softened with milk as your binder. White bread works well, or French/Italian with the crusts cut off. All mushrooms, even plain old button mushrooms, improves the taste, as does chopped raw onion. If you don't use soy in any of its forms, use sunflower or pumpkin seeds as a protein source. These also provide extra crunch, which is appreciated by vegetarian friends of mine when I make them. One more suggestion: the more chopped vegetables your burger contains, the more binder you need to use, and you could also throw in an egg or egg whites to help it along.

The South Asian dish that had the most memorable impact on me, is in fact the first one I ever tasted. It was not in a restaurant, it was not in someone's home, it wasn't even Indian, but, rather, Pakistani. It was the Spring of 1969, 6th grade class picnic. It was next to the Hudson River by the Little Red Lighthouse in Northern Manhattan. We had all been instructed to have our parents provide us with a picnic lunch. Don't even remember what I brought, probably a sandwich of some sort, as did most all of the other kids. But not Wesley Khan. He and his sister, recent arrivals from Pakistan, and 3 years older than the rest of us, brought some strange looking concoctions. Luckily I sat with them. I had showed Wesley how to play baseball, and he was appreciative of the instruction I had given him. We became pals, often getting together after school to bat the ball to each other. I forgot whatever food I had unwrapped in front of me, and became intrigued by the strange looking bread which Wesley took from his brown bag. He then proceeded to remove several small tupperware type dishes from another brown bag. He saw me watching, and I am sure he understood that I had never seen food like this before, and just smiled and kept on with his preparation. When he finished, he explained that this was how they ate in Pakistan. I was amazed at how he would scoop up some of the contents of the tupperware with torn pieces of this bread. He offered me some, and I wasn't the least bit hesitant. Oh yum! I had never tasted anything like this before. He never did tell me the names of any of the dishes, but thinking back, I am fairly certain that the bread was a Pakistani version of a chapati. It was slightly cold, and a little wet to the touch, (though not oozing) a bit shiny, even, but was a deep golden color, almost as if turmeric were added, which I'm sure must not have been the case. It was very pliable, and broke off easily. I scooped up something orange, which I am nearly certain was orange lentils. It wasn't runny, like a dhal, but it was semi thick, as if it had been made for scooping purposes. Wesley instructed me to add the contents of the other tupperware to my scoopings. These were, as near as I can remember, tomato and onion chutneys, and green coriander sauce. I added these other elements, and agreed with Wesley that whatever I was tasting was made more delicious by these additions. Between Wesley, his sister, and myself, we must have polished off eight or so chapatis before all the filling was finished. Not to worry, I had a plastic spoon in my bag, and Wesley and I shared the rest of the fillings until they were gone. His sister had eaten her fill already by the time the chapatis were consumed. After this delicious meal, it never occured to me that I could have this sort of food again, or that I might try to finagle an invite to his house for dinner. A 6th grader just doesn't think that way, and certainly I had no idea that this sort of food could be had in a restaurant. Indeed it wasn't until 1976, more than 7 years later, that I had my first Indian restaurant meal. This was in Berkeley, California. After school, when I got back to New York, I discovered 6th street, and later, Curry Hill. Still haven't managed to finagle an invitation to eat South Asian in someone's home, but the restaurant circuit keeps my Indian food jones sated, to some extent, anyway.

A careful reading of my post, Mr. Plotnicki, will offer all answers to the above except if I have ever dined with Hector. I don't know the guy, but if he is buying, maybe I'd consider it. You will see that I joined egullet on July 14th, and did not post until July 18th, the day I had the lunch at Dimple. Therefore, it is chronologically unlikely that I joined to post a question about tipping at buffets. Also please note that I specifically said that they usually get $1.50 tip from me for a total of $9. This last time that I ate there, I came into no contact with waitstaff, which had never happened before, and they also served several dishes that I had never had at Dimple. Cabrales is correct - the day in question I felt that Dimple had outdone themselves, and was worthy of a positive posting. I did want to pose the question about whether or not it would have been appropriate to leave no tip that day due to the unusual circumstances, but I did not join egullet for that reason at all. Have I answered to your satisfaction, Mr. Plotnicki? If so, I am looking forward to being welcomed by you. And thanks for the kind words, Liza.

