Cheer Up With Food

It's only been a week since I visited Portland, OR and I'm still missing the city, its vibe, and the food. One of the places that I truly enjoyed eating was at Bollywood Theater PDX  (<- check out the videos on their website!).  Just being at the restaurant itself gave me a little insight of what India is like just by looking at their decor.                                              If you don't know much about Indian food (I'm still learning myself), a lot of the delicious, flavorful foods are street foods - foods that are sold at carts and stands: Gobi Manchurian- Indo-Chinese fried cauliflower with lemon, curry leaves, and sweet and sour sauce I cannot live without curry (true story).  Put me on a deserted island and I could just live off curry dishes every day! Left ...

I had the pleasure of previewing an upcoming comedy-drama film, The Hundred-Foot Journey , which will be released on August 8, 2014.  This movie is about the Haji family who moves to a little town in France from India to start a new chapter in their lives by opening up a restaurant right across a Michelin -starred French restaurant owned by Madame Mallory ( Helen Mirren ).  Even before the family opens up their restaurant, their rival, Madame Mallory, stirs up the competition. The way food was brought up throughout the film was sentimental. Some of the characters in this film cook food with such passion due to the influences and memories of loved ones who were a big part of their lives.  It made me think about the fond memories I've shared with people over delicious meals. Hopefully if you watch this film it will conjure up similar feelings.  Other than feeling sentimental, you will learn a bit about Indian and French cuisine! The official trailer:

OM Restaurant  is a small  Indian  restaurant that impressed me to the point that they shouldn't consider themselves a fast food place!  Compared to other Indian restaurants, their delicious plates have more reasonable prices.  A young fellow who worked there was kind enough to give us ideas on how we should order our foods - if we wanted to sample more of each other's foods, he suggested us three to get combo plates instead of a platter which are bigger. The traditional dishes we had were  Chicken Tikka  Masala - chicken marinated in a blend of spices, grilled, and cooked in a creamy sauce;  Aloo Gobi - cauliflower and‍ potatoes cooked in a blend of aromatic spices; Veggie Korma - mixed vegetables cooked in a creamy onion sauce with coconut milk: Their Chicken Tandoori is a must-have!  Its a chicken quarter in a blend of yogurt, garlic, ginger, lemon juice, marinated in spices overnight and cooked in a tandoor oven serve...

Delhi  Indian Cuisine is one of the many restaurants located near UNLV .  It may look small from the outside, but its spacious inside!  Theres a whole area dedicated to their lunch buffet which is open daily from 11am to 3pm.  We didn't get the chance to eat at Delhi's buffet, so we just ordered from their restaurant menu . For our appetizer we had the Nepali Momos- made from a thin dough skin stuffed with fine chopped vegetables and steamed and served with special momo sauce . These dumplings are native to Nepal , similar to other Asian dumplings, but its dipping sauce ( chutney ) is what makes them unique! This is the  Tandoori  Chicken - half spring chicken marinated overnight with yogurt, herbs and spices then finished in a clay oven served with mint and tamarind chutneys.  This chicken is flavored nicely and a finishing touch of adding a lime all over it is to die for: Being the curry lover that I am, I ordered the Authentic...

Mint Indian Bistro  is my favorite Indian restaurant near my side of town.  There's such a variety of foods to choose from on their menu and all foods are listed under which region they come from.  Their menu is so informative it should be a standard template for all other menus!  The service here was great.  Servers were always around and I think they each had their own individual role. As for the food, my fiance and I both had curries and shared pani puri , an appetizer.  Pani puri is also a popular street snack in India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh.  The puri is the small, hollow, and round crisp where you poke a little hole on top and fill it with a spicy, tangy mint chutney mix.  Since the puri is delicate, it took me awhile to get a hang of poking a hole with the spoon gently: Photo from my  Instagram  account: @ab702

My fiance couldn't stop talking about how much he missed yellow curry for days!  So he surprised me in bringing me to the Indian restaurant,  Origin India  across from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.  It is a very simple and modern looking restaurant thats nice to have a quiet or romantic dinner. Masala Chai  - This spiced tea was milky!  I'm glad I chose this than an alcoholic beverage because I'd rather drink milky teas or coffees: Homemade paneer cheese tikka -  stuffed with apricots and raisins, marinated in coriander and basil glazed in Tandoor, and pickled red cabbage.  If you're a cheese lover, try this appetizer!  This fluffy looking paneer will crumble in your mouth: Punjabi Kadhi  - Punjabi gram flour and veggie dumplings in yogurt sauce with coriander seeds, chili, cumin, and asafoetida  (spice).  If you're just thinking that yogurt sauce = Yoplait , you're not close... One way of making yogurt sauce is mix...

In Los Angeles, we ate at Taj India Palace . I'm glad our friends recommended us to eat here because their Indian food tasted home made and the buffet lunch was only $7.99. The curry dishes and naan were awesome! Next time I'm in LA, I'll definitely visit this place again.

On Valentines' Day, my fiancé and I ate at Namaste . I rarely eat Indian food , so it was treat eating there! We ordered the Valentine's Day Special, which consisted of four main platters. I assumed each platter would be small, but I was totally wrong! Here's some of the food we ate: Kachumber - tomato, onion, and cucumber salad with lemon and herbs. I liked how the taste of each vegetables and herbs were evened out: Vegetable Samosas - turnovers filled with potatoes and peas and I think the the potato patty in the center is aloo tiki : Left- Assorted Vegetables Grill (cauliflower, red and green peppers, grilled tofu, and parsley) with tofu Right- Tandoori Chicken : Naan - Leavened baked flat bread baked in tandoor (baked oven). Its a must have with many meals or just by itself: