Saravanaa Bhavan
955 W. Broadway
Vancouver, BC
Was feeling hungry on my way back to campus last Tuesday evening, in the mood for vegetarian, so I decided to convince a friend to join me for dinner at Saravanaa Bhavan restaurant. Have been here plenty of times, but this is my first blog review.
Saravanaa Bhavan is a well known chain spread throughout the world, with locations in Canada, the USA, Australia, Europe, Singapore, and India which serves authentic purely vegetarian South Indian food. Originally based out of Chennai, I had the good fortune of being able to eat at the original restaurants there, and must say the food was mouth numbingly good. I guess the local touch makes a difference.
The restaurant here is not quite as good as the one in Chennai, but is still most definately worth a visit. I am in fact more impressed by their non-dosa dishes. I think there are better places to get a dosa in Vancouver. However, the items like Uttapam, Idli, and Vadai are excellent. The Vancouver location has expanded its menu to include North Indian vegetarian dishes as well. The service that day was a bit poor, as we had come near closing time, and the waitress seemed to be in an off mood.
After much debate, my friend and I both decided to order the South Indian Thali, which gives you about as much food as you can possibly eat for $10. Rice, Pooris, Papadum, Sambar, Rasam, 2 Sabjis, Choley, Curd, Raita, and a Sweet Dish are served to you in steel vessels. For the first time in my life, I asked for a second helping of RASAM :S. I was pretty close this time, as only one of the Sabjis managed to survive the wrath of my rampaging stomach. I topped this off with a cup of filter coffee. If you think Starbucks, Blenz or Seattles Best is good coffee, you really need to try authentic South Indian Filter coffee, as it is simply amazing. I could write a separate blog on that alone.
Veg lovers rejoice, Saravanaa Bhavan was made for you.
Service: 3/5
Location/Ambiance: 3/5
Food: 4/5
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Restaurant Review: Green Lettuce Restaurant
Green Lettuce Restaurant
112-6350 120 St
Surrey, BC
Time for a review that I probably should have done months ago. This is a review for Green Lettuce Restaurant, a restaurant I have been to dozens of times, and is one of the most well known restaurants, especially amongst the South Asian Community in the Lower Mainland. Why is it so well known? Well, this is one of the few places outside of India where you can get chinese food which is authentically prepared in Indian style. Surprised? Don't be. Eastern India has a sizable Chinese population, in fact, Kolkata has a large Chinatown located in a part of the city called Tangra. Of late, these Chinese have begun to migrate throughout the world, and many of them have come to Vancouver and have opened up their own restaurants serving Chinese food which has been modified and enhanced from their own experiences to make the Indian crowd happy. So when you enter the restaurant, don't be surprised if you are greeted in Hindi or Bengali, rather than in Mandarin or Cantonese! Although there are no less than 6 different Indo Chinese restaurants now open in the Lower Mainland, Green Lettuce is probably the most well known as it is the oldest (open for 11 years now) and has served many famous Indian celebrities when they come here from India. In fact, there are a pictures on the wall of Bollywood royalty like Aishwarya Rai, Hrithik Roshan and Lucky Ali chowing down at the restaurant on their plates of Gobi Manchurian and Hakka Noodles!
As I have been to this place many times, I think I have tried most items on the menu. However, this time, I went with my office colleagues in a group of 10, many of whom had not tried this food before. Consiequently we ordered quite a few dishes. Cream Corn and Chicken Soup, Vege Pakoras and Chicken skewers were the appetizers, Hakka Vege Chow Mein, Hakka Chicken Chow Mein, Gobi Manchurian, Bombay Style Chop Suey, Chili Paneer, Ginger Fish, Dai Ching Chicken, and Pineapple Chicken were part of the main course. Afterwards we were too stuffed for dessert, although experience dictates that one should try the Almond Kulfi if you have room.
I definately recommend you try the dishes which are spicier and have more of an Indian twist to them. No other chinese restaurant serves paneer as part of their meals, and the Gobi Manchurian is unique and I have never had cauliflower prepared in a better manner. The Dai Ching chicken is also particularly good, although some might find it a bit too spicy.
Good, friendly, service and reasonable prices combined with the fantastic food make this place a must visit for all visitors and residents of Vancouver.
Service: 4/5
Location/Ambiance: 3/5
Food: 4/5
112-6350 120 St
Surrey, BC
Time for a review that I probably should have done months ago. This is a review for Green Lettuce Restaurant, a restaurant I have been to dozens of times, and is one of the most well known restaurants, especially amongst the South Asian Community in the Lower Mainland. Why is it so well known? Well, this is one of the few places outside of India where you can get chinese food which is authentically prepared in Indian style. Surprised? Don't be. Eastern India has a sizable Chinese population, in fact, Kolkata has a large Chinatown located in a part of the city called Tangra. Of late, these Chinese have begun to migrate throughout the world, and many of them have come to Vancouver and have opened up their own restaurants serving Chinese food which has been modified and enhanced from their own experiences to make the Indian crowd happy. So when you enter the restaurant, don't be surprised if you are greeted in Hindi or Bengali, rather than in Mandarin or Cantonese! Although there are no less than 6 different Indo Chinese restaurants now open in the Lower Mainland, Green Lettuce is probably the most well known as it is the oldest (open for 11 years now) and has served many famous Indian celebrities when they come here from India. In fact, there are a pictures on the wall of Bollywood royalty like Aishwarya Rai, Hrithik Roshan and Lucky Ali chowing down at the restaurant on their plates of Gobi Manchurian and Hakka Noodles!
