Plano : The 3rd best place to live in Amrikka

News!! Plano has been declared as the 3rd best place to live in USA!

I have not visited many cities in USA but this piece of interesting news got me thinking!! Ever since I landed in US, I have always cribbed how this place is so deserted, hardly any humans around, shops close at 9 PM, no high-rises etc etc. At one point of time, I also created an analogy with India s Rajasthan!! But now I understand the rationale that supports the above news. The reasons mentioned were facilities, employment opportunities, low crime rate, amenities, no state tax etc. I have also found the city to be picturesque, there are too many parks and lakes and all very well maintained. But again that's the case with everything in US. I rarely come across a scene where a person is mowing the lawns or picking fallen leaves. God only knows,when do they do it! May be at night when we are fast asleep. It also helps that I stay at two minutes walking distance from the most happening place in Plano. Yeah! You guessed it right. Shops at legacy! What else one needs!? Best restaurants n pubs nearby, best place to have ice creams - Coldstone! That too, at walking distance. Office is just 1.6 miles away! Ok, so I totally agree with this piece of survey/statistics!!

Enough of my Saturday morning ramblings! This is what happens when you start blogging on an empty stomach. Too much of caffeine and too little food. Makes you light headed.

Have a peaceful weekend!

Kabobi fresh in Richardson

Ok, a scathing restaurant review coming up.

Usually I am a very generous person and tend to overlook if one or two dishes don't taste good in a buffet. Because, taste like beauty is relative term. A bland Mediterranean dish might be perfectly cooked but a person like me who is used to the spices in India might not find it appealing. So I do consider all those aspects while writing reviews and would never deduct points for authenticity even if doesn't flatter my taste buds. Mediterranean food is supposed to be bland, that's how it was meant to be. Period. What really annoys me is the lack of thought on the "Value for money" department.

So you might be wondering what made me visit this restaurant in the first place, if I am not such a big fan of Mediterranean  food. Oops, forgot to mention the name. Kabobi fresh in Richardson. This place has live music. A super cute keyboard player occupies a corner of the restaurant and plays lovely music. And the ambience is very soothing with perfect lighting and seating arrangement. Yes, you might want to call it a fine dining experience with all the associated frills. I love all that but only if the quality of food matches the price. 16 USD for one person, no way! Especially when there is no lamb in the menu. With just one chicken item (tikka kebab) and beef in almost all other items, it's exhorbitant if you ask me. They have used beef like a garnish, adding to the veggie items as well in shredded forms. What is left for a non-red meat eater to eat then!? Only fish n chicken sadly. I am not  a salad eater either so that leaves out the greenies. The fish was cold and over fried. Desert menu was limited with rice pudding and some gelatin like substance, which my 7 year old niece could have prepared. There was also another version of rice pudding which was yellow in color and looked and tasted yucky.

There was only one item which I liked in the entire buffet menu, "Bademjaan", it was a fried eggplant dish with yoghurt I think. I filled my tummy with that.

I would recommend this place for dates only. And when you have too much money to spare. The romantic and chic ambience might act as a catalyst in bringing two hearts together but a strict no-no for foodies like me ☺️

Spice creations in Allen

Last Friday, me and a few of my friends went to a restaurant in Allen named, 'Spice creations'.

It was a lunch buffet with the focus mainly on non vegetarian dishes like chicken kebabs and fish. Most of the dishes were above average but the fish item deserves a special mention. It was, I think Tilapia fish which was batter fried and sautéed is some kind of gravy which was perfectly spiced with lot of flavors.

The single item in the desert called as semia payasam was eclectic in taste. And it was extremely difficult for me to stop after a couple of spoons. I am usually not a big fan of sweets but semai and gulab jamun are the only two deserts that make me forget my health related resolutions! Otherwise, I am a good girl and can stay off deserts for months at end.

Ok, that's it for now. Just wanted to jot down my impressions before I forget the experience.

Dimassi's Mediterranean Buffet

Last evening, we went to a Mediterranean restaurant called as Dimassis's in Richardson which is around 10 miles away from my home.



Mediterranean cuisine is mostly famous for its signature dishes like hummus, falafel, a wide array of salads and ofcourse the lamb shanks.