Hi egulleteers. Today's buffet lunch at Dimple (30th Street just west of 5th Avenue) was so delicious, I thought I'd make it my first post, having recently joined. I eat lunch there once a month on average, and it is always good, but today was one of their stellar moments. For those who have never been, they are a Gujarati Indian vegetarian restaurant, dosa and chat-centric off the menu, but feature curries and dhals on their buffet. Today they had what was labeled S. Paneer. Saag Paneer, one would think - right? Well, there were the tiniest flecks of green in the dish, and I am still not sure if it was spinach, but mostly it was a silken beige with tons of delicious white cubes of homemade paneer cheese. My guess is that the sauce was cashew-based. It tasted of this, and they have had cashew-cream sauced dishes on their buffets in the past. It was the best rendition of saag paneer I have yet tasted, and I can't even say that it *was* saag paneer. Another dish on today's buffet was spinach and peas in a light yogurt sauce. This tasted like a combo of saag and matar paneer, which it practically was, minus the paneer cheese. I am sure Indian food fans already can guess what I did. Yeah, I got some paneer cubes from the cashew based dish, and mixed it in with the saag/matar. One way or another, I was going to have my saag paneer! Though what I had concocted was great, it was still not as good as the mystery dish labeled S. Paneer. Another curry they had was a simple aloo gobi with tomatoes. This was several notches above the usual aloo gobi, and very subtly seasoned. Someone in the kitchen knows how to hold back the heavy spice hand, a trait that all too often can ruin an otherwise pleasant Indian dish. Today's dhal used lentil puree and large whole beans, sort of like chick peas, but the shape wasn't quite that of a chick pea. The large legumes were left al dente, a nice contrast to the creamy dhal. This dish also had, what (for lack of a better word) I would call homemade dumplings in it. Nothing stuffed, but I mean dumplings in the chicken & dumplings sense. The texture was great - had to be homemade, because while they were on the whole soft, they were slightly toothsome as well. This dhal was also somewhat sweet. The overall effect of the dish was savory, but whatever sweetness the dish had worked well. I had two bowls of it. Condiments were outstanding, as always. They offer pale green coriander sauce that is among the freshest tasting you'll find anywhere; a very good tamarind sauce; mixed hot pickles; and a really nice hot sauce that is packed with good heat and flavor. Breads are the usual suspects - paratha and naan. They have freshly fried pappadums as well - greaseless and tasty. Today's dessert was mango bread pudding. A very liquidy pudding, but delicious nonetheless. Price for all of this is a very reasonable $6.99. This brings me to a question I'd like to pose about the service, or, rather, the lack of it. Today, I sat myself (which is encouraged when no one is at the door to seat you) got my own silverware from a tray on the long communal style table, poured my own water from a silver pitcher, also found on the table, and never made any contact with a waiter or bus person throughout the entire meal. This was all ok, afterall, I had everything I needed right in front of me, and I returned to the buffet several times for replenishing. The used plates did pile up, but I just shoved these to one side, as I was the only one seated at this table. When it was time to settle up, I went to the cashier and said "One buffet", paid my seven and a half bucks including tax, and then said to myself: Do I tip, or not? Normally I am a good tipper, they'd get a buck and a half out of me for a total of $9. I have never been one to say "it's just a buffet, WE do all the work! That is nonsense, usually there is much refilling of glasses and clearing of dishes that is done. But as I said, I came into zero contact with any wait person this meal. I ended up compromising and leaving a buck on my table. Someone was going to have to bus it eventually, afterall, even though I wouldn't see who this was. I completely hate the idea of not leaving a tip, but I am wondering if anyone here thinks that if I had not, under these circumstances, it would have been ok?