Indian/Pakistani food

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Where do you go for your fix?

For me:

Shalimar on Polk
Indian Clay Oven (on Kearny). The family owns others around town, but they are not as good.
Nan&Curry - North Beach (only for their lamb biryani which will blow your head clean off). Miss B says their Van Ness kitchen is superior to almost anything, but I have not yet experienced it.

[Drunk Monk]

...India spoiled me.

I used to be a big fan of Pasand in Sunnyvale off El Camino until there was that horrid sex slave scandal with the founder. When I was in Sunnyvale, I was on a first name basis with manager there. The Sunnyvale Pasand has since closed.

Here in the cultural capital of Fremont, there's a huge Indian population, but I've yet to find a restaurant I'd call my fav. There was a nice one I used to visit at the Hub, but it closed. It's been replaced by a Biriyani place - can't recall the full name - which is ok. Woodlands is just down the street and it's very authentic, perhaps like that Biriyani place, a bit too authentic for non-Indians, since I only see Indians dining there ever. It's completely veg. I also like Chaat Cafe, which is a fast food-ish chain that spans the bay I think. They have nice lunch specials. There's also Bombay Garden, which is an all-you-can-stuff buffet. It has a good selection, a tad salty sometimes, but a whole row of veg options. If you ever come down for that business lunch, PPFY, I promise to stuff you so full of Indian chow at Bombay that you'll be jet propelled all the way home.

Another place I like in Mountain View is Amber. They tend to be a little buttery, and a little pricey, but it's a classy scene...that is, for Mountain View.

[thatguy]

There's Jumping Monkey <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.jumpingmonkeycafe.com/">http://www.jumpingmonkeycafe.com/</a><!-- m --> These guys used to follow the festival circuit and run an Indian Food lunch wagon. Strictly vegetarian. Their cafe is really small. The food is ok. I wasn't really impressed.

Royal Taj is the prominent indian restaurant in SC, but I haven't heard good things about it and have never been there.

There's a new one on the Pacific Garden Mall, I think it's called Sitar. Reminds me of Chaat Cafe, but I wasn't impressed by the food.

There were two restaurants owned by a Sri Lankan family: Malabar and Asian Rose. They consolidated them into one (I think using both names) in the old Front St. Brewery/Pub location. They are eclectic, not specifically indian. As I recall, the service is a bit slow, but the food was very good.

Speaking of Sri Lanka, the restaurant Sri <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.srirestaurant.com/home.htm">http://www.srirestaurant.com/home.htm</a><!-- m --> is very good. Their salad rolls are awesome and are only about $6. I really recommend this place.

Again diverging from the Indian theme, there's a new-ish restaurant called Zameen <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.zameencuisine.com/about">http://www.zameencuisine.com/about</a><!-- m --> in Aptos, right off the freeway that does "eastern Mediterranean" (ie: Moroccan) food. I've been there twice and find that it's pretty good. There's a pomegranate sauce that goes great with lamb...

Speaking of indian food, aside from a Pow Wow, where can I get some decent fry bread? or a Navajo Taco?

--tg

[Drunk Monk]

I had the mix and match. You get to choose a dosa and a rice. The dosa was serviceable - I went for the mysore masala. The rice was awesome. It was called venn somethingoranother - yogurt, cashews and fresh cracked black pepper - not three flavors that I'd normally think would go well together. It came with two more bowls of stuff. One was clearly dahl. The other, well, I was told it was a chutney, but I just sort of ate it like soup. It was quite good on it's own. I'm sure eating chutney like soup is a bit like eating catsup like soup. I imagine the cooks scoffing in the back. Oh well. It was tasty. Please pass the catsup.

[Drunk Monk]

Very good indeed. The masala was a little Campbell's tomato soup-like, a bit sweet, but decent. Good mutter paneer, not too salty or oily as that dish can often get. The dahl was served on a platter not in a bowl but it was tasty. The garlic naan was decent although I always prefer it more buttery and with freshly chopped chunks of garlic. Still, a fine restaurant, reasonably priced and with a pleasant authentic feel. Did not sample the biryani. We had regular rice, which was mixed with some saffron for color. It was good.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Got a new one: Darbar on Polk (across from Shalimar, so you can have your choice). Darbar is Pakistani. The best I have had so far in The City.

Lamb-patty appetizers with an optional spicy mint sauce. Excellent! Good burn, but did not mask the taste.

Lamb and lentil (Lamb Gosht, I think) very flavorful, almost complex. Chicken Vindaloo was really tasty, but only mild in the heat department. The owner said we should ask for medium, spicy or extra-spicy. I allowed that "extra-spicy" would prolly kill me.

Anyway, the dishes were all prepared fresh with fresh ingredients. The Grrl and I will be going back for sure.

