mmm-yoso!!!

Himalayan Palace Restaurant (Sports Arena)

Thanks for stopping by to read mmm-yoso!!!, a blog about food.  Cathy is writing today.

In February, The Mister and I found ourselves in the Sports Arena area of town and pulled into the parking lot between Phil's BBQ and Red Lobster. In the back of that parking lot, we saw cars parked in front of this longstanding establishment and decided to try it for lunch. We have returned. (Prices have changed; I will list current approximate prices).
 The colorful interior (look at that ceiling!) is happy.

The menu is small, one sheet printed on both sides. 
 The Paneer Pakora ($7) is paneer cheese wrapped in chickpea batter and deep fried. The little pockets are served with a tamarind dip and a mint chutney.  This was a wonderful choice of both textures and flavors.
 The keema naan (ground lamb filled bread)($8) was also an excellent choice. Fresh made bread filled with ground lamb which was cooked with various herbs. Satisfying and tasty.  
 The Muligatawny soup ($7) was absolutely mesemerizing with the lentils and chicken and (mild) curry along with a bit of 'sweet' (apple). On the most recent visit, the mulligatawny was not on the menu, but mushroom soup ($7) was a choice.  Creamy, garlic-y minced mushrooms blended with cumin and a few other spices, with a touch of (black?) pepper 'heat' in the background.  A good size serving. 

Chicken Biryani ($14) is served in this deceptively deep bowl.  Basmati rice and shredded carrots with boneless chicken, ghee and whole spices (we chewed on some cardamom pods along with mustard seeds and fennel seeds; there were more) and fresh mint and cilantro. So many flavors!

 On our first visit, we saw this window signage.  The price has increased to $11.95.  Worth it.
 This is the 'non-vegetable' Thali. Rice and papadum (dough made with lentils or black beans, rolled very thin and deep fried) at the top (clockwise) Tandoori chicken, pickled vegetables, chicken tikka masala.  In the center is kheer (rice pudding). The vegetable Thali plate with rice and papadum , Navaratna Korma (onion, ginger, cashews, garlic and sesame seeds blended with coconut milk to make a sauce) along with carrot, onion, peas, raisins, almonds and paneer. Pickled vegetables. Saag (spinach) paneer (really good). Again, kheer in the center dessert area. 
The lunch specials include butter naan.

All in all, this longstanding (32 years) restaurant survived the Pandemic for a reason; quality.  The friendly, informative staff and plethora of  'regulars' along with the remarkable fresh and flavorful choices make this a wonderful place for a meal. 

Himalayan Palace Restaurant 3760 Sports Arena Blvd San Diego 92110 (619) 510-4966 Fax: (619) 510-4968 Open daily 11-3, 4-9 Website

A cooling mango lassi (yogurt-mango beverage) ($5)

Taste of Himalayas (UTC)

I first noticed that Taste of Himalayas was expanding to UTC back in October of last year. They finally opened around April-ish of this past year. I finally made an effort to check them out  couple of weeks back.

I got there right at opening time on both visits. The parking lot at Renaissance Towne Center can be a bit of a mess during lunch since the lane sizes are small and the parking stalls quite cramped.

The interior is a very bright red!

On both visits, service was very nice and attentive.

I noticed that ToH had a lunch special menu with two dishes for $11.95......though taking a quick look, the bottom House Specials added on an extra $3. I had wanted to try both the Bhera-ko Tarkari and the Goat Curry, but that would hav brought lunch up to near the $20 range. So, I went with the Chicken Chilly and the Bhera-ko Takari.

First up was a huge basket of Naan...…nice and warm....

And a typical "lunch special soup", in this case lentil based, which was super bland.

Then my Chicken Chilly and Bhera-ko Takari (literally Lamb Curry) arrived. The portion sizes were reasonable.

I loved the colors of the dishes, which didn't look overly greasy. The Basmati rice was fragrant, but a bit on the "hard" side. The lamb was fairly tender, wonderfully gamey, the curry had a mild spice, with earthy flavors. A very nice dish. The Chicken Chilly, which I kind of consider to be a "Chindian" style dish had some zing to it. It was bit too dry for my taste and perhaps too "one-note" in flavor for me.

