5 star food and service at Saigon Cafe

There are very few cuisines my darling dad and mom enjoy more than Indian. Fortunately they love Thai food as it can be made super spicy & has rice and curry dishes n thus it was a no brainer where we would go for lunch after our morning of sightseeing at Delaware Park, Japanese garden , Buffalo history museum.

We decided to head to ‘Saigon Café’ and though it was a nightmare finding a parking spot I finally got one right outside the restaurant. As soon as we walked in we were greeted by the host who seated us and immediately brought us iced water and the menus.

After much debate we ordered ‘Spicy Rainbow’ and ‘Vegetable & Tofu Pad Thai’ from the Lunch menu. All lunch menu specials include soup/spring roll (except noodle dishes) and when we informed our stewardess we were vegetarian she offered to have the chef make a vegetarian clear soup. We also ordered an order of ‘summer rolls’. As we waited for our order noticed that even though they were busy everything seemed to be moving along smoothly with no delays. Our appetizers arrived and the summer rolls had a filling of tofu, cucumbers, cabbage, basil leaves, and carrots and were soft and super fresh and the peanut sauce was the perfect accompaniment. The clear soup had tofu, carrots, baby carrots, broccoli, and scallions in a clear vegetable broth which had pepper (as we had ordered it spicy) and the balance of flavor in the soup was just right.

As soon as we finished our appetizers, the stewardess brought us our main course of ‘Spicy Rainbow’ and ‘Vegetable & Tofu Pad Thai’. The portion sizes were good and the presentation was perfect, making the food look appetizing. The spicy rainbow is usually served with white rice; however you can also choose to order brown rice to make your option healthier :-). The spicy rainbow was a delicious curry with baby corn, bell peppers, onions, zucchini, carrots, broccoli, water chestnuts all cooked just right so as to be crunchy yet have flavor and the sauce coated over perfectly over all the vegetables. The pad Thai was heavenly with Chinese cabbage, broccoli, carrots, tofu, scallions, crumbled peanuts, bamboo shoots in a light coating of sauce which after a squeeze of lemon was finger licking good.

The stewardess stopped by to fill the water glasses and to check in to make sure the food was okay. She was unobtrusive the whole time we were there yet made sure we had water in our glasses and also reached our table in an instant when we tried to catch her eye.

My husband and I always take visiting family & friends to Saigon Café as their efficient and polite customer service and delicious food is a hit. And I am glad I took my parents too as they enjoyed their meal infinitely.

Saigon Café is reasonably priced with lunch specials ranging from $6.95 – $8.50 and their dinner prices range from $3.75 (appetizers) to $10.50 (main course). A word of caution, their levels of spiciness is high and the ‘Asian spicy’ is very spicy so perhaps order your food with a lower spiciness level and then add the chilli sauce as needed. They are located at 1098 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, NY – 14222. Their hours of operation are – Monday – Thursday 11AM – 10PM, Friday 11AM – 11PM, Saturday 12PM – 11PM, Sunday 12PM – 9PM. They have street parking right outside the restaurant and also in the side streets. They also have an outdoor patio and it is a great place to sit especially in the evenings as Elmwood Avenue comes alive once the dusk sets in.

The restaurant receives 5 stars in SRM’s book (consistently great food & service on all visits)

Veggie Chicken dishes rule at Indian Sweet Master

When I heard about the vegetarian options available at a particular Indian restaurant, my interest was piqued and I headed on over to try out the dishes and decide if they were as good as promised. So, we decided to visit ‘Indian Sweet Master’ in Brampton to check out their fare. As it was around 6.30pm the place was packed with people standing in line to place their order/ pick it up and the line zigzagged and reached the entrance door. Looking at how busy they were we almost walked away but the tantalizing aroma of the food made me rethink our decision and we decided to place our order. We did however change our minds regarding wanting to sit and enjoy a relaxing meal at the restaurant and instead decided to do a take-out. We placed the order for ‘Veggie Fish Pakora’, ‘Veggie Platter’ and ‘Veggie Chicken Biryani’ and were told that the wait time would be 30 minutes.

With time to spare we decided to browse the desi stores in the complex and do some grocery shopping too. When we returned to the restaurant in 30 mins, our order was ready and as we took it and sat in the car to head back home the aroma of the pakoras, tikkas, biryani was heavenly and it is a mystery how we didn’t gobble everything in the parking lot but managed to bring it home all in one pieceJ.

