Indian Restaurant Reviews - NYC, Chicago & NJ

Closed! Bollywood Villain Shiva Natarajan’s Filthy Shithole Dhaba Closed by NYC; Dhaba has Live Roaches, Evidence of Mice etc

Apr 052012

Update: Dhaba Reopens After Fresh Inspection

Bollywood villain Shiva Natarajan must be writhing, groaning and moaning in shame after the New York City Health Department closed his unhygienic shithole Dhaba Indian restaurant on 108 Lexington Avenue following an inspection on April 3, 2012.

After all, closing a restaurant is a drastic step that the NYC Health Dept takes only under conditions of serious hygiene violations.

Unhygienic Dhaba NYC Closed by NYC Unhygienic Dump Dhaba Closed by NYC Health Dept

Dhaba NYC – Filthy

Live roaches, evidence of mice/live mice, inadequate personal cleanliness are only a few of the critical violations unearthed by the NYC Health Department in its recent inspection of Dhaba Indian restaurant on Lexington Ave in New York City.

Dhaba scored a horrible 77 violations in the inspection, a figure that must surely be causing palpitations in diners who visited the restaurant in recent weeks.

It’s only a cruel, callous, villainous owner who maintains such poor hygiene in his restaurant knowing fully well the potential harmful consequences on diners (Dhaba has failed the NYC Health Dept inspection on multiple occasions in the past).

Here are a few of the critical violations unearthed at Shiva Natarajan’s Dhaba (marked in Red by NYC Health Department) in the April 3, 2012 inspection:

* Live roaches present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.
* Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.
* Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.
* Raw, cooked or prepared food is adulterated, contaminated, cross-contaminated, or not discarded in accordance with HACCP plan.
* Personal cleanliness inadequate. Outer garment soiled with possible contaminant. Effective hair restraint not worn in an area where food is prepared.

Time and again Dhaba has fared miserably in the NYC Health Department inspections.

On multiple occasions, we have brought up the issue of poor hygiene at Dhaba with its garrulous owner Shiva Natarajan.

And the man blames everyone (landlords, garbage pickup schedules, the city etc) but himself.

On one occasion, he even threatened to unleash his lawyers on us.

Maybe, it’s time the bozo looked up the word introspection in the dictionary.

In the meantime, our sympathies are with Dhaba’s hapless diners and hope they stay healthy.

Update: The NYC Health Department has authorized the reopening of Dhaba following a new inspection in which the restaurant scored 2 violation points.

100m Indian Chutias Will Soon be Depressed

Food, Health No Responses »

Apr 042012

A friend recently visiting from India told us that fast-food restaurants in India serving Pizzas, Burgers, Croissants etc had mushroomed there and are now wildly popular with the younger generation, particularly in the cities (food courts, malls and even residential neighborhoods).

Our friend’s remark on Indian fast-food places came to mind when we stumbled upon a Spanish study linking consumption of fast-food with depression.

Fast food in the context of the Spanish study refers to pizzas, burgers, sausages, doughnuts, muffins, croissants etc.

Fast Food = Bad Health

That a lot of fast food in America and elsewhere is extremely unhealthy has been written about by several authors, made into films and generally beaten to death.

Despite the widespread publicity of the harmful effects of fast food, the idiots keep stuffing themselves with that junk.

Well, if you ask us we’ve always considered the Sapiens part of Homo Sapiens to be much overrated.

While knowledge of fast-food contributing to bad health is well known, it comes as an unwelcome surprise that junk food also leads to bad mental health.

Now Spanish researchers Almudena Sánchez-Villegas, Estefania Toledo, Jokin de Irala, Miguel Ruiz-Canela, Jorge Pla-Vidal and Miguel A Martínez-Gonzáleza have recently published a research article in the academic journal Public Health Nutrition titled Fast-food and commercial baked goods consumption and the risk of depression.

The authors conclude that eating fast-food and commercial baked goods may have a detrimental effect on depression risk.

In plain English, it means eating fast food causes depression.

There’s also a dose-response relationship between fast food and depression. So if you eat more fast food, the greater your risk of depression.

