Dosa Do

Finally made it to Dosa last Sunday. Wait was only about ten minutes, which we spent at the bar having an aperitif.  A quite charming space, modern with high ceilings and spinning fans (which were not as effective as one might hope in cooling down the quite warm room).

Started off with a special of heirloom tomatoes, a stack of six slices of different varieties of tomatoes atop coconut flavored noodles, dressed with a bit of mint chutney.  The tomatoes were perfectly ripe, which pretty much guaranteed that this dish would satisfy.  The coconut and mint added a surprising bit of dimension to what could’ve been a tasty but ordinary dish – and there was a bit of heat to the chutney, giving the tomatoes a distinct Indian signature.  Really loved this…

Next were spinach and cauliflower vadas (a type of fritter), napped with a bit of spicy tomato chutney – almost like an aioli.  The vadas were crispy without a trace of grease; and while quite yummy, most of the flavor came from the chutney – I didn’t taste much spinach or cauliflower.

Our third course was a pea-and-paneer dosa, the Indian flatbread for which the restaurant is named, served with three different chutneys.  It was serviceable.  Not being a dosa connoisseur, I don’t really have a good yardstick with which to measure the dosa (though a colleague at work who is of South Indian descent advised that Udupi Palace makes a better dosa) – but it was a bit dull.  And I didn’t find any of the three chutneys to be especially interesting.  Don’t get me wrong – the dosa was fine; just found it to be on the bland side.

Lamb and Lentil Curry with Coconut Rice

For our main course, we shared the special for the evening, a lovely lamb and lentil curry served with coconut rice.  Substantial chunks of tender lamb in a thick and savory brown curry made with four kinds of lentils; very nice heat and a wonderful texture.  The lamb was excellent, full of flavor, with just the slightest hint of gaminess playing off the heat and spices.  The accompanying rice was a perfect foil, adding a touch of sweetness to the zippy curry.

Finished off with gulab jamun (fried milk dough balls in syrup) which were well-executed; balls were light and fluffy and suitably soaked with syrup.  However, there was little complexity – no cardomom pods or other spices added to livent things up.  And the syrup was quite hot temperature-wise – more so than I thought necessary.  Chris had a very tasty dish of pistachio ice cream.

Our waitress was very good, making a couple of recommendations to us as first-time visitors; and serving our courses as ordered and at an unhurried pace.

We quite enjoyed our meal at Dosa and plan to be back – though, surprisingly, are unlikely to order the dosas which are there specialty.  But with their extensive menu of curries, vadas and idlis, I don’t anticipate having any difficulty ordering a great meal.

Kasa no es mi casa…

I had been wanting to try Kasa since I first read the concept – kind of Indian-meets-tacqueria.  The menu has only two items – kati rolls or thalis, with a choice of various meat and vegetarian dishes to fill or go alongside.

It was rather busy when we arrived at 1:30 on July 4 – and despite about eight people working behind the counter, they seemed to have some trouble coping with the line of eight or ten customers.  The place is still new-ish, so I’m willing to cut them a bit of slack, but not an ideal way to start off.

At any rate, I ordered two thalis – chicken tikka masala for Chris and lamb curry for me.  The thali includes rice, roti, raita, cucumber salad, lentils and a couple of chutneys.  They also added some cabbage with mustard seed to my plate when I asked what it was – a thoughtful touch.

They were out of lamb curry and told me it’d be ready in a minute.  Sigh…  I should’ve known better than to wait.  Not that I even really minded the five-minute wait – but they’d already assembled my thali plate and let it sit while waiting for the lamb curry.  So the already not-very-hot rice and lentils were cold by the time I got my curry.

As for the food itself, it was a mixed bag.  I thought the lamb curry was pretty dull – a thin sauce, not much spice or flavor to it; and the lamb was a bit gamey.  The raita was cool and tasty.  The cabbage was actually my favorite – the most complex spicing and a really good texture, both tender and crunchy.  The cucumber salad was yummy – sweet, spicy and refreshing, though it was a bit too chunky to really come together completely.  Lentils were kind of a bore – could’ve used both salt and spicing up.  I also found the roti to be more greasy than buttery.

Chris had a glass of wine and I had an ice cold Kingfisher (on tap, no less), all of which brought the bill to $37.  This seems pretty steep for counter service with food that rated an overall “meh”.  I’d certainly go back to try out some of the other dishes – but I wouldn’t make a special trip. I really wanted to like this place – but it can’t really hold its own against some of my other favorite Indian places like Sultan or Shalimar.

Smoking or Naan?

Wow… Another delicious meal at Sultan. The place was packed – really nice to see, because I don’t know what I’ll do if I can’t eat there every other week. Started off with potato croquettes (which Chris used to demonstrate a very intimate medical procedure he recently underwent… the mint chutney provided an especially useful visual aid…). Filled with fresh corn and spicy chiles (the croquette, that is, not Chris…). Lamb kababs as tasty as ever – tender, with lots of cilantro and other spices…

Ordered the prawn/coconut curry and was informed they were out – but then 10 minutes later, the dish magically appeared. The chef had run out to replenish. Fresh, juicy prawns in a zippy tomato curry… And my favorite vegetable tawa alongside.

The only disappointment? No gulab jamun! They really do make the best…