First up on our menu was the fish pakora which was soya wrapped in seaweed and besan and deep fried. One bite into it and I was stunned how close in texture it was to a fish pakora. The chutney that accompanied the fish pakora was okay, no great shakes, however just the pakora was great and it needed no accompaniment. A word of caution, if you don’t like the ‘fishy’ smell then don’t heat up the fish pakora too much in the microwave / toaster over as otherwise the fishy smell is overbearing and you won’t be able to eat it. (Learned that the hard way after toasting the leftover pakoras the next day and almost choking on the intense fishy smell, which did disappear after the pakoras cooled down).

Next we opened the box that contained the Veggie platter and boy was their portion size generous. There were 3 different kinds of veggie soy tikkas which resembled the chicken tikkas so closely that I was scared to take a bite, in case they had made an error and given me chicken tikkas instead of veggie. There were 6 pieces of soy tikkas (3 different marinades – plain yogurt and spices a.k.a seekh kebab +red color, yogurt and spices a.k.a. chicken tikka + green chutney a.k.a haryali kebab) , 3 pieces of paneer tikka, 1 piece of cauliflower, 1 piece tomato, 1 bell pepper and 1 large piece of onion ( all marinated in yogurt and spices and grilled). Each and every soy tikka, paneer tikka, tandoori vegetable was perfectly marinated and cooked. The paneer was soft and cooked to perfection and one could taste the marination when you bit into it instead of being bland. The tikkas were moist and flavorful and a treat for our mouths.

Even though we were stuffed after having ½ portion of the fish pakoras and ½ portion of the veggie platter we decided to taste the veggie chicken biryani. N boy am I glad that I did as it was yummy. The mix of the spices to the proportion of veggie chicken (soy chicken) was good. However there were a few things I didn’t like about the biryani, one of them being that it had too much of mint leaves and it seemed the kitchen staff had chopped up the leaves and stems all together or used dried mint leaves along with their stems and these stems and excessive leaves were a pain in the butt. We had whole stems chopped into pieces which were hard and if you bit into one just ruined the taste of the biryani. And I also think that they should have given a raita with the biryani as an accompaniment. The veggie soy chicken pieces were moist though the rice seemed a little undercooked (I guess to keep the rice fluffy/ khila-khila they undercook the rice which doesn’t seem necessary to me as have made biryani and have managed to make the rice fluffy yet soft).

We ended our delicious dinner by biting into ‘Petha’ which was succulent and melted in our mouths and was the perfect level of sweetness and end to our delicious meal.

I would say that a visit to ‘Indian Sweet Master’ is a must for all vegetarians who want to try tikkas, kebabs, biryani and pakoras. Their other menu items are also tasty though wouldn’t say very different from other Indian restaurants. A word of caution though, if you want to do a takeout then give them approx 30 mins as they are a very busy restaurant and you might be window shopping till your food is ready, which can be a good thing too ;-). Their prices are competitive; it was $6.99 for the Veggie Biryani, $5.99 for the Veggie Platter and $5.99 for the Fish Pakoras. If you want to go and have your meal in the restaurant, you can be sure you will get finger licking delicious food that will make up for the lack of peace and quiet. Parking is free and there are a lot of parking slots so finding one shouldn’t be a problem. The staff is courteous and very efficient ensuring all orders are handled in a professional manner.

Indian Sweet Master is located at 503 Ray Lawson Blvd Unit #7, Brampton, ON L6Y 0N2 and is open from 10am – 10.30pm daily.

The restaurant receives 4 stars in SRM’s book

 

Mila Jula Subz Pulao

Being a combination of Tamil & Bengali cultures, I confess I love rice in all shapes and forms. This recipe is one of my favorite go to meals and I make this often especially when my hubby and I come home late from work and want a home cooked meal but don’t want to spend a long time in the kitchen. I am sharing the recipe for ‘ Mila Jula Subz Pulao’ A.K.A ‘ Mixed vegetables Pulao’ and hope you all enjoy it as much as moi 🙂

