Indian Restaurants

[Monica Bhide]

I dont know about Saran Foods.. will try them out

I really enjoyed Indique and we are going there again with some friends. It was excellent. i will check out what Tom was saying!

Thanks

[rks]

The review of a Benares in London. I like Atul's concept of a limited menu.

Times Online-Benares

[Eric_Malson]

Since you asked....

When I was playing a concert in Cincinnati last year, I had some surprisingly good Indian food (surprising in that I really had no idea what to expect) at Akash, which is on E. 6th St. downtown. Although I'm not exactly an expert (just an enthusiast), the food tasted very "homemade" to me--I love that--and the ingredients were all scrupulously fresh. It turned out to be one of the best Indian meals I had had in a long time.

As wonderful as a lot of Portuguese food is, one wants some variety when one lives there for four years, and I found some very good Indian restaurants there. My favorite is Farah's Tandoori, in the Rua Sant' Ana a Lapa (No. 73, I believe), in the neighborhood behind the Estrela basilica. Very high quality all round....I especially love her Nawabi Biryani.

If you happen to be out near Cascais and get a craving for Indian food, Restaurante Taj - A Palhota in Sao Joao do Estoril is well worth a short detour. It's in a neighborhood slightly removed from the train station and therefore not too obvious....you'll probably have to ask someone where the "restaurante indiano" is.

In the Baixa, in the center of Lisbon is another Indian restaurant I used to love to go to, but I'm not sure I ever knew the name of it. To make matters worse (at least as far as trying to recommend it goes), it is up a flight of stairs in an unmarked doorway--in fact, I don't think the restaurant has any sign whatsoever. Still, for the determined, it's not impossible to find....from the southeast corner of the Pr. da Figueira, go just 2 or 3 doors east (staying on the north side of the street) and look for a door propped open with stairs visible (all other such doors would be closed). And once again, if in doubt, ask someone. Portuguese almost always know where all the restaurants are. The funny thing is there is ANOTHER Indian restaurant, one I never managed to go to, in the Baixa, also upstairs with no sign marking an entrance, or even the restaurant itself. I even found it once, spied the windows from the street, had a waiter point to the direction of the entrance, and I still couldn't find the stairs....very strange!

I'm somewhat ashamed that I never went to a Goan restaurant while I was there, Goa being a former colony of Portugal and all, but the Goan restaurants I heard about got mixed reports and sounded quite overpriced.

There's also a great Thai restaurant in Caldas da Rainha, but that's not the topic....

[hitchmeer]

Hello all:

Here is a review article about the NewDelhi Bar and Restaurant in Minneapolis.

http://www.citypages.com/databank/23/1133/...rticle10659.asp

I only discovered this restaurant a month ago. I went with a friend and had a great time the food and atmosphere were both wonderful. I had an excellent lamb korma and a mango lassi! If anyone from the group is from Minnesota or travels through Minneapolis, contact me and we'll go together. I'd love to go again.

Matt in Minnesota

[fresh_a]

If you're in Paris, avoid Indra and Annapurna. Although, they are relatively well-rated, they are past their sell-by date, and offer substandard fare, and bad service. They're full of tourists as well...

[bong]

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.

[tryska]

In Atlanta -

Ruchi

[anil]

In SCL

Hotel Majestic

One of the local hosts of mine had never had indian food. Even though had a collection of prints of ancient indian iconography..... So, last night we located one - It turned out to be a Best Western property run by an Indian of Sindhi ethnicity. The restaurant is attached to the hotel and I suspect it does a fair amount of its business by catering to diplomatic and consular staff.

The exotic spices impressed my friends, but I was dissappointed because they managed to overdo some excellent pieces of Ecudorian shrimp pakoras.

I asked if they had any sindhi speciality in the restaurant like sai bhaji, jeera aaloo ?

Edited August 11, 2003 by anil (log)

[boaziko]

Bombay Bar & Grill – Lee, 435 Laurel St.

(Route 20, Berkshires, MA)

413-243-6731

Great surprise we found in our old fashioned, but very nice hotel (Black Swan Inn – Best western). Overlooking a small lake while dining is always a plus, especially if you come from a relatively dry country like we do.

All we had was good. My memory recalls Lamb Madras, CTM, Chicken Tandoori, Shrimp Malai Kebob, and some Naans. The favorite was a dark and rich cauliflower dish that almost misled us to guess it was some kind of meat. The menu I found on the net stated "Lasoni Gobi", Cauliflower with garlic and sweet & sour.

[anil]

NYC

Amma

A Lot has been said about this place because of our good friend Suvir

Unbeknown to moi (contrary to Suvir''s promise about an advanced tasting to an un-named restaurant opening ) we got out a tad late out of Mica Bar (not my hangout) and my locals of the neighborhood suggested eating at the curry house next door (a euphemism that many Brits use to catagorize Indian rest.)

On seeing the menu, my friends were surprised to see their standard items missing --

According to the waitperson "Saar, Everything has changed ...."

The food was ................ Hmmm ???? (Had I tasted at a hidden gem in this part of town ?)

36 hours later .... egullet post's Gail's take on it with a URL -

My comment was SOG

Subsequently, I hauled my old behind and dragged friends and family to Amma

Amma Is up there amongst the desi restaurants I have eaten.

[Details on Amma I'll post elsewhere]

[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 January 20, 2004 by ludja (log)

[claire797]

Austin, TX -- The Clay Pit

New Canaan, CT -- Thali

[e101g]

'Cumin' in Cincinnati.

Edited January 20, 2004 by e101g (log)

[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.seattletimes.nwsource.com/ae/sc..._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 February 10, 2004 by fischwlu (log)

[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?