An excerpt from the study says:

Participants belonging to consumption quintiles Q2–Q5 showed an increased risk of depression compared with those belonging to the lowest level of consumption

Indian Scenario

Now consider that India’s population is about 1.3 billion people (the way those mosquitoes breed, it could well be a lot higher).

Given the high economic growth rate in recent years, the burgeoning middle class and entry of more women into the work-force, we’re going to take a reasonable 9% of that population as frequent consumers of fast-food like Pizzas, Burgers, croissants, donuts etc.

Do the math and you get a whopper of a figure – 100 million.

This means that 100 million Indian chutias who stuff their anterior orifices aka mouths with all that junk food are already depressed or will soon be.

In our view, depression is often related to suicide, homicide, road-rage, obesity and a variety of other problems.

Depression is said to currently affect 124 million worldwide but we consider that a ridiculously low estimate.

Food containing B vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids and olive oil can help to prevent depression.

We think this is the best of times for psychiatrists and lawyers in India.

Halal Food Envelops NYC

America, Food 1 Response »

Mar 072012

New York City is catholic (in the non-religious sense) in its embrace of different cultures, food and people.

And sure enough of Halal too.

These days it seems as if every direction we turn in New York City there’s a food establishment proclaiming its food to be Halal.

The other day as we were walking through the Pakistani enclave of Coney Island Avenue in Brooklyn we did a double-take upon seeing the sign Halal Pizza (at the intersection of Coney Island Ave and Foster Ave).

Halal Pizza?

So we’d assume this pizzeria does not offer the popular Pepperoni topping made from Pork.

Or if it does, the Pepperoni won’t include cured pork but will instead be made from beef or chicken.

halal pizza coney island avenue brooklyn Halal Pizza @ Coney Island Ave, Brooklyn

It’s not just pizza places in Brooklyn that have embraced Halal.

Go to midtown Manhattan and you’ll find food carts screaming their Halal-hood.

Hey, there’s even a food cart in Midtown West Manhattan labeled The Halal Guys (see picture below).

Can a NYC food establishment get more Halalesque than incorporating Halal in its very name?

We think not.

halal guys food cart w 53rd st nyc Halal Guys W.53rd St in Midtown Manhattan

If there are less than a few dozen Halal food carts in Midtown Manhattan alone, we’d be surprised.

Food carts abound in Midtown Manhattan because it’s a tourist hub given the proximity to Times Square and some prominent museums like MOMA.

Also, there are a lot of businesses, including giants like Morgan Stanley, in Midtown and all those employees have to eat somewhere.

And these days eating cheaply is a sine qua non for many.

Here’s another Halal food cart that we ran into near the famous Museum of Modern Art, again in Midtown Manhattan.

halal food cart in midtown manhattan Halal Food Cart near MOMA in NYC

If so many Manhattan eateries have enthusiastically embraced Halal, surely their harbingers must have been in the ethnic neighborhoods of Queens.

Take the 7 train from Times Square to the South Asian neighborhood of Jackson Heights and sure enough there’s the Halal evidence in plain sight as you descend the stairs to 74th St.

Walk through the dirty 73rd and 74th Sts along 37th Ave in Jackson Heights and there you see the Halal food carts with their intoxicating (or nauseating if you’re a vegetarian) aroma of Chicken and Beef Kebabs.

halal dishes food cart on 74th st in jackson heights Halal Dishes Food Cart 74th St, Jackson Heights, NY

What is Halal Food?

To understand this Halal phenomenon, we set off to do some research.

First of, what does the word Halal mean?

Anon we went to Encyclopedia Britannica, which surprisingly has no reference to Halal food.

So we headed to Wikipedia, which describes Halal as:

a term designating any object or an action which is permissible to use or engage in, according to Islamic law

By the way, the opposite of Halal is Haram (forbidden).

The word Halal is most often applied to food.

For more information on Halal as it applies to food, we traipsed over to the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America (IFANCA) web site.

IFANCA tells us that all food is Halal except the following Haram items:

Swine/Pork and its by-products
Animals improperly slaughtered or dead before slaughtering
Alcoholic drinks and intoxicants
Carnivorous animals, birds of prey and certain other animals
Foods contaminated with any of the above products

So don’t expect to see Pork Fried Rice on the menu of any of these Halal establishments.