As I have been to this place many times, I think I have tried most items on the menu. However, this time, I went with my office colleagues in a group of 10, many of whom had not tried this food before. Consiequently we ordered quite a few dishes. Cream Corn and Chicken Soup, Vege Pakoras and Chicken skewers were the appetizers, Hakka Vege Chow Mein, Hakka Chicken Chow Mein, Gobi Manchurian, Bombay Style Chop Suey, Chili Paneer, Ginger Fish, Dai Ching Chicken, and Pineapple Chicken were part of the main course. Afterwards we were too stuffed for dessert, although experience dictates that one should try the Almond Kulfi if you have room.
I definately recommend you try the dishes which are spicier and have more of an Indian twist to them. No other chinese restaurant serves paneer as part of their meals, and the Gobi Manchurian is unique and I have never had cauliflower prepared in a better manner. The Dai Ching chicken is also particularly good, although some might find it a bit too spicy.
Good, friendly, service and reasonable prices combined with the fantastic food make this place a must visit for all visitors and residents of Vancouver.
Service: 4/5
Location/Ambiance: 3/5
Food: 4/5
Saturday, June 5, 2010
The Big Fat Indo-Canadian Wedding
Several of my very good friends are getting married this summer, and I guess I get to take a more active role this time around. I have attended a few weddings in India, but mostly as an outside guest, and not a member of the 'inner circle'. Perhaps for this reason, although I have enjoyed the weddings I have experienced in India, I definately have more knowledge of what goes on at the Canadian version.
One of the nice things about the Canadian version is how it is possible to try and blend the old traditions in with the new. Mehndi/Haldi is commonly done, and the ceremony itself is usually held at the Mandir/Masjid/Gurudwara. But along side of this, things like the 'First Dance', Cake Cutting, and Introductory Slide Shows of the happy couple have been silently incorporated into the festivities.
No doubt the Indian version is purely authentic, but the Canadianized version can be quite a blast. In fact, people go all out to try and imitate the glitz of the posher Indian weddings, which I am quite sure is inspired by what we are exposed to in Bollywood movies. While it is difficult to copy the wedding ceremonies themselves, mainly due to lack of time, and facilities, it seems as if a concious decision is made to try and outdo one another at the wedding reception(s). These days, things are stage managed, with professional photographers, videographers, the most glamorous of dresses, expensive jewelery, color themes (yes, it is imperative that the seat covers must be color coordinated with the grooms tie apparently), slide shows, stage performances, DJs, bad jokes by the MC, etc, etc, etc... The lowest cost I hear of these days at a wedding is not less than 50k, with richer couples spending upwards of 6 figures on their wedding festivities! Wow, with costs like that, it is probably good to remain a bachelor!!! To be honest, I am sure that in the midst of trying to impress family, friends, relatives and strangers the families of the bride and groom are probably stretching themselves to the limit, but heck, they want us to enjoy, and enjoy we do to the max!!!
The food... ah the food... the quality of a recpetion is judged not by the happiness of the bride and groom, but by how many appetizers are served (usually not less than 3). You have heard of a 6 course dinner? Well how about a 6 course appetizer? Vege Pakoras, Tandoori Chicken, Fish Pakoras, Paapri Chat, Tandoori Rumal Rotis, Gol Gappe... yes my friends, this is quite common. And I haven't even started with dinner yet.
To wrap up, just a list of stereotypes which I find applicable to most, if not all Indo Canadian wedding receptions (and I am sure those who have been in my position can add to this list, so I would like to encourage you to do so):
1) Butter Chicken. I have not encountered a wedding reception where this has not been served. Even if the bride and groom are vegetarians, to keep the meat eaters happy, somehow, this dish makes it into all of the dinner menus.
2) Michael Jackson. I do not understand why, but for some reason when playing the English Music, most DJs are obsessed with playing 'Thriller' as many times as possible during the night...
3) Crazy Dancing Aunty. There is always one crazy aunty who rocks the dance floor (or at least thinks she is rocking the dance floor). You can recognize this aunty as there is usually a circle of wide eyed younger people who dance in a circle around her in a mesmorized trance.
4) Drunk Uncle. There is always one alcoholic uncle who has a few too many during the night and ends up on the dance floor trying to do the Macarena while balancing a half-empty bottle on his head. It never works... you can recognize this uncle as the tie he is wearing usually starts off around his neck, and ends up around his forehead.