This place is no different. May be the only thing that makes it stand out in the crowd of such places is the quality of chicken dishes. Believe me, there are too many Mediterranean restaurants in and around Dallas. Because of the huge Arab n Mediterranean population. Interesting point to note is, such places are frequented by desis and Americans as well these days. Americans find it palatable because the dishes are bit low on spices and desis because... Oh! We are an inquisitive lot, we love to try out any alien cuisine that's worth eating! Btw, I did try sushi couple of months back and shall write about that  experience another day!

Ok, so all the dishes were good. The only let down was the fried chicken which was not as succulent as it should have been. My roomie cooks better fried chicken than them. They had pizzas too, as a part of the buffet. Not sure why though! It dilutes the whole essence of the meal, if you ask me. May be they wanted to appeal to a wider audience. The Baklava which is the quintessential Mediterranean desert was better than average. The best ever baklava that I had was at "Cafe Istanbul" (Shops at legacy). I am yet to jot down a review on that! Food was heavenly there.

As you can see in the above pic, the ambience and décor is nothing to talk about. Typical diner. Monotonous seating arrangement. I don't know why, I am a big fan of table cloths. .A restaurant will always earn brownie points from me, if it has table cloth. No such frills here, sadly. For 13 USD per person, at least they could have invested a little bit on the "Frills".


I think, I should stop going for buffets, it's such a waste. I can hardly taste a few items and I am full and so I cannot do justice to the concept itself. Anyways, this is it for now. Time for second coffee of the day...ahhh! I love Saturday mornings! It rained last night and it's beautiful and shiny outside...but then in US, it's always beautiful... ☺️

Pei Wei

I don't know exactly, what is the lethal correlation of Sunday afternoons and the crazy desire to eat out! Especially when one is dog tired of running errands all day long and feels devoid of the energy and imagination of cooking something from scratch at home! Not that I consider myself a Nigella-reincarnated blessed with the talent of dishing out something exotic in matter of minutes! So I do the next best thing. I try out different restaurants and jot down my experience. Pls note, readers! The opinions expressed in this blog are strictly my own and adhere to my own gastronomical sensitivity.

So on another such expeditions, me and my roomie ventured out today and ended up in Lewisville which is around 20 miles from Plano. We were famished and ended up in a place which had quite a few restaurants. We decided to take a break from our incessant tussle of selecting Mediterranean or desi fare, So flipped a coin and zeroed in on "Pei Wei."

I chose a dish called as "Dan Dan" which was a soupy broth kind of a thing with shredded chicken, sliced cucumber, bean Sprouts, garlic and scallions. The soup had soy sauce as its base. I added some chili paste to enhance the spiciness. It turned out to be lip-smacking! Full of Asian fusion flavors, it transported me to China town!!! Ha ha!! Another dish that we ordered was fried rice with chicken, red bell peppers, broccoli and some other vegetables. It was yummilicious too! And the quantity served was enough for two people, we couldn't finish even half of each dish.

Service was super-fast. Interesting part, since we were first time visitors to Pei Wei, the drinks were on the house!

Ambience was peaceful and serene. This has reserved its rightful place in top 3 of my favorite non-desi places to eat. 

Nirvana in Houston

As you already know by now, I love to try out exotic dishes in various restaurants and pen down my experiences, of course in my effort to give back to society as people do find restaurant reviews useful 😉 You can consider it my way of contributing to society/CSR or whatever.

Anyways. So I am in Houston and the first thing that I do in any new city is to google for top 10 restaurants for desi food. Yeah, yeah, you might find it funny that why would a person who has eaten Indian food all her life would go exploring for that in US! Well, distance makes your heart grow fonder, sometimes. I truly believe in this adage. I miss the Indian street food, the cacophony of noises emanating from vehicles, vendors, dogs, cows on road and what not! I miss the polluted air, water and the familiar feeling of being at home...Oops, digressing from the topic!

A friend of mine took me to "Nirvana" which is very famous for desi food  and is extremely popular not only amongst the Indian crowd but Americans too. Truly enough, I found most of the tables occupied by Americans 😊 God only knows how do they digest the  spicey desi food. I heard an interesting anecdote on this. The love of Americans for Indian food is like the craze for "Game of thrones." Either they love it or they detest it. There is no in-between.

