Indian Food, Part Three

One of the older stand-by Indian restaurants in the area has always been Bombay Oven. It's on Stevens Creek Blvd. close to De Anza College and has been there much longer than the glitzier Panera and Peet's which are now adjacent. In the olden days (ie about a year or so ago), when you went for the buffet lunch, you seated yourself, eventually someone would nod at you and acknowledge your presence, and bring you water and MAYBE ask for a drink order; and after you had stuffed yourself, a small old Indian lady in a sari would decide what you owed and collect money from you. No signs. No menus. Just a tasty buffet.

That has all changed. A few months ago when Beth and I went for lunch the ambiance was totally different. Newly painted, fresh tablecloths, nice waiters, a bigger buffet moved to the back nook,and when we arrived at 11:30 it was not yet ready. We were brought drinks during our wait, and before the food line opened, the place started filling up! As we had been the first people in, we were sent to the buffet first, a nice gesture. And the quality of the food was much higher than it had been in the past.

Fast forward to Wednesday night. I had purchased a Groupon for dinner at Bombay Oven a few weeks ago, so we decided to give it a try. The place is very comfortable, with a pleasant dining room, painted a soft yellow and with low music playing. Several families were there but it was not crowded. Our young waiter was very friendly and helpful. We ordered an appetizer and three dishes to share, plus naan. The appetizer was something I'd never had before but highly recommend---honey cauliflower. Think slightly sweet, savory popcorn cauliflower. Yum. The main dishes were the house curry chicken, butter chicken, and bhindi masala (okra). Michael was a big fan of the curry, which I also liked, but butter chicken just makes my mouth happy. I think the only place where I've had any butter chicken that was better is at Amber India, where it is a signature dish. The quantities were large enough that we were able to bring home more than enough for lunch the next day.

Now for my Okla/Ark/Texas families: Okra. You think fried okra is the best thing on earth. Well you know I do, at least. Let me tell you, okra masala as cooked at Bombay Oven rivals any okra dish I've ever had. The okra is fresh, cut like we do to fry it, sauteed with onions, tomato, and spices. It was crisp, smooth, fresh, spicy, all at once. I promise, if any of you come to visit, this will be a stop on the food tour.

I asked our waiter if he eats okra, feeling that possibly even Indian gourmets might have mixed feelings about this vegetable. But he assured me that he did, and that in his country there is a belief that eating okra will make you smart in mathematics. I told Michael that it must not have worked on me and he replied, think how much worse you might have been in math if you HADN'T eaten it all your childhood! Touche.

AHS Class of 1961 Group Photo

Susan Miller, Charlene Goss, Carrol Evans, Oras Rainer, Thomas Berryhill, Linda Presley, Darryl Hunkapillar, Mary Walters, Suzy Russell, Charlotte Brown, Joe Pap, Judy Means, Janice Barnes, Harvey Colley, Cherry Jeffrey, Karen Haston, Mike Howie, Judy Nutt, Freida Clay, Diann Thompson, Jesse Reed, Linda Briscoe, Marvin Witt, Lynn Paschall, Danny Heartsill, Shirley Lewis, Barbara O'Brien, Tanya Jackson, Trudie McCreight, Linda Collins, Dorothy Royall, Phyllis Hignight, Sharon Wiggins, Linda Painter, Linda Lanphere, John Burton, Phyllis Hamilton, Carol Carlock, Sandra Fisher, Jim Porter, Carol Daube, Bill Thomas, Midge Ledbetter, Sharon King, Jane Robbins, Carl Holliday, Karen Adams, Terry Gutshall, Charles Rice, Sharon Halstead, Doyle Williams, Lynda Jones, Bob Williams, Kenneth James, Gary Grider, Mary Beth Osborn, Carolyn Kinkade, Jan Pruitt

Katie and Laura at Katie's wedding

http://www.wpja.com/contests/49-2011-q1-contest/06-emotion.html#10

Friends sharing happiness and joy. I love these two young women. Gorgeous photo!

Indian Food in Sunnyvale, Part Two

We are still trying to explore the wonders of Indian cuisine right here in our neighborhood. In April we went to another buffet, this time to Athidhi, located in the shopping center at the corner of Wolfe and Old San Francisco Road. The address is 727 S. Wolfe Rd but the restaurant is in the strip that faces Old San Francisco. We got there at the end of the lunch time; well actually, we got there after the end of the lunch time. Their web page said lunch from 11 until 3 but that is only on weekends. Weekdays they close at 2:30. The host was gracious enough to seat us anyway, and there was still an ample quantity of delicious food.

We thoroughly enjoyed all the variety of curries and masalas and tandoori. Michael was brave enough to try the goat curry which he thought was quite yummy. The dessert choices were completely different. There was some fresh melon and a pudding but no gulab in honey sauce. There were gulab with a savory filling in the entree section. I think they had run out of dosa before we got there.

We both felt this was a good balance of spicy, a little hotter than Taste Buds, and way spicier than Ganesha. It was a much bigger buffet than Taste Buds, with an assortment of south specialties added to the mix. Again, we got fresh hot naan brought to the table. The place had several small altars and posters for a variety of gurus. It obviously has a spiritual clientele.

There was a long gap between Athidhi and our next choice, Shalimar, located on El Camino near Bernardo. We think the building used to be a Sizzler or something similar. Shalimar bills itself as Indian and Pakistani food. The parking lot was full and there was a big, fairly noisy crowd. It is NOT a buffet at lunch. They have a large menu posted on the counter with pictures of food. It would be best to go there with a group and order a variety of dishes to share. We did not think to do this and as a result had two identical entrees. Both of us ordered Saag chicken, which was basically chicken chunks in a spinach base. We also ordered naan. The chicken was delicious although it was a challenge to eat that much spinach, even dipping the naan in it. Michael liked ordering a single dish because we did not leave the restaurant stuffed as we usually do after a buffet. Next time we'll try 2 entrees. This would also be a good place to order take-out.

For those of you looking to get good deals on local restaurants, I recommend checking out Groupon. I have a coupon waiting to be used for Bombay Oven on Stevens Creek and there are frequently deals for new and newly remodeled places.

Trying to Sync

What a wonderful reunion we had last weekend in Ardmore! By the end of the day Saturday, the years had melted away and I felt like I had reclaimed dozens of friends. I only wish I could have talked more with everyone there and taken even more pictures.

If you took photos, please add them to the album, I sent the link to everyone who left their email address for the directory. So far mine and Doyle's are there and Linda has helped me to tag all the photos.

We can stay connected through the email group and through Facebook.