5) The Performance by a Relative. Sometimes good, usually a snooze, the bride/grooms nephew/niece/brother/sister/6th cousin is inevitably forced to do a dance performance during the reception. The good thing for the performer is that no matter how the performance is, he/she is rewarded by crazy dancing aunty (see number 3 above) who will come up, and join in the dance near the end and reward the performers with no less than $20.
6) The hopeless MC. I have attended very few weddings where the MC has actually been good. Usually its not even his/her fault, as people are too busy eating/gossiping/getting sloshed at the open bar. Usually he/she fades into the background, and their lasting memories are unfortunately of having made bad jokes, and dealing with poorly functioning A/V eqpt.
7) Irritating glass tappers in the audience. One of the weirder rituals that seems to have been picked up from western weddings, is that of someone in the audience tapping on their drinking glass loudly with their silverware during the reception. This is to indicate that it is time for the bride and groom to publicly display their affection for each other in front of everyone with a kiss on the lips. Unfortunately, with Indian weddings, the bride and groom are usually too shy/terrified for any PDA, and so instead, are forced to uncomfortably sit still while the irritating glass tappers tap on their glasses until they finally run out of strength in their wrists...
One of the nice things about the Canadian version is how it is possible to try and blend the old traditions in with the new. Mehndi/Haldi is commonly done, and the ceremony itself is usually held at the Mandir/Masjid/Gurudwara. But along side of this, things like the 'First Dance', Cake Cutting, and Introductory Slide Shows of the happy couple have been silently incorporated into the festivities.
No doubt the Indian version is purely authentic, but the Canadianized version can be quite a blast. In fact, people go all out to try and imitate the glitz of the posher Indian weddings, which I am quite sure is inspired by what we are exposed to in Bollywood movies. While it is difficult to copy the wedding ceremonies themselves, mainly due to lack of time, and facilities, it seems as if a concious decision is made to try and outdo one another at the wedding reception(s). These days, things are stage managed, with professional photographers, videographers, the most glamorous of dresses, expensive jewelery, color themes (yes, it is imperative that the seat covers must be color coordinated with the grooms tie apparently), slide shows, stage performances, DJs, bad jokes by the MC, etc, etc, etc... The lowest cost I hear of these days at a wedding is not less than 50k, with richer couples spending upwards of 6 figures on their wedding festivities! Wow, with costs like that, it is probably good to remain a bachelor!!! To be honest, I am sure that in the midst of trying to impress family, friends, relatives and strangers the families of the bride and groom are probably stretching themselves to the limit, but heck, they want us to enjoy, and enjoy we do to the max!!!
The food... ah the food... the quality of a recpetion is judged not by the happiness of the bride and groom, but by how many appetizers are served (usually not less than 3). You have heard of a 6 course dinner? Well how about a 6 course appetizer? Vege Pakoras, Tandoori Chicken, Fish Pakoras, Paapri Chat, Tandoori Rumal Rotis, Gol Gappe... yes my friends, this is quite common. And I haven't even started with dinner yet.
To wrap up, just a list of stereotypes which I find applicable to most, if not all Indo Canadian wedding receptions (and I am sure those who have been in my position can add to this list, so I would like to encourage you to do so):
1) Butter Chicken. I have not encountered a wedding reception where this has not been served. Even if the bride and groom are vegetarians, to keep the meat eaters happy, somehow, this dish makes it into all of the dinner menus.
2) Michael Jackson. I do not understand why, but for some reason when playing the English Music, most DJs are obsessed with playing 'Thriller' as many times as possible during the night...
3) Crazy Dancing Aunty. There is always one crazy aunty who rocks the dance floor (or at least thinks she is rocking the dance floor). You can recognize this aunty as there is usually a circle of wide eyed younger people who dance in a circle around her in a mesmorized trance.
4) Drunk Uncle. There is always one alcoholic uncle who has a few too many during the night and ends up on the dance floor trying to do the Macarena while balancing a half-empty bottle on his head. It never works... you can recognize this uncle as the tie he is wearing usually starts off around his neck, and ends up around his forehead.
5) The Performance by a Relative. Sometimes good, usually a snooze, the bride/grooms nephew/niece/brother/sister/6th cousin is inevitably forced to do a dance performance during the reception. The good thing for the performer is that no matter how the performance is, he/she is rewarded by crazy dancing aunty (see number 3 above) who will come up, and join in the dance near the end and reward the performers with no less than $20.
6) The hopeless MC. I have attended very few weddings where the MC has actually been good. Usually its not even his/her fault, as people are too busy eating/gossiping/getting sloshed at the open bar. Usually he/she fades into the background, and their lasting memories are unfortunately of having made bad jokes, and dealing with poorly functioning A/V eqpt.
7) Irritating glass tappers in the audience. One of the weirder rituals that seems to have been picked up from western weddings, is that of someone in the audience tapping on their drinking glass loudly with their silverware during the reception. This is to indicate that it is time for the bride and groom to publicly display their affection for each other in front of everyone with a kiss on the lips. Unfortunately, with Indian weddings, the bride and groom are usually too shy/terrified for any PDA, and so instead, are forced to uncomfortably sit still while the irritating glass tappers tap on their glasses until they finally run out of strength in their wrists...
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