So the restaurant owner is an elderly bespectacled gentleman from Bangladesh who loves to chat up with the customers and welcomes everyone with a heartening smile and greeting in Bangla (If you are Bong) I cannot express how I felt after hearing those words in Bangla after almost a year! I always had very close Bong friends at my work place and MBA days, so I do have a soft corner for anything that has even a remote Bong connection. Be it the Bong food, language, culture or songs!! Btw I even got to see a statue of the great Rabindra Nath Tagore in one of the parks in Houston. Was completely floored!!! Digressing from the topic again!

Salmon stuffed Naan! Does it sound crazy?! May be! But believe me, it was insanely delicious!! I have eaten salmon in fried and baked forms before but never stuffed in a naan along with with a variety of spices. The naan was extremely soft and flavorful. We also had batter fried fish, I think it was Tilapia which is the closest in taste to the rohu and pomfret that we get in India. So it was yummilicious! To say the least.

Ambience. The decor of the place was very aesthetic. The environment was peaceful. Apart from a noisy family occupying the table next to ours which enjoyed dropping plates at 5 mins interval to break the monotony of enjoying a peaceful meal, it was a great experience! Definitely, deserves multiple visits.

Paradise Biryani Pointe

This place boasts of serving the best biryani in town so obviously it deserved a visit from Nazia! 😉
I prefer going out for dinner on Saturdays so one fine sat finds me in this famed place. The outside of this restaurant was totally dark and kinda shady so I wondered if I came to the right place! Anyways, I gathered some courage and I entered the restaurant and found only two tables occupied. Obviously I was taken aback. Found a cozy corner and ordered tea first as I was feeling kinda feverish after a bout of sneezing. With just the first sip of adrak wali chai, I was transported to home sweet home... India. The tea was exceptional, to say the least! Full marks to the chef for the tea. Now coming to the server.   Not sure what was the name of this gentleman or boy, looked young. I ordered Kara dosa and he said, "One Kaala dosa coming up", and I started worrying! What if he burns my dosa and gets me actually a Kaala dosa!!! Jokes apart, sweet person, with funny accent.
And the food arrives. Dosa was good but there were no chutneys apart from the peanut one and sambar. I am used to having all three kinds of chutneys, green, orange and the white one made out of coconut.The hyderabadi chicken biryani was superb!!! One plate was enough for three people! Definitely the best one in town! Full marks!!!

Service was excellent. And I would definitely visit this place again. 

Al Markaz

I took a brief break from writing recently. And believe me, I didn’t enjoy it at all. Writing is my way of “Letting it go”, and without my blog, I feel disconnected from the outer world.

Ok, so what was I busy with during this hiatus. Ahh, nothing extraordinary. Work, home, reading, bit of traveling and so on.

Lately, I have been trying out many restaurants in Dallas area but never really got a chance to jot down the reviews. But the memories are still fresh in my mind and I will try to post couple of restaurant reviews.

Al Markaz :

The day I landed in Plano, I googled for “Places that serve the best biryani in town”, and the top most hit that I received was “Al Markaz”. So I decided to pay a visit to this highly rated restaurant. It was on the eve of Eid so obviously we had to jostle for space as hordes of crowd waited for their turn to taste the delectable delicacies. Finally we found a table and ordered a chicken item with gravy, Biryani and Tandoori Chicken. The chicken curry was a piece of heaven, can’t think of any better word to describe the taste and aroma. I could not pin-point the spices used, because it was so unique and something that I have never tasted before. Biryani was bit above average. Only problem with this place is the huge waiting time to get a table and afterwards to get the food. It kills the mood actually. Otherwise, this is definitely a must visit in DFW area.

Chennai Cafe

I have been meaning to visit 'Chennai Cafe', ever since I landed here. My friends promised me that this is the ultimate destination for anyone who is looking for some delicious south Indian fare in and around Dallas.