Mila Jula Subz Pulao

Ingredients

1 medium sized finely chopped – Onion

2 nos chopped – Green chillies

1/2 inch finely chopped – Ginger

3 tbsp oil

2 whole – Bay leaves

2 whole – Black cardamoms

4 small – Green cardamoms

1 inch stick – Cinnamon

1 tsp – Turmeric powder

1 tsp – Red chilli powder

1 ½ tsp – Coriander powder

1 tsp – Dry roasted cumin seeds powder

½ cup – frozen mixed vegetables

Salt to taste

1 cup – Basmati rice

1 ¾ cup – Water

1 tsp – Garam masala powder

Method

1. Wash rice in running water and keep aside
2. Heat oil in a heavy bottom , wide pan
3. Once oil is hot add cinnamon stick, bay leaves, and cardamoms and then add the chopped onion.
4. Once the onion becomes translucent, add the ginger and sauté for 1 minute.
5. Add salt, turmeric powder, red chili powder , coriander powder, cumin seeds powder , garam masala powder and cover pan n cook on low flame for 2 minutes
6. Add frozen mixed vegetables and cook covered for 3 minutes
7. Add the rice and dry fry with the vegetables
8. Add 1 ¾ cup of water and mix well and turn the flame to low and cover.
9. Stir rice occasionally with a fork very gently in order to ensure vegetables, rice and water mix well in pan.
10. Cook for 10 minutes covered and 10 minutes uncovered.
11. Remove from heat, dish Pulao onto platter
12. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve hot

TIPS:

1. In order to make it healthier, you can use brown rice instead or white rice. However if using brown rice make sure to change the proportion of rice to water to 1 : 5
2. You can also add frozen spinach along with the frozen mixed vegetables to make it more nutritious
3. Don’t stir too much once the rice has been added as it will break the rice and make the pulao mushy
4. Serve with plain yogurt , raita or pickle

My journey from a trained chef to one with a passion

As a kid I was never interested in learning to cook, especially not Indian food and I always told my mom and grandma that once I grew up I would eat only pizzas, pastas, noodles, cakes, cookies and all things non-Indian. I did try my hand at cooking a few times and it was a disaster, whether it be the ‘Bhindi do pyaza’ made with water, or the ‘Mac n Cheese’ that turned out like a blob or the ‘Mutton Roganjosh’ that was undercooked ;-). And so I am sure it must have been a shock for my family when I announced that I wanted to study Hospitality Management. However, I soon realized I might be great at kitchen and excelling in the class ; however I felt I lacked the creativity and passion and after giving it much thought I decided not to pursue the option of becoming a chef and instead went into Food & Beverage Service.

Fast forward a few years and I had been completely out of touch with cooking thanks to living with my parents when I decided to move from India to USA. Being far away from home made me realize that all the Indian food I had turned my nose up at was what I craved for and all the Italian, Thai, Mediterranean, Chinese, Japanese food couldn’t satisfy me or make me happy. I realized that as there weren’t any good Indian restaurants in the area, the only way I would be able to satisfy my craving for Indian food was by cooking it myself. Thus began the cycle of calling Amma, Nani, Mami in India and getting recipes and then trying them out in the kitchen. I would love to tell you that I was like the perfect daughter from the Sooraj Barjatya movies who makes amazing finger-licking food from Day 1, however that didn’t happen and there were many occasions when I had to have undercooked, overcooked, burnt, salt less, too spicy, not spicy enough food for dinner. I guess I could have given up and just followed the route many people took which was to have frozen food. However, the encouragement I kept receiving from my parents and family from across the miles kept me going. And slowly and steadily I realized my dishes weren’t as bad as before, I could eat them and enjoy the meal instead of having to shove it down my throat in order to avoid tasting the dish :-).

A few more years passed and then I met my husband who became my biggest motivator, supporter, and cheerleader and of course guinea pig as I would try out all my new dishes on him first before serving it to friends and family. There were hits and misses and yet he was patient and kept egging me on even when I felt like giving up cooking completely as my last creation had been a disaster. It was because of his support and encouragement that I gained more confidence and continued my experiments in the kitchen and even though I am sure I looked like a mad scientist at work, he was patient and told me it would all be okay even when I had a meltdown 🙂

This endeavor of creating my Food blog and Facebook page is something that ignites the passion in me and so I hope you all will support me and make it a success .

Thanks n GOD bless.

Jhatpat Paneer Bhurjee

Whenever I make ‘Jhatpat Paneer Bhurjee’, I am reminded of my Amma making this dish for my brother and I in the winter months so we could enjoy it with parathas. She would warm up the milk and add lemon juice to it, which would make it curdle immediately and she would strain it to get the paneer and then discard the whey. And as my brother was a fussy eater and never wanted to try anything new, mom would tell him that it was ‘Egg Bhurjee’ (scrambled eggs) and he gobbled it all up J. I am sharing the recipe for ‘Jhatpat Paneer Bhurjee’ A.K.A ‘ Quick & Easy Scramble Homemade Cheese’ and hope you all enjoy it as much as my brother and I.