Pork is out.

But Beef, Chicken, Lamb, Goat and Fish are in.

Why Halal Food in NYC?

The Muslim population in NYC although substantial at 700,000 is still not big when you consider the city’s total population of about 8 million.

So then why these ubiquitous Halal signs if there aren’t that many Muslims and if most of the customers are non-Muslims?

In our analysis, the main reason – A lot of food carts and restaurants in ethnic enclaves like Brooklyn’s Coney Island Ave) or Jackson Heights (73rd and 74th St) and Midtown Manhattan are owned mostly by Muslims, often immigrants.

By declaring their food to be Halal, these Muslim immigrants are essentially telling other Muslims of their strict adherence to Islamic precepts even in a distant nation far from native shores.

As for customers, our hypothesis is that most New Yorkers couldn’t care less if their food is Halal or Haram as long as it’s cheap, plentiful and tasty (in that order).

What’s next?

Well, some Pakistani food carts in Midtown Manhattan already serve Masala Dosa but we’re not sure if it’s Halal!

Crazy! 56 Indian Restaurants Crowd 4-Mile Oak Tree Road Stretch in Edison/Iselin, NJ

Food, Reviews 7 Responses »

Feb 282012

We bet you haven’t seen anything like this, not even in Incredible India.

Bizarre, indeed.

Curry Holes on Oak Tree Road

On a short, four-mile stretch of Oak Tree Road that runs through the New Jersey towns of Iselin and Edison in Middlesex County, there are now 56 Indian restaurants.

Yes, schmucks. We said 56.

Whaddaya think? That we can’t type or count?

No, we’re not counting the mom-and-pop operations in the area engaged in providing tiffin and dinner services for bachelors and the H1B/L Visa types. If you include them as well, the numbers would probably hit 75 or more.

For this post, we’re counting only those restaurants that have a brick and mortar commercial structure and a clear signboard.

We’ve included even the few Pakistani restaurants in the area because they all serve Indian food (even Indian-Chinese fare).

The only difference is that the Pakistani restaurants serve Beef, which Indians find abhorrent considering their greatly professed love for the Holy Cow and its urine! (Yes, a lot of Indian Hindus to this day take pride in drinking cow’s urine, euphemestically called cow-ca-cola.)

From Abhiruchi Andhra restaurant on Worth St in Iselin to Calcutta Indian-Chinese restaurant at 2090 Oak Tree Rd Edison is a distance of just four miles. No more than 10-minutes by car.

And on this short stretch you can find every kind of Indian food – North Indian and South Indian, Indian-Chinese and Punjabi, Chettinad and Gujarati, Rajasthani and Indian cakes, Kulfi Ice Cream and Chaat, Masala Chai and Madras Coffee, Sugarcane Juice and Lassi you get ‘em all on Oak Tree Road.

If you trip and fall on Oak Tree Road, you’re more than likely to break your head on the threshold of an Indian restaurant. No kidding, fellas.

We bet there’s nothing like this anywhere else in the U.S.

Other desi enclaves in the U.S. like Pioneer Blvd in Artesia, CA or Devon Ave in Chicago can’t hold a candle to Oak Tree Road for the cornucopia of Indian restaurants.

Mostly Dumps

A lot of these curry holes on Oak Tree Road are dumps, no better or no worse than those small Indian restaurants dotting the landscape of India.

But some Oak Tree Road Indian restaurants profess to offer a so-called ‘fine dining’ experiences.

Of course, if you ask us we’ll say “fine dining Indian Restaurants” is a contradiction in terms.

For the words ‘fine’ or ‘finesse’ are not to be found in the Indian dictionary.

The origins of Oak Tree Road’s fame as an Indian restaurant hub are hazy.

Most likely, it all started in the 1980s.

Probably, the first Indian businesses in the area were grocery stores selling Rice, Dal and spices and renting video cassettes of Bollywood films to immigrants.

And as these grocery stores drew people, restaurants sprouted there to cater to the cravings of the Indian clientele for desi food.