[thatguy]

FYI: The recent reviews of this place on yelp seem pretty low.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/naan-n-curry-san-francisco-5">http://www.yelp.com/biz/naan-n-curry-san-francisco-5</a><!-- m -->

--tg

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Yeah, the Yelp thing is always taken with a grain of kosher sea-salt. It is so popular now that the amateurs have watered down the reviews. On the N&C I remember one of the frequent posters complaining because they had to order at the counter. ANother complained about the bones in the chicken. Dude, chickens have bones and it means they didn't get processed chicken breasts from Sysco. They actually cooked the chicken.

Ooooooh! Sorry, Princess! Didums have to walk those Manolo's allllll the way to the very far counter to order? Were the napkins paper and not spun silk? Did the place settings not match? Go back to Orinda, you simpering cow!

Anyway, enough people who think Fridays is a restaurant are on there now that you have to wade through several reviews or find a reviewer who may care about the food and have some good comparisons.

[thatguy]

With honey, cinnamon and sugar...There was a Pow Wow in Live Oak yesterday.

Woo hoo!

--tg

[Drunk Monk]

A new all veg Indian joint just opened on Mowry & 880, one exit from my office. Chaat Bhavan: white table cloth under glass, reasonably priced and they are excellent - very authentic, swarming with Indians, and a huge selection. I've only eaten there once so far but I may make it a weekly event. I got the Bhel Thali, having no idea wtf Bhel was (turns out its puffed crispies, garbanzos, onions, cilantro, peppers and some other tasty tidbits, all mixed up in this scrumptious green sauce and piled on your plate in a heap that you eat with a spoon). It was about $8+ and came with 2 vegs, dhal, tortilla-like naan, rice, raita, sliced raw onions dusted with red pepper powder (or maybe cumin) and a desert, plus chai. I was stuffed. They only offer 2 thali lunches, but they have these small platters that are under $5, and next time, I just might try two of those. And that's just the lunch menu - they have a full dinner plate menu.

Life is good in suburban hell. An oasis just appeared in the wastelands.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Mmmmmm! The only Veggy cuisine that meets or exceeds the Yeti Standard for Good Eats. India does it best!

[Drunk Monk]

February 11, 2009
India to launch cow urine as soft drink
Welcome to your new vending machine...
Jeremy Page, Delhi

Does your Pepsi lack pep? Is your Coke not the real thing? India's Hindu nationalist movement apparently has the answer: a new soft drink made from cow urine.

The bovine brew is in the final stages of development by the Cow Protection Department of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), India's biggest and oldest Hindu nationalist group, according to the man who makes it.

Om Prakash, the head of the department, said the drink – called "gau jal", or "cow water" – in Sanskrit was undergoing laboratory tests and would be launched "very soon, maybe by the end of this year".

"Don't worry, it won't smell like urine and will be tasty too," he told The Times from his headquarters in Hardwar, one of four holy cities on the River Ganges. "Its USP will be that it's going to be very healthy. It won't be like carbonated drinks and would be devoid of any toxins."

The drink is the latest attempt by the RSS – which was founded in 1925 and now claims eight million members – to cleanse India of foreign influence and promote its ideology of Hindutva, or Hindu-ness.

Hindus revere cows and slaughtering them is illegal in most of India. Cow dung is traditionally used as a fuel and disinfectant in villages, while cow urine and dung are often consumed in rituals to "purify" those on the bottom rungs of the Hindu caste system.

In 2001, the RSS and its offshoots – which include the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party – began promoting cow urine as a cure for ailments ranging from liver disease to obesity and even cancer.

The movement has often been accused of using more violent methods, such as killing 67 Christians in the eastern state of Orissa last year, and assaulting women in a pub in Mangalore last month. It also has a history of targeting foreign business in India, as in 1994, when it organised a nationwide boycott of multinational consumer goods, including Pepsi and Coca Cola.

The cola brands are popular in India, now one of their biggest markets, but have struggled in recent years to shake off allegations, which they deny, that they contain dangerous levels of pesticide.

Mr Prakash said his drink, by contrast, was made mainly of cow urine, mixed with a few medicinal and ayurvedic herbs. He said it would be "cheap", but declined to give further details about its price or ingredients until it was officially launched.

He insisted, however, that it would be able to compete with the American cola brands, even with their enormous advertising budgets. "We're going to give them good competition as our drink is good for mankind," he said. "We may also think of exporting it."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_an...707554.ece

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

Yum! Can't wait for it to hit the states. Should go well with all those popular Bull Bile drinks we are currently ingesting.

[cranefly]

Might I suggest they name the drink the golden cower.

[thatguy]

Brings a different meaning to "getting pissed"

--tg