Jhatpat Paneer Bhurjee

Ingredients

350 gms – Paneer

1 medium sized finely chopped – Onion

2 medium sized finely chopped– Tomatoes

2 nos chopped – Green chillies

4 sprigs of finely chopped – Cilantro

1 tsp – Cumin seeds

2 tbsp – Oil

1 tsp – Turmeric powder

1 tsp – Dry roasted cumin seeds powder

1/2 tsp – Dried pomegranate seed powder

1 tsp – Coriander powder

Salt to taste

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan and add once it is hot add the cumin seeds
2. As soon as the cumin seeds splutter, add the finely chopped onions. Stir and cook till the onions are golden.
3. Add the chopped tomatoes , salt, turmeric powder, coriander powder, dry roasted cumin seeds powder, dried pomegranate seeds powder and mix again.
4. Cover the pan with a tight fitting lid. Reduce the heat and let the mixture cook for 5 -7 mins so that the tomatoes get soft and mushy and all the spices cook well.
5. While the onion and tomato mixture is cooking, grate the paneer using the coarse side of a box grater.
6. Uncover the pan and stir the tomato and onion mixture and then add the grated paneer and chopped green chillies to the pan.
7. Mix well and cover and cook for another 5 minutes.
8. Uncover, check for salt and then if it tastes yummy then remove from flame and dish into serving bowl.
9. Sprinkle chopped cilantro / green chillies and serve with rotis, naans, parathas or toast. Enjoy J.

TIPS

1. This dish can be made using homemade paneer instead of the store bought one.
2. You can use the ‘Jhatpat Paneer Bhurjee’ as a filling in sandwiches and wraps.
3. The ‘Jhatpat Paneer Bhurjee’ makes a nutritional snack for kids as well as well as it is high in protein.

Perfect combo of good food and customer service at India’s Taste

It doesn’t happen often that we go out for a meal on 2 consecutive days, however this weekend was one of those rare occasions that after trying Gurulukshmi on Saturday we decided to check out ‘India’s Taste’ in Brampton on Sunday (July 20^th,2014) for dinner.

When we walked in at 7.15pm the restaurant was already buzzing with activity. We approached the hostess and informed her we needed a table for 3 and she said she would check availably and if we wanted to do A-la-carte or the Buffet. Once we told her we were there for the buffet she went to check on table availability. As we drooled over all the ‘mithais’ on display near the check-out, the hostess came back and informed me it would be 5 mins as they needed to clean the table. The wait however was approx 2 mins before the hostess led us to our table and we decided to attack the buffet immediately :-). By the time we came back with our appetizers, the table had fresh glasses filled with water, cutlery, extra napkins and a water jug. The stewardess appeared as soon as we sat down to ask if we wanted ‘Chaat Papri’ and we told her we had already got some and so her follow up question was if we wanted ‘Dosa/Idlis’. We ordered 1 Dosa and also asked if we could have a ‘Tandoori roti’ instead of a ‘Naan’. She smiled and said she could certainly get the roti for us and the Dosa.

The stewardess brought us the Dosa and checked if we needed anything else and when we asked for a ‘Naan’, she smiled and went to place the order. We had decided to share the appetizers and they all were delightful. The choices varied from ‘ Paneer tikka’, ‘Gobhi Tandoori’, ‘Papri Chaat’, ‘Golgappe’, ‘Veggie Spring rolls’, ‘Aloo tikkis’, ‘Chane ki Chaat’,‘ Fish pakora’,’ Macaroni salad’, ‘ Green salad’,’ Corn salad’ to ‘Kebab’ n much more. We tasted the ‘Dosa’ next which was good too, however I felt the ‘Sambhar’ needed some more Sambhar powder and imli in order to get the perfect South Indian flavor. The accompanying coconut chutney was pure coconut without too much dal yet lacked the ‘south Indian tadka’ to make it really delicious. One thing I didn’t like was that there were pieces of ‘Vada’ in the Sambhar which weren’t too good and I would have preferred a plain vegetable Sambhar minus any vadas.

When we came back after helping ourselves to the main course, the table has been cleared of all the appetizer plates and the naans and tandoori rotis we had ordered were placed in baskets on the clean table. We dug into ‘Palak Paneer’, ‘ Methi Malai Paneer’, ‘Dal Makhani’, ‘ Bhindi do Pyaza’, ‘ Baingan Bharta’, ‘Saag’, ‘Jeera Chawal’, ‘Goat Curry’ and they were all yummy. Only thing that wasn’t yummy was the jeera chawal which could have been cooked a bit more as the rice felt kind of uncooked to us. The tandoori roti and naan were soft and warm which was a great accompaniment to the main course items.

