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Passage To India, Salem, MA

September 20, 2012

While touring Salem like the super tourists we are, we got peckish from all the walking and witchcrafting and decided to stop at an indian restaurant we saw for dinner. It was very yummy. I really liked that they featured some items that I’ve never seen on any other indian restaurant menu. When we first sat down, they gave us that bread that’s like paper that you get at every indian restaurant and the hot onion chutney, which I usually love. This one, however, was pretty much the spiciest thing I’ve ever eaten, and it took three glasses of water, and a Sam Adams Boston Lager to put out the fire in my mouth. And even then, my tastebuds were all sensitive and angry.

Like being stung in the tongue by a thousand evil bees from hell.

We started with the Passage Mixed Appetizers plate, which is pretty standard for indian restaurants. This featured vegetable pakora, vegetable samosa, aloo tikki, cheese pakora (my favorite), chicken pakora, meat samosa, chicken kabob, and fish pakora. Although, somehow they ended up replacing the meat samosa with another vegetable samosa, which was kind of a let down. But other than that it was quite yummy. We also got cheese naan which, when done right, is my favorite indian bread. This one wasn’t really that great, which was also disappointing. The best one is india palace in Greenville. I really liked that they did combination plates for people like me who can’t decide what they want. Plus, their combo plate featured basically the three dishes I usually have trouble deciding between: Chicken tikka masala, paneer saag, and lamb curry. It came with rice and poori bread, which is the bread equivalent of a balloon. I loved it, it was so yummy.

Bread balloons are my favorite kind of balloons

I didn’t think I was going to love the lamb, but it was actually perfect. Not fatty at all, and the curry sauce was delicious. I loved the paneer saag, although I have to say that the best saag I’ve ever eaten was at India Palace in Greenville. The chicken tikka masala was pretty delicious, but I would say that’s pretty standard. I’ve never really had tikka masala that I didn’t like. Greg got the Chicken tikka masala at the spiciest level you could get it. Karen got Chicken curry slightly less spicy than Greg’s. Both were waaay too spicy for me.

Now I’m craving Indian food. And no one I know in Charleston likes Indian food. Awesome.

Tina got a chicken dosa, which is one of those things I’ve never heard of before. It was described as a “crispy chicken crepe,” but looked more like an indian burrito. Either way it was very yummy, although I would probably never order it myself. All in all, our meal was delicious.

Indian burrito!

I love indian food. It’s probably my favorite food to eat, after sushi. And Passage to India makes really quality, delicious indian food. TRY IT!

Passage To India
157 Washington Street
Salem, MA 01950

Restaurant Reviews

Pomegranate On Main

June 14, 2012

Our visit to Pomegranate didn’t get off to a great start. When my mom called early that day to increase our reservation from 6 to 7, the hostess got all flustered, like we’d asked her something totally insane, like “Hi, I’m going to need for you to find me a chair made out of pure gold, because my badonkadonk is too high class to be sitting on anything less.” She chastised us over the phone “Ok… uhmmm….. let me see what I can do… I just…. this is really…. uh. It might be a bit of a problem. But. uhhh…… hold on [1 minute of silence] Ok. You have to call us if anything changes, because we were only planning for six of you. So let us know if you get any more or any less, because we might have to switch tables, which can be a problem… so…. just make sure you call us.” I’ve changed the number of people on a reservation a hundred times. I know for a fact that’s something restaurants deal with on a daily basis, so spare me the lecture and just add an extra chair to our table. It’s really not that big of a deal. Especially since the restaurant was half empty the entire time we were there. It’s not like people were fighting over seats. But, I digress.

God, I HATE IT when people actually make me do my job!

Everything was fine when we got there, no issues over seating or numbers, which was good. Tina and I ordered their signature pomegranate martini, which is very, very strong, and very, very sweet. It was good, but it took me the entire meal to finish. We started out with an appetizer trio sampler, because we’re indecisive and hungry so we couldn’t pick just one thing. You can customize your trio based on what appeals to you, so I picked the Mast Khiyar (mixture of freshly diced cucumbers, yogurt, raisins, walnuts and fresh herbs), Borani Spinach (blend of sauteed spinach, onion, yogurt and garlic), and Hummus. Tina was apprehensive about the cucumber thing because it had raisins in it, but it ended up being her favorite of the three. It was almost like tzatziki, and you really couldn’t even tell that there were raisins in it. I think we made good choices (especially since the other options were all eggplant based, and I don’t really do eggplant). The hummus was good, although it didn’t compare to the hummus we had at the Moroccan restaurant in Duluth, which is the best hummus I’ve ever had. The spinach thing tasted a lot like the Palak dishes you find at indian restaurants. The appetizers were served with fresh, hot pita bread, which was delicious, and a tray of mint leaves and fresh feta cheese. All the mint ended up going in our water, because we’re school children who can’t behave ourselves in public.