So I went along to see if the place actually deserved the positive word of mouth reviews that it had been receiving. It was the last day of Spring break and I saw a signage at the reception, buffet lunch for 15.99 USD. Free for kids. There was a big crowd at reception consisting of people who were waiting for a table. Just when I was on the verge of giving a minus 2 for chaos, a lady in host uniform guided me to a nearby sofa and asked me to register my name on the waiting list and informed me that it might take atleast 20 minutes to get a table. Being the brave soul that I was, I decided to relax and wait, how could I return empty stomach from the supposed mecca of south Indian good!? In about 15 minutes, an elderly bearded gentleman took me to my table in a very gracious manner. Must have been the owner of the place, not sure though.

I decided to take a tour of the mindboggling array of dishes first. Saw a live dosa counter, samosa chaat counter, fish, chicken curry, chicken tandoori, mutton, paneer makhni, bhajjis, curd rice, rasam and what not. The desert spread was also good. Gulab jamun, rasmalai, and dry sweets. Couldn't taste everything obviously. Fish was delectable and also the dosa. Quality of food was definitely a 9 on 10. But the best part of the restaurant is the superb personalized service, the host coming upto our table multiple times to check if we needed anything else and the waiters filling up our glasses even before it was halfway down. I was pleasantly surprised and mentioned the same to the hostess. Real time compliments are the best and I felt the restaurant deserved it. Had fresh orange after the meal, paid extra for that as it was not part of the buffet menu. The juice was actually freshly squeezed as I could feel the pulpy strands in my mouth. Overall, a great experience at Chennai restaurant. Bit pricey, but worth it.

Penny! Where art thou?

The Cheesecake Factory:

And so I went looking for Penny! Ha ha! But she was nowhere to be found L And neither were those cute uniformed staff.

Ok! I had been planning for this visit to TCF since almost 3 months now. Finally it happened on a Saturday afternoon. A sudden call from a friend, asking to meet up at TCF, while I was busy watching a movie in a nearby theatre, was how this materialized. It was a brilliant sunny day, surprisingly ‘coz we are so used to chilly weather at Plano. And we decided to sit out on the open verandah under the colorful umbrellas. It was breezy and a perfect setting.

We ordered Avocado Egg rolls, Short bread and of course the iconic Chocolate flavored Cheese cake! The food was delicious. The egg rolls were flavorful and just melted with a bite. Short bread was crispy and cheesy just like we were promised.  And the Cheese cake…omg! I would run out of adjectives in my quest to describe the heavenly feeling I got after having it! It transported me to just another world, full of bliss! I was floating amongst clouds with my eyes closed, without a worry! It was like a thousand rose buds bloomed in my head somewhere. In short, I attained nirvana after having the Cheesecake.

Price wise, it was bit expensive. But then, good things must cost money, such is the stupid philosophy of this world. Anyways, it’s a must visit for anyone who is visiting Amrikka for the first time! ;) (One item crossed from my bucket list, ha ha!)

Next target….Jasper's!

Fitoor...(Means Obsession for something or someone)

Sorry to disappoint you, my ardent readers. Not a restaurant review this time, but a movie review!

(Didn’t I tell you, I am on diet! :P )

After a long long time, I got the chance to watch a Bollywood movie, which overwhelmed my aesthetic senses to such an extent that I wanted to pack my bags and go to Kashmir for a trip. Yes, yes, I know what arguments you will come up with, its just snow and beautiful Chinaar leaves, plenty of which we get to experience in US. America, a place where even the road side bushes have beautiful leaves and you get to see roses in the wild. But its actually the whole treatment of the movie, Fitoor. Not just the scenic ambience of the beautiful locales.

The characterization of Begum (played by the oh-so-talented Tabu), Firdaus (played by the mesmerizingly beautiful Katrina) and the Pakistani fiancé (forgot his name). The movie had couple of small but pivotal roles played by extremely talented actors namely Talat Aziz, Lara Dutta and few others. For a change, we saw every actor pronouncing urdu words correctly. Khhhh and not kaa…The filmmaker has gone to extremely lengths to get every nuance right. The only other actor who I feel could have done a better job than Tabu is probably Rekha. (Grape vine says she declined the role earlier). Tabu’s character has various shades of grey depicting a wilful but slightly eccentric Kashmir heiress who loves to control the lives of people around her, including her adopted daughter Firdaus. Katrina in the role of Firdaus has done a commendable job, must say. She portrays the continuous tussle between her heart and mind in a heart wrenching manner. Forced by her mother to get married to a political czar so that the societal status of the family will be enhanced, she does the ultimate mistake of falling in love with the poor artist Noor. And thereby lies the crux of the story. Siddharth has done a good job too, but I still feel his character could have been better played by many others in the industry. Say Farhan or Ranbir etc. All those bare torso scenes of him, creating paintings might win him few female fans, but I could not find the pain in his eyes in critical scenes where it was required. Not everyone can be a Salman ;) who can carry a film on the basis of just his charm. Anyways, I don’t want to sound critical, so I would give this film a 4 on a scale of 5. Acting – Good, story line -  bit confusing. I had to read the story on net after watching the movie to actually understand whose child Firdaus was! Music – Average. Pashmina song was rather good though.