When the first Indian restaurant succeeded, other Indians quickly flocked to the area given the herd mentality of our people.

Mostly Indian Faces

Compared to Indian restaurants in other parts of New Jersey, the desi eating joints Oak Tree Road are patronized mostly by South Asians.

The main reason is that the whole Indian strip on Oak Tree Road has a dirty, unkempt look favored only by our people.

Filth may put off Americans but it makes Indians feel so at home.

The only non-Indian faces you’ll see at the Oak Tree Road Indian restaurants are those of ‘Mexican Amigos’ washing dishes or preparing Masala Dosa and Palak Paneer.

Or the White cops handing out traffic tickets in Iselin to Indians for illegal parking.

By the way, a lot of Indian restaurants in New Jersey now employ Mexicans, presumably because they’re cheaper than Indians.

Since Mexicans know as much about Palak Paneer or Navratan Kormas as we do about Quesedillas or Tamales, you can well imagine the quality of food at a lot of Indian restaurants in the area.

Add to that our Indian amateur cooks and now you know what mediocrity means.

Telugu Invasion

While the earlier band of Indian restauranteurs in Edison or Iselin were mostly Gujaratis, Punjabis or other North Indians, things have changed lately.

What’s happening now is the Telugu invasion.

Telugus are those unique specimens from the South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh who believe that life begins and ends with Dum Biryani and Avakaya pickle. And the only time Telugus orgasm is when Tollywood crazy Allu Arjun comes on the big screen and yells Champaestanu (I’ll kill you). Really.

A lot of Telugus made their money during the IT boom doing coding work for American corporations. Presumably, some of that software money is now going into the Dum Biryani business.

If you wake any New Jersey Telugu with over $250,000 in assets in the middle of the night you can be sure the first words he’ll ejaculate is Dum Biryani, Dum Biryani!

For Telugus, Dum Biryani is the grand hope of riding the train to El Dorado just as information technology was a decade ago.

Based on our observation, we predict a lot of these Telugus will slit their wrists after losing their money because there’s far too many Dum Biryani restaurants in New Jersey than can be supported by the dum desis.

Many Doomed to Fail

As Indian restaurants have extended their tentacles to other towns in New Jersey, Oak Tree Road’s cachet and appeal for Indians has certainly diminished.

Even during weekends, we just don’t see the large crowds that used to gather on Oak Tree Road Rd between Midddlesex Ave and Correja Ave. in the 1990s and up to 2003-2004.

The current recession has also taken a heavy toll with many Indians returning to Mera Bharat Mahaan after losing their jobs.

The savants at SI do not believe there’s enough business potential for all the 56 Indian restaurants to thrive or even survive.

Several of them are likely to close over the next six months. We suspect a few are already on life-support.

Some have already changed their names in hopes of earning Goddess Lakshmi’s blessings in their new avatar.

Fat chance!

Peering into our crystal ball, we predict at least three Indian vegetarian restaurants and a bunch of non-vegetarian Indian restaurants in the Oak Tree Road area will down their shutters in the not too distant future causing substantial losses for their owners.

Rents are high on Oak Tree Road and labor costs are not cheap considering the only thing every immigrant (legal or illegal) reads after coming to America is How to Sue Your Way to Prosperity and Early Retirement.

No, there’s no guarantee that illegal Latino and Indian immigrants won’t sue.

Indian Restaurants on Oak Tree Road, Iselin

Here’s the list of Indian restaurants on Oak Tree Road and surrounding areas.

* Anjappar Express * Abhiruchi * Dosa Express * Ganesh Dosa House * Bombay Spice * Jalaram
* Bombay Talk II * Khasiyat * Urban Spice * Jassi Sweets * Noor Mahal * Shalimar Foodland
* Shalimar * Bombay Talk * Chowpatty * Raj Bhog * AliBaba * Shalimar Express
* Shahnawaz * Lovely Sweets * Quality Sweets * Rasoi II * Nanking * Sukhadia
* Volga * Country Oven
Flavor Junction Food Court (Kumar Soni Plaza)
* Calcutta Wok * Handi * ChatKaz * Toasty Paprika * Chandni Chowk
* Hyderabadi Biryani/Dosa Treat * Fruit & Flavors