Next it was onto the desserts and there were a lot of choices which ranged from ‘Gulab Jamun’, ‘ Gajrela’, ‘Rasmalai’, ‘ Tiramisu’, ‘ Fruit Cream’, ‘ Ice cream’, ‘ Assorted Pastries’. The tiramisu surprised us as we didn’t expect a great tiramisu in an Indian restaurant. The Rasmalai however was another story as the milk hadn’t been thickened enough and the dumplings were kind of hard and it was too bland. The fruit cream, mango ice cream and Gulab Jamun made up for it as they were outstanding.

Once our stomachs were full we sat n relaxed and chatted and our stewardess never once came by to hurry us up or bring over the bill. When the food had settled a bit we left the restaurant after paying the bill n tipping the stewardess who gave us a smile on our way out.

I think some of the things that made our experience at ‘India’s Taste’ memorable were the food which was finger-licking good, the ever smiling stewardess who hovered in the background and anticipated our needs yet never once was over-bearing or rude, the ambience which was tastefully done up and very clean and last but certainly not the least would be the fact that the owners of the restaurant were there all the while and interacting with guests/stewardesses in order to ensure that things moved along smoothly.

I would recommend checking out India’s Taste (900 Ray Lawson Blvd, Brampton, ON – L6Y 5H7) if you are looking for delectable food and great customer service.

India’s Taste receives 4 stars in my book.

 

Excellent food awful customer service a combo at Guruluxmi

I never thought I would start writing my food blog with a review for a restaurant however I guess u got to take the plunge at some time so why not with a restaurant review 🙂

I went to Gurulukshmi on July 19th, 2014 for lunch. I had made a reservation for 1.30pm and as my friends were late coming in from Buffalo,NY, I explained the same to the hostess who informed me that once my friends arrive, I could tell her and she would make sure we got a table.

Once my friends arrived, we were seated immediately, however there was no one to take us/guide us to our table and we were told it was table # 4 and we found the table and settled in. As soon as we sat down the server brought us the menu cards and within 2 mins came to our table and asked  ‘ Are u ready to order, any suggestions’ . When we said we were waiting for someone and needed more time he walked away and returned again in 3 minutes with ‘ Are u ready to order, any suggestions’ . We did explain that we were waiting for our friend who would be there soon and we wanted to wait for him, however the server told us maybe we should order our appetizers and then if needed can order the main course once our friend arrived. We arrived the ‘Cocktail idlis in sambhar’ and 2 sodas and 1 lassi. The appetizer arrived within 3 mins and then again the server asked if we needed any suggestions and so we decided to order our main course. We ordered the ‘Paneer masala dosa’, ‘ Ghee masala dosa’ and ‘Chettinaad masala dosa’. Thereafter, our friend arrived and we asked for another menu and it seemed our server wasn’t too happy as he had to come back to take the order. The last main course item was ‘Rava masala dosa’.

The first 3 dosas arrived and then we had to wait 15 mins for the last dosa. The server then came back at 2.30pm to inform us that it was ‘Last Call’ and if we wanted to place any order we should do so immediately. We ordered ‘Filter Coffee’ for all 4 of us. However, we had to wait 20 mins for the coffee to arrive and before the coffee arrived our server slapped the tab on our table and walked away. We were surprised as he didn’t even say the usual – I am leaving the bill here, but please take your time. Once we noticed that there were people strolling in and being seated we asked another server if we could order dessert and he said we could and gave us the menus. We managed to catch our servers attention with a lot of difficulty and when we ordered a plate of ‘Rasmalai’ and ‘Gulab Jamun’, he didn’t acknowledge it but instead picked up the bill went to his station, made the changes and slapped the new bill and walked away.

Our coffees arrived followed by the dessert. We had mentioned that the 4 of us would sharing the dessert however we got only 3 spoons and thus asked for 1 more spoon. Our server came back after 10 mins and plonked 3 spoons on the table and walked away without a word.

Our server never once checked on whether the food was good, whether we wanted to order anything else. The food was finger licking good however the level of customer service provided was so poor that it made our experience awful.

Expected much more from Gurulukshmi as been a customer for quite a few years and never experienced this attitude. I guess moving to a bigger location meant they gave up on providing good customer service and made up for it by having a shorter wait time for seating and food.

My conclusion after seeing our server interact with other guests in our area is that you talk to your server in Hindi , keep asking them for suggestions (even if u know what u want  and understand the menu ), don’t try to add desserts to your order once you have ordered the main course or flirt with him (like the girls on the table next to us) and you will get better service. Maybe next time we will implement these into our modus operandi and then perhaps we will get good service that will match the great food.

Gurulukshmi receives 2.5 stars in my book.