Food Blog

[bergerka]

Lunch!

I had to go at noon today, which is too early for lunch for me, but Ben, SarahD and Sam joined me for one of our favorites...INDIAN BUFFET!

We go to Bombay Grill, a little teeny place that has been through several managements in the last six months, right on Lexington between 39th and 40th Streets. Their lunch buffet is $9.95 and delicious.

Here's a look at the menu. Special props to Ben, here...I'm an ass and forgot the damn camera, so he used his phone cam again.

He was going to try to get a picture or two of the buffet, but the head honcho guy kept looking at him funny, so we gave up on that.

I had:

some of what I refer to as "Indian pico de gallo," fresh cucumber, hot peppers, red peppers, and a couple of other veggies, chopped up and marinated in some kind of a vinaigrette, with lots of cilantro, and a little cold salad of potato chunks, marinated, with veggies;

Onion bhajia: deep-fried onion with spices, dude.

chicken tikka masala: this is one of the richest versions of this dish I've had, very creamy and the chicken is tender and juicy. I can only eat one helping of it, though...it's just too creamy and rich and filling;

Lamb roganjosh: I absolutely love this, marinated, braised lamb in a brown sauce cooked until absolutely tender, with little strips of potato cooked in;

Aloo gothi: I think this was the cauliflower, potatoes and peas cooked in masala sauce;

Matar paneer: pieces of what they called "cottage cheese," which was a mild white cheese, cooked with tomatoes, onions and green peppers

Here's a picture of my plate. It doesn't look like much, but this was my SECOND helping.

We all had water to drink, and Sarah had a lassi as well.

I am now so full I think I might keel over and die. Do you suppose I could be fired for falling asleep at the desk?

K

[ophelie]

A question regarding Indian buffets for you, bergerka. Maybe you can tell me the case with your lunch buffet today. I used to eat at several indian buffets since it is chaep and easy. However, I always was disappointed with how mild most dishes were (since they were made for a lot of people). Was your chicken tikka masal (or any other dish) spicy at all?

-Ophelie

[slkinsey]

Do you mean spicy as in "hot" spicy? None of the dishes on that menu are supposed to be spicy hot, AFAIK. The only dish I found disappointing was the chicken tikka masala, which I found a little underspiced and the sauce not quite rich enough.

[ophelie]

Do you mean spicy as in "hot" spicy? None of the dishes on that menu are supposed to be spicy hot, AFAIK. The only dish I found disappointing was the chicken tikka masala, which I found a little underspiced and the sauce not quite rich enough.

Slkinsey,

You're probably right. My introduction to Indian food was by a couple of INdian families as I was growing up. I have a feeling that theycould have made many of their dishes to taste (hot/spicier than traditional). So, maybe that is what I grew to enjoy. When I order (as opposed to buffet) chicken tikka masala, for example, i tend to ask the waiter to have it prepared very, very hot/spicy. I like the added very intense kick. On buffets though, it always seems far too mild for me. I like the heat to counteract a rich sauce.

-Ophelie

[davidthomas8779]

I am now so full I think I might keel over and die. Do you suppose I could be fired for falling asleep at the desk?

K

You're a legal secretary, there is no way they could justify firing you for the first time you fall asleep. I look at the stuff I give my secretary to do and am astounded that I don't have to call her every 15 minutes to wake her up.

[bergerka]

A question regarding Indian buffets for you, bergerka. Maybe you can tell me the case with your lunch buffet today. I used to eat at several indian buffets since it is chaep and easy. However, I always was disappointed with how mild most dishes were (since they were made for a lot of people). Was your chicken tikka masal (or any other dish) spicy at all?

-Ophelie

Nope--nothing on that menu was spicy at all.

K

[alacarte]

Just a thought -- do y'all realize that these food blogs have been going steadily since July 2003? I'm impressed. It all started with an innocent question from SobaAddict to Fat Guy.

I'm just so impressed. If this carries through to a one-year anniversary, we'll have to find a special way to celebrate.

Edited March 12, 2004 by alacarte (log)

[SobaAddict70]

I'm just so impressed. If this carries through to a one-year anniversary, we'll have to find a special way to celebrate.

you mean, like a weeklong foodblog of Jason and Rachel Perlow?

Soba

[sequim]

What I'd like to know is how do you find the blogs of the past? I went back to Fat Guy's original one, then followed the links but the link then stopped with NeroW...

[SethG]

Here

and

here.

That should get you most all of them.

[slkinsey]

The combined results are in this search

[slkinsey]

I am uploading these pictures for Kathleen, who will no doubt have more to add.

Ferrets are very active when they are not asleep, so asleep is usually the best time to get a picture of them.

Asher and Zebulun asleep:

Issachar sound asleep:

Asher and Zebulun sharing a nap with me:

Issachar guarding the laundry:

Asher and Zebulun sharing the tent we have come to call the "house of bites":

Issachar having a bath:

[Lady T]

Irresistible.