Indian Restaurants on Oak Tree Road, Edison

* Saravanaa Bhavan * Moghul * Ming * Singas Pizza * Mithaas * Moghul Express
* Jhupdi * Paradise Biryani Pointe * Dakshin Express * India Palace * Mirchi * Shezwan
* Karaikudi Chettinad * Swagath * Khushboo * Sankalp * Chopstick * Sher-e-Punjab
* Kwality Ice Cream * Hot Breads * Desi Galaxy * Bombay Spice * Calcutta

If you include Rajdhani and Khyber Grill (on Oak Tree Avenue) as well, the Indian restaurant count goes up to 58.

And that surely is a lot of Dum Biryanis, Baingan Bartas, Palak Paneers, Samosa Chaats and Masala Dosas, enough to pave the New Jersey Turnpike/I95 from Edison to Miami.

The opening of so many Indian restaurants on Oak Tree Road suggests not merely a herd mentality but also points to a poverty of ideas plaguing Indian entrepreneurs now.

Dum Biryani, Samosa Chaat and Tandoori Chicken may lift some Indian boats to prosperity but not all 56 desi boats. No way!

Just this month, six more Indian restaurants opened their doors in the Flavor Junction Food Court at the Kumar Soni Plaza in Iselin.

The $64,000 question now is which of these 56 Indian restaurants will kiss the dust first. Watch this space.

* Pictures of food (above) are from Oak Tree Road Indian Restaurants

Bangkok City Voorhees – Decent Thai Food

Food 1 Response »

Feb 232012

In our ever persistent zeal to find a spicy exhilarating meal we occasionally explore other cuisines especially Thai and Mexican.

Just like our Indian cuisine, Thai and Mexican cuisines are known for spicy food.

The other day we were early for a movie at Rave Motion Pictures Ritz Center in Voorhees, New Jersey.

So we decided to put the extra time to good use by doing what we do best – eating.

We quickly headed to the Eagle Plaza mall adjacent to the Rave Motion Pictures Ritz Center exploring the restaurant options. Our eyes fell on an Afghani and a Thai cuisine restaurant.

We picked Bangkok City Thai restaurant as we were not so much in a Kebab mood.

Bangkok City Thai Restaurant

As we entered around Noon, Bangkok City was bubbling with activity and there were already seven diners in various stages of their meal.

Greeted by a smiling lone waitress, we were quickly shown to a table.

The same lady got us the water and lunch specials menu.

Bangkok City Thai Lunch Deals

The lunch specials Bangkok City are priced at $7.95 for a regular entree and $8.95 for a special of the day.

Both come with a choice of soup plus an appetizer or salad and an entree accompanied by rice.

Since we are not so much into eating salad on a chilly day, we chose soup plus an appetizer for starters.

Our order included Veggies Roll, Tom Yum Hot and Sour Vegetarian Soup, Panang Vegetarian Red Curry with a special request to make it spicy/hot for the herbivores in our group.

For the carnivores, we ordered Giew Grop for appetizer, Tom Kah Coconut Milk Chicken Soup and Kiew Warn Chicken Green Curry again with a special ‘hot’ request.

Our soups and appetizers were delivered within eight minutes of ordering followed by the entree.

While we were impressed by the quick service, the way our order got botched up at the delivery infuriated us. More on this later.

Bangkok City Thai – Vegetarian Lunch

On the whole our rating for Bangkok City Vegetarian Lunch is Good.

Tom Yum Soup was sour but not obscenely sour and hot temperature wise. It included Tomato, Mushroom and Green Onion slices.

Veggie Roll was crispy as promised and we finished it quickly using the red chilly paste and honey sauce that came with it.

While Tom Yum Soup and Veggies Roll were good, the best item of our Vegetarian Lunch was the Panang Red Curry.

With a medium thick red color sauce, Panang Red Curry was spicy but not so spicy as to bring tears to our eyes.

A mèlange of Tofu, ridged Carrot slices, Broccoli, Cauliflower crowns, Red Pepper, Tomato and Cut Beans, Panang Curry was delicious with small serving size of Jasmine Rice and a slice of Orange.