Ben got all excited to arrange his plate all artistically so I could take a picture of it. It really doesn’t take a lot with him.

For my entree, I ordered a Chinjeh Soltani, which was a combination plate consisting of one Koobideh kabob (blend of ground tenderloin and ground chuck, seasoned and charboiled) and one Chinjeh kabob (cuts of tenderloin, marinated in a saffron yogurt combination, charbroiled). The dishes were all served with a grilled tomato and complementing rice dish. Even though mine was just basic basmati rice, it’s probably the most flavorful rice I’ve ever eaten. You’re supposed to squish up the tomato and mix it in with the rice and then squeeze the lime all over it. So I did that. It was so good. Everything was delicious. The piece of meat that’s cut up in the picture is the Chinjeh, and the long stick is the koobideh. I can’t really say which one I liked better. They were both so, so good.

I mean, who doesn’t love a good stick o’ meat?

Sean and Ben both got the same thing, the Torsh Soltani, which was one Koobideh kabob (blend of ground tenderloin and ground chuck, seasoned and charboiled) and one Torsh kabob (cuts of tenderloin, marinated in a zesty sweet and sour Pomegranate sauce mixed with walnuts, charbroiled). Sean ordered special rice with lentils and golden raisins, which was also really freaking delicious. Ben got the same rice as me, so I’m only going to show a picture of Sean’s, because even though they ordered the same thing, I thought Sean’s meat tasted better (that’s what she said?). Christine decided to be different and order a chicken kabob. It wasn’t that interesting, and neither is she (jk jk! I love you Christinalena!). You can see it in the background of Sean’s picture.

“Special” rice for a “special” little man.

Tina and Jenn got a chicken soltani, which was one chicken kabob (marinated in a lemon saffron sauce, charbroiled) and one barg kabob (tenderloin, marinated in a traditional Persian marinade of onion and saffron, charbroiled). I liked the barg, but I still think the torsh was my favorite. Tina’s came with basmati cranberry rice which was probably my favorite of all the rices I tried. It had that great balance of savory and sweet and tart. It was awesome. The chicken was good, but I don’t think it could even hold a candle to the beef. All of the beef dishes were absolutely outstanding, but the chicken was just kind of…. chicken. I mean, it was good, it just didn’t blow me away like the beef dishes did.

Now I’m getting hungry and can’t think of anything funny to say. Boo.

Dad decided to be unique and get something completely different from everyone else. He opted for the rack of lamb (marinated in a rosemary sauce, charbroiled), and lorded over it like a troll guarding a bridge. He reluctantly shared with us after we berated him enough, and I have to say that the lamb was pretty fantastic. I’m picky when it comes to lamb, because a lot of times lamb can be fatty and tough, but this was tender and lean, and the flavor was really outstanding. His came with the same rice as Sean’s (basmati rice with lentils and golden raisins).

Pictured: Why you shouldn’t get gremlins wet.

We opted out of dessert, mostly because we were all stuffed, but also because they didn’t really sound that great. Even though it’s not the best middle eastern food I’ve ever had, it’s definitely the best middle eastern food in Greenville, so if you’re not afraid of GIANT STICKS OF MEAT, then I highly recommend you check it out.

Order the beef or the lamb with cranberry basmati rice. Also, be damn sure how many people are coming with you before you make a reservation, lest you give the hostess a brain aneurysm.

Pomegranate On Main
618 S.Main St
Greenville, SC 29201
(864) 241-3012

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Restaurant Reviews

[CLOSED] Imane Moroccan Restaurant, Duluth, GA

January 8, 2012

UPDATE: This restaurant is now closed. Sad day 🙁

On what was to be our final day in Atlanta, we finally found a Moroccan restaurant that was open for lunch, even though we had to drive a bit out of our way to get there (and google maps was about 2 miles off from where the restaurant actually was). Tina’s been going on and on about Moroccan food forever. She likes to hold it over my head whenever I ask where she wants to eat (because she knows there aren’t any Moroccan restaurants in Charleston, thereby forcing me to pick a restaurant, which drives me insane). Tina was happier than a clam to be there.

This is what it looks like to be happier than a bivalve in a Moroccan restaurant.