And yeah, I left the hall with a yearn in my heart to visit Kashmir on day…Another one added to my bucket list.

(Read somewhere that the red hair color of Katrina made the director poorer by 50 lacs. What the heck!)

 

Fadi's

Friday nights are for trying out new restaurants. Last night, I decided to pay a visit to the Fadi's, had heard a lot about the healthy Mediterranean cuisine there.

An overwhelming array of dishes welcomes you as you enter the restaurant, veg and non veg delicacies attractively lined up. Ambience wise, the place might be a bit of let down with no signature decor depicting Mediterranean region. Chattering big families with noisy kids running around, most of the folks being from Asian, Arab origin. So if you are looking for a peaceful dinner with some moments of introspection, then this is definitely not the place. Its a boon for buffet diggers of course, who fill their to-go boxes to the brim.
Quality of food was pretty average. I tried the chicken shawarma. Frankly speaking, I have tasted better ones in India. Tried another eggplant dish, which was good. Humus was bland and tasted average. Price wise, its a bit on the higher side. Service was fast. On a scale of 10, I would rate it a 5. Strictly a one time visit.

Malgudi Garden restaurant review

So finally, I got the opportunity to fulfill my eternal quest to have some delicious Dosa in this alien country. Visited "Malgudi Garden" for dinner today.

The most remarkable aspect of this restaurant is the service. Food is undeniably good but what actually steals the show is the superb service. Wouldn't you feel like a million bucks when after a long hard weekend, you go out for dinner on a Friday, and are welcomed by smiling faces of the restaurant hosts. Prompt and ever helpful, they kept coming up to our table again and again to check if we were liking the food and needed anything else. Not just the hosts but each one of the servers were extremely gracious and attentive.
Loved the varieties of dosas and chutneys. But the ghee roast dosa deserves a special mention. The aroma itself transported me back to sweet India. Oh my first and only love, India! How I miss you! The creamy custard was delectable. And south Indian coffee refreshed me instantly.

This restaurant deserves a 4.6 on a scale of 5. Good job, guys.

The eternal quest to have the Best Masala Dosa

So in order to satisfy my eternal quest to have the best masala dosa in town, me and my roomie went to the newly opened Madurai Thattu Kadai restaurant in W Spring creek, Plano, braving the icy cold winds ravaging the barren planes of Plano.

The ambience was cowboyish with wooden benches-table and brick finished walls. You can't miss the huge posters featuring the South Indian superstars. And the overly loud songs were a bit of distraction especially when one is trying to have an intellectual conversation.

Coming to food. We ordered Masala dosa, fish fry, chicken biryani, chicken sukka and filter coffee. Its self service restaurant. (-1). Taste wise the dosa was good. Size wise, too small. The server poured the orange chutney next to the dosa and was trying to do the same with the sambar. (Can you imagine!) I had to point him, "Hey, buddy! Won't it be a good idea, to serve the sambar in a small bowl?) The bulb glowed above his head, and he promptly got me a bowl for sambar which was delicious. The orange chutney was bit low on salt. The fish Fry was bland and spiceless. The chicken biryani was passable and again he had poured the gravy next to the rice. The chicken sukka (Bits of shredded chicken stir fried with some onion) was sad to say the least. My 6 yrs old niece could have prepared that! Filter coffee was average, not worthy of a south Indian restaurant though.

Some minuses here.

Plastic cutlery -1
Self service -1
Pouring the sambar next to dosa - Double minus 1

Overall, a below average experience. On a scale of 10, I would rate it to be a 4. My roomie gives it a 3.