What added allure to Panang Red Curry was the red chilly and spicy, tangy taste of Vegetables.

Tasty Panang Red Curry with Jasmine Rice

Kiew Warn Chicken Green Curry

Bangkok City Thai – Chicken Lunch

Tom Kah Soup was creamy with Coconut Milk flavor and quite tasty. Besides Chicken pieces, it included Tomato and Green Onion slices.

Giew Grop was crispy as promised by the menu.

Set in a light green color medium thick gravy, Kiew Warn Green Curry with Chicken found favor with us. Continue reading »

Bengali Sweet House Jersey City – Heavenly

Food, Reviews 1 Response »

Feb 232012

If JFK’s inaugural address were to happen today, the lecherous bastard would probably say, Ask not what you can eat at Bengali Sweet House, ask why you won’t.

Bengali Sweet House is the hidden gem in that Indian cesspool known as Newark Ave in Jersey City, NJ.

Given that Indians are weird specimens, be they in Mera Bharat Mahaan or Amreeka, it’s not in the least surprising that Bengali Sweet House in Jersey City should serve not a Bengali meal but Gujarati food.

Only an Indian restaurant sporting the name Bengali Sweet House would venture to offer a Gujarati meal!

But what’s in a name as the bard would say.

So delicious was our Gujarati meal that we swooned.

We swear on Abhishek Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra, Trisha Krishnan, Ajith and Sameera Reddy.

Bengali Sweet House Gujarati Lunch Buffet

Bengali Sweet House Jersey City – Vegetarian Lunch Buffet Items

During our visit Bengali Sweet House’s weekend Gujarati lunch buffet ($7.99) included a sumptuous array of vegetarian dishes – Gota for appetizer, Bhindi Masala, Palak Paneer, Mixed Vegetable Curry, Kadi, Dal, Plain Rice and Roti for main course, Green Chutney, Tamarind Sauce, Raita, Pappadum for sides and Mohan Thal for dessert.

In one word, the Bengali Sweet House lunch buffet was “Delicious.”

Appetizers or entrees, dessert or Rotis, the meal was a blessing to our demanding taste buds.

Every single item had a rich flavor, nice aroma, fine taste.

And they were all piping hot and seemed fresh.

Here are the details of our Bengali Gujarati dining adventure: Continue reading »

Quote of the Day – Pete Wells on Shake Shack Burgers

Food, Quotes No Responses »

Feb 222012

More often, though, the meat was cooked to the color of wet newsprint, inside and out, and salted so meekly that eating it was as satisfying as hearing a friend talk about a burger his cousin ate.
- New York Times restaurant critic Pete Wells on Shake Shack Burgers, NYT, 2/21/2012

Here’s what the wise souls at SI wrote two years back: NYC’s Hot New Shake Shack – Total Ripoff

Trader Joe’s Spicy Chai Latte – Heavenly

Food 2 Responses »

Feb 142012

The gluttons at SI have had Lattes at so many places – the neighborhood Wawa Food Market, McDonald’s, Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts and several smaller non-chain stores.

But never an invigorating delicious Latte like the one we prepared at home by mixing a scoop of Trader Joe’s Spicy Chai Latte powder into a cup of boiling water.

When we spotted Spicy Chai Latte powder on Trader Joe’s shelves a couple of weeks back, we were initially hesitant.

You see, our past experience of Masala Chai from American grocery stores had mostly been dissatisfying.

Spicy Chai Latte – Packaging

Spicy Chai Latte powder is packed neatly with an aluminum foil cover and a tight plastic lid.

The box comes with a small plastic scoop and, of course, the Spicy Chai Latte powder.

Mixing Instructions

Mixing instructions are clear – one scoop or three teaspoons in 6 oz hot water.

Eager as we were to know if we’d gotten value for our money, we immediately boiled some water, poured it into a cup, threw one scoop of the Spicy Chai Latte powder into it and stirred vigorously with a spoon.

As we were stirring the powder, a divine aroma of Chai with Clove, Cardamom, Cinnamon, Ginger flavors wafted above.

