Currying Favor...

Funny how things run in streaks. You go months without particularly having lunch opportunities, and suddenly… Boom!, they fall in your lap. Yesterday marked the fourth within a week, and each with a different (for want of a better word) theme. St. James Pub with its “just right” no frills diner/pub thing, Corbels with its upscale finessed foodie approach, the Tea Room and the “ladies who lunch” venue, (we could throw in the Ruddy Duck happy hour event), and yesterday (with some trepidation) I accepted a spur of the moment invite to meet at Bollywood Masala. Alert readers will remember that I have an aversion (philosophically and physically) to (overly) spicy foods, which has pretty much kept me away from there until now despite rather favorable reports. But, with assurances that I could avoid masochistic eating with correct choices, off I went to our center of international cuisine in San Souci. As locals know, lunch there on a weekday can provide parking issues as it is an extremely popular luncheon destination. And, given the wide variety of food available, why not? A good concept.

So in we go. The room seemed somehow smaller than the outside would indicate; with about five or six tables centering banquettes on either wall, and the “buffet” is situated along the back wall. The muted color scheme mostly runs to dark colors. And, as those same alert readers know, “Bollywood” is term for a Hindi language based segment of the Indian film industry. So part of the décor are what I (probably dated) would call “movie posters” from some of the films featuring the leading protagonists (I assumed). They also have what I further assume is music from the movies playing continuously, which is kind of up tempo with a beat. We were ushered to one of the booths, and with my back to the buffet I couldn’t count the chafing dishes on it, but memory serves to make me think there might have been over ten. Each had a sign noting what the dishes contained, for instance I think I saw one featuring Tandoori Chicken.

Since my companion was a frequent diner there and knew my predilections, we didn’t look at the menu, and an order was placed for cucumber salad, garlic naan, and after sparring little over the numbers a bit, “chicken five ways”. It so happened that (I think) the owner waited on our table and was gracious from the beginning to our departure. I’m sure that next time I could, as I’ve been told, ask him for selections that wouldn’t numb the tongue (of which I’m sure there are many). Eventually the salad arrived, a big bowl lined with iceberg lettuce containing diced red onion, cucumber, and tomato, all dressed with a cooling yoghurt. It was very tasty with good texture (crunch from the cukes). Eventually the garlic naan found us, and it was indeed garlicky, kind of moist (maybe from garlic oil?) on the topside, but crackly on the bottom. The chicken X ways arrived in a cloud of sizzle and steam that any self respecting fajita would be proud of, containing hunks of (white meat) chicken atop a bed of onion, green pepper and tomatoes that had been grilled or sautéed. Each (8 or so) piece of chicken had a different spice and hence color. After the steam subsided it was kind of a pretty dish. The rice which accompanied it was a bit on the gummy side, but the liquid from the chicken sort of lubricated it. I tentatively chose a piece of innocuous looking chicken, and took a small bite. Hmmmm, okay, no pain, just nicely flavored chicken. I couldn’t begin to describe all the X ways, but some had a yellowish (saffron/curry?) hue, another a greenish tinge (cilantro?), and another a orangish appearance. Some of them (I think the greenish one) sort of let you know you ate it a few minutes later, but it wasn’t “reach for the napkin” hot. And, at the present time, there have been no gastronomic repercussions.

As part of my exhaustive research, I consulted their website, and looked at the interesting menu featuring Northern Indian Cuisine. I’m glad we bypassed that menu on our visit, as it presents a bewildering amount of choices, further cementing my idea of asking for guidance. Interestingly, by far the largest category was the breads, with 17 entries! (chicken 8, lamb 10). For you vegetarians out there you’ll be happy. Lots of selections with no mention of Portobello Napoleon!

All in all, I was pleased to be taken by the hand for my introductory experience, and now that the dam has broken, I’ll probably go back and begin to poke around in the menu. I would think that most of their customers go for the type of cuisine, not the décor and appointments, and in that regard most likely you won’t be disappointed (as poor of a judge of Indian cuisine as I am). I do know that they have the record for length of being in business serving Indian food here in the Park, so they must be doing something right..

and, even though it was an unplanned visit, fortunately I was....

DF(in this case)L