So we finally make it to this restaurant, which only happens to be open for lunch on Fridays (what luck!) and it’s actually super cute inside, impeccably decorated, with a few women in the corner smoking hookah, speaking what sounded like Arabic. It was beautiful and orante without feeling commercial (it’s a very thin line to toe). With all the food that we’d eaten in the time we were in Atlanta, this was by far the best. To start with, we got the chicken briwates, which are like filo dough stuffed with chicken, but it was almost like a pastry, topped with powdered sugar. It sounds weird, and Tina wasn’t a huge fan, but I really liked it. We also got the falafel, which was the probably one of the best falafels I’ve ever had, but the hummus. Oh my God, the hummus. If you go there and get nothing else, get the hummus. It’s seriously the best hummus I’ve ever eaten, and I sincerely doubt you’ll find it better anywhere else. We also got babaganoush, grape leaves, and something called zaalouk, which was almost like tomato sauce mixed with babaganoush. I liked the grape leaves, and the zaalouk was ok but, once again, I’m not really into egg plant. We also got mint tea, which was really good. Like super sweet and minty and tea. I can’t describe it, but it was delicious.

And this was just the appetizer course.

For entree’s, Sean once again channeled his inner Ron Swanson and ordered a plate of meat, aka the kabob assorted platter–Kafta, chicken, beef, lamb chop, and merguez, which is a lamb-based sausage. I loved every single piece of meat on that plate (that’s what she said?). The spices were amazing, everything was tender and delicious, neither over nor undercooked. I thought the food from Lawrence’s was good, but this was completely out of this world. He also got Moroccan-style potatoes, which are kind of like a curry mashed potatoes that are fried. They were ok, nothing super special, but the meats were amazing.

The aftermath of the meat tornado.

Tina got this soup kind of thing, with giant vegetables in a broth that you pour over couscous. It also came with pretty much all the meats that Sean ordered, but they were served on the side instead of in the soup, which I thought was kind of weird. It was my least favorite of all the things we got, but it was still delicious, and Tina and I really liked it.

NO COUS FOR YOU!

What I got was amazing. I was kind of unsure of how to feel about it when I ordered it, because it was lamb shank, and I’m not usually huge on lamb (fatty, chewy, etc), but I went in with an open mind–I wanted to try something characteristic of Morocco. It’s called a tagine, and I got what was called “casablanca mrozia.” It’s lamb shank braised in mrozia spices, rasins and honey, garnished with almonds and sesame seeds. It was one of the most unique flavors I’ve ever tasted. But it was amazing. Apparently they’re really good at balancing savory and sweet in the food in Morocco. I was very surprised and delighted that I enjoyed it so much. It pained mentally to have to stop eating before I finished it, but the physical pain of being so full overpowered my mental strength.

“This is the song that never eeeeeenNOMNOMNOMS!”

Basically, if you’ve never eaten Moroccan food, you should make a trip out to Imane because it’s seriously my favorite restaurant now…. sucks that I live 5 hours away from it…

Imane Moroccan Restaurant
3455 Peachtree Industrial Boulevard #840
Duluth, GA 30096
(678) 638-7990

All in all it was a great trip, even though I ate too much and exercised too little….. although I did manage to plow through 2.5 seasons of 30 Rock. So, I was productive in that sense, at least. Plus, I love Atlanta! I could totally see myself living there someday!

Hope everyone had a fun and eventful New Year!

Restaurant Reviews

Eating in Atlanta, In A Nutshell.

January 6, 2012

HAPPY 2012 ERRIBODY! I hope everyone is excited for this upcoming year! I know I am…minus that tiny little detail where “The World Might End in 359 Days”… not that I really believe it. But, you know, it would be nice if it didn’t actually happen. I feel like I’ve almost gotten the hang of this whole “adulthood” thing or whatever.

This is the side of adulthood I’ve really mastered.

For New Year’s Eve, I travelled to Atlanta to visit my friends, “The Hungry People” aka Sean and Christine where I spent a wonderful span of days hopping from one meal to another. There’s so much ethnic food here. It’s kind of like how I imagine heaven. I was really excited to eat Lebanese food Wednesday with my mom and Sean, but on the way to the restaurant, my mom’s car broke down. So not only were we stranded by the side of the road, terrified that the tow truck would never actually come, we were also hungry because our car didn’t have the decency to wait til after lunch to die. Rude, right? So I’m stuck in Atlanta for another night (or three), and I thought this would be a good time to do a roundup review of all the restaurants I’ve eaten at in Atlanta. However, I’m going to break from my usual style and only do brief summaries of each restaurant, because I ate at so many, it got kind of hard to keep track of it all.

This has been me at every meal this week.