[slbunge]

I like the bathtub picture. Is that a happy expression or a get-me-the-hell-out-of-here expression?

[mags]

Oh they just are incredibly cute.

[slkinsey]

I like the bathtub picture. Is that a happy expression or a get-me-the-hell-out-of-here expression?

Issa likes the bath.

[bergerka]

Now, folks, *folding arms and looking around severely* I haven't had ONE brave soul volunteer to step up and bare his or her food habits to the world. c'mon...SOMEONE has to do this. We have to keep the streak going so we have an excuse for the great foodblog one-year-anniversary bash!

K

[SobaAddict70]

You can tag someone, you know.

The rules of the game make it clear that anyone who's posted to the blog is fair game for tagging. (We'd prefer someone who hasn't been tagged before....like mmm, alacarte? Muahahahah.)

Soba

[Pan]

Thanks for the pics, Sam. They're very cute.

I remember that years ago, when the city passed a law against people keeping ferrets as pets, they claimed that ferrets have trouble distinguishing between food and people's fingers, if you hand feed them. Was that just some made-up hokum, or have there been such incidents? (The fact that I can never remember a single such incident making the news would seem to suggest that it's not true or vanishingly rare.)

[slkinsey]

That's total bunk. Ferrets have been domesticated for over 2,000 years. A ferret has no more biting issues than a kitten or a puppy. They have to be trained, is all. The best information on the NYC legal situation, including the history, may be found at: http://nycferrets.com/

[hannnah]

It's scary how much your ferrets remind me of my cats. They all have that boneless sprawl thing going on.

[bergerka]

Thanks for the pics, Sam. They're very cute.

I remember that years ago, when the city passed a law against people keeping ferrets as pets, they claimed that ferrets have trouble distinguishing between food and people's fingers, if you hand feed them. Was that just some made-up hokum, or have there been such incidents? (The fact that I can never remember a single such incident making the news would seem to suggest that it's not true or vanishingly rare.)

My guess is, the person who said that is the same City Council member who, at a meeting I attended (it was the last legalization vote, which passed, then was vetoed by Giuliani and they didn't quite have the votes to override the veto), declared that ferrets should not be legal because, well, they were bred to hunt rabbits, and since they can't hunt rabbits in New York City, they eat babies, because babies smell like rabbits.

I promise you, she said that. I was there. The best response was the next guy, who stood up and said "Ma'am...I don't know what YOUR baby smells like, but MY baby does NOT smell like a rabbit."

Our ferrets might lick you to death, or dance around and play tag with you until you drop dead of exhaustion, or scare you into a heart attack by licking your toes in the middle of the night, but that's as dangerous as they get.

Anyway.

Dinner!

I remembered to buy eggs, so Sam made frittate tonight! He made one of 'em out of the leftover spaghetti all'amatriciana, and the other out of the leftover kale, potatoes and chorizo (and he melted the remaining Shropshire Blue on top of them). We drank Fresca with them.

Here they are!

After dinner, thanks to the wonders of pay-per-view, we watched Pirates of the Caribbean (very cute, but Johnny Depp won the Golden Globe for THAT? Are you KIDDING me? Geoffrey Rush was better. Not that I don't love Depp. There are some lines in that movie that I'm going to quote for a long time, like "they're really more like...guidelines."). I made gimlets. I don't think I shook 'em long enough...they were kind of...strong.

Then I took a spoonful or two of Chubby Hubby out of the freezer and now I am beyond full. I can't believe I actually ate dinner. Usually, after Indian Buffet, I don't eat again till the next morning.

Tomorrow my online access will be a bit spotty, as I have to go to the Bronx for a voice lesson. I'll probably eat breakfast on the way, then post about it after I get home. I'll go out with a blast, though, because I THINK we're going out to dinner again tomorrow night somewhere fun. And I WILL be tagging someone, so if I haven't heard from anyone who WANTS to, it's going to be someone random and you can all just DEAL with it, so there.

Good night!

K

[bergerka]

It's scary how much your ferrets remind me of my cats. They all have that boneless sprawl thing going on.

Yes, absolutely. I'm a total cat person (unfortunately allergic) and find ferrets to be EXTREMELY catlike, with a lifelong babyish playfulness that reminds me of kittens or puppies.

Sam will deny it, because he insists he doesn't like cats, although my mother's cat Mewsy could tell you differently.

K

[slkinsey]

Personality-wise, ferrets are more like puppydogs... only with ferrets it lasts their entire lives.

So... what is everybody's favorite ferret picture? I'm stuck between the picture of Issachar asleep and the picture of Asher and Zebulun in the House of Bites.

[Pan]

Sam is definitely a master of the frittata!