The aroma was so fine and compelling that we couldn’t resist pausing to have sip of the latte.

Guys, to describe Trader Joe’s Spicy Chai Latte as invigorating would be a gross understatement.

It’s sheer heaven.

Ingredients

Trader Joe’s Spicy Chai Latte lists several ingredients including Black Tea Darjeeling, Cinnamon, Clove, Cardamom, Ginger, Anise, nonfat milk, nondairy creamer etc.

The best thing about Trader Joe’s Spicy Chai Latte is the proportion of Black Tea Dajeeling and various spices. None of the spices – Cinnamon, Cardamom, Ginger, Anise, Clove – were overpowering.

All added in right proportion to give a perfect flavor and taste.

Another thing that found favor with us was the honey flavor we got while sipping it. Sure, one of the ingredients specified on the box is honey granules.

Trader Joe’s Spicy Chai Latte – SI Rating

Folks, Trader Joe’s Spicy Chai Latte was so good that we had four cups in the first 24 hrs. But with each cup we adjusted the recipe to suit our taste buds and added another two OZs of water over the printed instructions on the box.

Overall we got about 10 cups of Chai Latte which worked out to about 30 cents per cup. Not a bad deal.

We regretted buying only one box of this delicious latte drink. Can’t wait to return to Trader Joe’s to pick up more boxes of this fine drink.

Update: We’ve fallen so much in love with Trader Joe’s Spicy Chai Latte that we’ve returned there twice to pick up an additional five boxes in all. We’re currently running through the third container.

SearchIndia.com strongly recommends Trader Joe’s Spicy Chai Latte.

Related Stories:
Trader Joe’s Authentic Masala Dosa – Yeeks!

Anjappar Chettinad NYC Review – Middling Fare, Don’t Get Your Panties in a Twist

Food No Responses »

Feb 122012

By Tiramisu

Located in the Curry Hill restaurant district (Lexington Ave and 28th St) of Manhattan, Anjappar Chettinad opened its doors to diners in the Big Apple less than a week ago.

Anjappar’s NYC outpost comes four years after the South Indian restaurant chain dropped anchor on the East Coast in North Brunswick, New Jersey.

We ambled into the Lexington Ave location late afternoon 3:40ish on Saturday toward the end of Lunch service and were greeted by an amiable South Indian waiter.

Anjappar – New Chettinad Outpost on Lexington Ave, NYC

However, he had a deer caught in the headlights look on his face.

Turned out he wasn’t sure if we had missed the lunch closing time. After a quick trip to the kitchen, he confirmed that they were open for business and promptly seated us.

There were just a handful of fellow diners in the restaurant when we walked in.

Anjappar NYC – Cramped Seating, Nice Ambience

The interiors are brightly lit and painted with bold colors with some vestiges of Chettinad – two floor to roof Chettinad style carved columns and a large ornate teak wood carving bolted to the ceiling.

Seating is pretty tight, they have crammed in as many seats as possible. Par for the course in Manhattan, no complaints there.

Sofa style seats abutting the walls and tables with deewan style seating in the center.

Though the cushioned deewans (couch with no backrest) are reminiscent of Chettinad, seats with absolutely no backs at dinner tables is asinine.

Imagine eating dinner with your spouse and hearing ‘Honey, need to rest my back gonna lean up against the dude in the table behind us‘.

Tables are that close and couch seats have no backrest!

Unlike the vast majority of waiters in South Asian restaurants in this area, the South Indian and Bangladeshi waiters had a cheerful disposition and wore a smile on their faces.

They have a small bar and the liquor range in the bar looked spartan.

Not sure why they had five or six employees milling around the bar area doing nothing. If they’re not gathered at the bar, you can be sure staff at Indian restaurants are jabbering away at the cash register.

One customer who trekked in after us was turned away and asked to come back at 5:30PM for dinner service.

A simple ‘CLOSED‘ sign at the door could have solved the problem.

But this being week one for Anjappar’s Manhattan outpost, it’s kinda excusable.

A small wine menu was offered, nothing spectacular – entry level offerings.