1. Cafe Bombay Indian Bistro

We went to Cafe Bombay on Sean’s recommendation–he’d been there with Thomas for lunch a couple weeks earlier. To be honest, I really hadn’t been in the mood for Indian food that day, but that feeling changed the second I stepped in the door. I could just tell by the scent in the air as soon as I opened the door, that this food was going to be delicious, and I definitely was not disappointed. We were there for the lunch buffet, and let me tell you, this is the biggest indian buffet I’d ever seen (and I’ve been to quite a few). We all know, however, that bigger does not necessarily mean better, but Cafe Bombay definitely knows what they’re doing. They don’t sacrifice quality for quantity even in the least.

Trip 1 of 8 through the buffet.

Their paneer tikka masala with their homemade cheese cubes was AMAZING. Usually I don’t care for paneer because it’s usually bland and tasteless, and reminds me too much of tofu, but if I ever go back there, I will order just the paneer tikka masala. Also, they made this chicken that they marinated in cream cheese. That was really good too. Basically everything they made was delicious, and I highly recommend you visit them if you ever have the chance. But, don’t be surprised if you leave never wanting to eat ever again.

#1 indeed!

Cafe Bombay
2615 Briarcliff Road
Northeast Atlanta, GA 30329-3112
(404) 320-0229

2. Sushi Kiku

So Sean went and woke up (ish) Raina on New Years Day to ask her about a sushi buffet place she’d talked about. She snored out the words “sushi kiku” and Sean decided that’s where we were going to eat for lunch. So Thomas, Sean, Christine, and I ventured out to Buckhead to shove some sushi into our faces. They made about two rolls of each type of sushi at a time, so they really weren’t out long enough to get gross or weird, and I’m pretty sure they changed them out at regular intervals. Every time I went up to the bar, there were different rolls out to try. I was quite impressed.

A very pleasant surprise!

I think they probably had a 9 or 10 rolls total to choose from, and you better believe I tried some of each, and then second helpings of the rolls I liked best. But be warned, their spicy mayo is super spicy. They also had a bunch of non-sushi items for those who aren’t really the lovers of the sushi–steak, salads, fried rice, chicken, pot stickers, cheesy scalloped potatoes (I guess for those people who don’t like japanese food either…I guess no one can say they’re not diverse!), and some dessert items that I couldn’t really look at without feeling nauseous because I’d eaten so much, but Sean assured me they were delicious. I found out that the apartment above Sushi Kiku was for rent, and I seriously considered moving in, dreaming of eating at Sushi Kiku every day…

Because sushi + cats = happiness.

You should definitely try Sushi Kiku if you’re into sushi and like variety. It wasn’t necessarily the best sushi I’d ever had, but it was pretty good, and it was cheap for a sushi buffet, like $12.99 per person for lunch. Which is great, because I definitely ate my money’s worth of sushi. Even though it wasn’t my favorite sushi ever, the quality was still very high, and it was good, and the value was great, so I would definitely recommend it if you’re into sushi.

Sushi-palooza

Sushi Kiku
2770 Lenox Road Northeast
Atlanta, GA 30324-6006
(404) 467-4544

3. Fat Matt’s Rib Shack

Wednesday was kind of a crazy day. Our original plan was to get some lebanese food with my mom when she came to pick me up, but then the car broke down on 85, which kind of threw a wrench in that plan. We’d had a crazy morning filled with running up an exit ramp against my mother’s wishes, waiting half an hour for Thomas to come rescue us, waiting for the AAA people to figure out what they were doing with the car (which they never ended up doing), etc., before we were free(ish) to FINALLY find something to eat. Only we were so far away from our original destination we were left to answer that age old question “What shall we eat?”

WHY, GOD, HAVE YOU CURSED ME WITH SO MANY CHOICES?!

After driving around for about half an hour trying to figure out what we wanted, Sean finally had the brilliant idea to try out Fat Matt’s, a place he’d wanted to try for a while. We all liked barbecue, and we were half starving to death, so we decided that was where we would eat. The restaurant itself is an unassuming little diner-type building, and the few menu items were written on a board near the ordering counter.

I’ll have….one of everything on the menu.

I ordered the chopped pork sandwich, minus the bun, with a side of macaroni and cheese and collards. Tina got a combo plate of chicken and ribs, with rum baked beans. Sean got ribs with macaroni, and Thomas got the combo plate, but I don’t remember what sides he got. The combo plates came with toast, and the chicken was delicious, as were the ribs. My pork was delicious, and the barbecue sauce was the perfect blend of spicy, tangy, and sweet. The collards were really good, but super spicy, and the macaroni was delicious.

This is some good stuff.

The food was delicious, the atmosphere was comfortable and homey, and the bathrooms were nice and clean. Also, it looks like they have a stage set up for concerts, which I think would be very cool. Check it out!

Fat Matt’s Rib Shack
1811 Piedmont Avenue NE
Atlanta, GA 30324
(404) 607-1622