Food – Mixed Bag

We were famished and quickly ordered the mainstays of Chettinad cuisine – Chicken Kothu Porotta, Kathirikai Kozhumbu, Mutton Sukka Varuval, Egg Appam, Plain Dosa and Payasam, all in one go.

We were pleasantly surprised at the alacrity of the kitchen’s response.

Hey, we were eating in under five minutes.

Was asking myself if stuff was coming out the 1 minute re-heat cycle in a microwave…didn’t want to jump to any conclusion.

Chicken Kothu Porotta – Bony Travesty

Chicken Kothu Porotta was spicy and delicious.

Spicy minced porotta and chicken with a smattering of curry leaves.

The spice and heat was just right, but might be too spicy for North American palates though.

In Tamil Nadu, this is popular street food. You see cooks (typically referred to as master) hacking away with two metal spatulas at a hodgepodge of porotta, chicken and egg on a hot cast iron plate.

This New York rendition did not have any eggs in it.

Chicken Kothu Porotta – Bony Travesty

So ‘all izz well‘ with the Chicken Kothu porotta until my molars painfully encounter a chicken bone fragment in my Kothu Porotta.

Imagine coming up against a lamppost with legs splayed when skiing down slope or getting stuck in a tongue ring during a BJ… you get the drift !!

Was terribly disappointed to find a few more chicken bone fragments in my Kothu Porotta, big letdown.

Cardinal sin – it’s like finding fish bones in Sashimi.

Egg Appam came with sweetened coconut milk and a small cup of vegetable korma.

This dish was done very well, the Appam freshly prepared and the vegetable korma had the right amount of heat and Chettinad spicing. Appam was spongy and eggilicious in the middle.

The dish comes with two Appams.

Plain Dosa was also freshly prepared, crispy, big and came with four accompaniments – Coconut chutney, Milagai podi, Sambar and Cilantro chutney.

Plain Dosa with Chutney, Sambar – Crisp

The coconut chutney was a delight and so was the Cilantro chutney, a tad spicy though.

Sambar was a home run with the right amount of vegetables, spice and lentils.

Oh boy, this place knows how to make Sambar. Can’t go wrong with this one.

Mutton Sukka Varuval – A Disaster

Now for the Mutton Sukka Varuval – literally translates to ‘Mutton (Goat meat) Dry Fried’.

It looked like a big mush and was slightly unappealing visually.

Mutton Sukka Varuval – Awful

Considering that the dish was served at room temperature we surmised that it probably encountered a wok many hours ago.

The meat was stringy and might have come off someone’s boots! Continue reading »

When Inhouse Chef is on Strike, SI Eats …

Food, Photography No Responses »

Feb 062012

Thank God for Chinese restaurants.

Edible food at cheap prices that can satisfy even the cheapest desi cheapskate comes only from a Chinese restaurant.

When our in-house Annadata (food provider) went on a flash-strike today, we gave praise to the Lord for letting the Chinese Migrants come to our shores.

So what if the Chinese accents are unintelligible – Yooo wah hah sau translates into Would you like hot sauce in normal English.

With rare exceptions, the food at most Chinese restaurants is edible, cheap and, hey, occasionally even palatable.

Chicken with Garlic Sauce & Pork Fried Rice ($5.50)

Although labelled as spicy on the menu through the use of red-color, the Chicken with Garlic Sauce and Prk Fried Rice we had a short while ago at the local Chinese restaurant was anything but.

Mercifully, it still turned out to be flavorful.

Once we added the hah sau (hot sauce), the taste was enhanced by 10X.

Vegetable Lo Mein ($5.50)

Vegetable Lo Mein was spicy but we wouldn’t put it in the flavorful category.

Maybe, we were hankering after the Indian-Chinese version.

Considering we paid a mere $24 for the above plus takeout of Vegetable Fried Rice and Vegetable Lo Mein, we’re not complaining much.

By the way, if there’s a bigger bunch of cheap bastards than Indians it must be the Chinese. Some 15-minutes into our lunch, the Chinese waitress came along to check with us about the food and stealthily removed our drinking straws (for water) that were lying unopened. Of course, being cheap Indian bastards we waited two minutes and asked for a straw.

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