Still, not bad....I also saw something on the menu that I hadn't had in years, so I decided to return and just ordered from the regular menu.

First up, the Panner Pakora ($5.95).

Basically, fried cheese. I actually enjoy the rather firm texture of paneer, so I was fine with this dish, though I wish it was more crisp and less greasy. Also, the chutney provided was too sweet for my taste, but the really nice young man soon came to the rescue with some very good mint chutney.

The item(s) I really wanted to try were the Momo's. The last time I had Momo was in Madison over nine years ago....and before that at the Saturday Market in Portland...sheesh....over thirteen years ago! Time sure does fly. Anyway, you know I have a thing about jiaozi and similar dumplings.

I ordered the Mized Momo ($13.95), which came with three each of the Vegetable, the Chicken, and the Lamb dumplings.

My favorite by far was the Lamb Momo as it had a nice distinctive lamb flavor and the spices really complimented the meat. The chicken version almost tasted like a bland Chinese Jiaozi. The veggie was really bland and needed more seaoning/flavor. Sorry to say, the wrappers weren't up to task and were quite brittle falling apart easily, lacking in that slight fluffy elasticity that I look for in dumplings. After all that cheese, I ended up taking one of each Momo home for the Missus to try.....Her favorite? The lamb. I'd gladly have that again....though wish the wrappers were a bit better.

All in all, ToH is fairly pricey, but I enjoyed the items I had with lamb. I'll make some time in the near future to try out the goat.

Taste of The Himalayas
8895 Towne Center Drive
San Diego, CA 92122
Hours:
Daily 11am - 10pm

Madison: Chautara Restaurant

*** Chautara has closed

I found out I'd be going to Madison, Wisconsin for business a few weeks ago. So being the typical food obsessed blogger, I did some research on Chowhound and other resources, and made a short list of restaurants and other eating establishments. Now these type of trips are sometimes a bit dicey, since it means several people sharing one car, etc, etc.... Luckily, I was teamed up with two other really laid back guys, who to a certain extent humored me when it came to eating. During the trip all breakfast and lunches were accounted for, so other than travel days, dinner was the only meal where we had a choice.

We flew in to Chicago-Midway Airport for several reasons which I won't go into at this time. And though we arrived at about 4 in the afternoon, due to various technical difficulties, we used the "scenic route" to get to Madison. It was a nice drive, but I think we saw every single corn field between Chicago and Madison. After checking in we headed out and got to State Street around 9pm. After walking with rumbling stomachs for a bit we settled on Chautara.

Chautara

This photo was taken a few days after our visit. Unfortunately, our visit was so very late, on a almost pitch dark evening. This being a fairly warm evening we also chose a table outside with the barest of light provided by candlelight. So my apologies in advance for the really sad and sorry photos. I had considered not doing a post at all, but decided to just go ahead.....

What I found really interesting about eclectic State Street was the variety of restaurant available, everything from African to Thai can be found on State Street or on one of the side streets. This can't be more clearly illustrated than in the existence of Chautara and Himul Chuli. Incredibly, there is not one, but two Nepalese Restaurants located on State Street.

Even though it was almost 930pm we were seated by our perky and very friendly Server Liz. After perusing the menu, we made our selections. I ordered the Khasi Ko Masu($17). The meal started with a nicely flavored soupy preparation featuring Dal. The flavors were balanced in this hearty soup.

The Khasi Ko Masu is basically a goat curry. This version was excellent, the goat meat retained some of the nice gamey wild flavor, and was very soft and tender. There was a nice quantity of meat, I'd expected more bones, but there were very few. The flavor of the curry was excellent and balanced, you could make out the ginger, coriander, and other  spices, but none of them was overpowering. The tart tomato was a nice foil and provided a nice contrast. To put it simply, this was a very well prepared meal.

All of my companions enjoyed their meals. Our Server, the ever smiling Liz was a joy. Being somewhat weary, this was a nice start to our trip to Madison.

Chautara Restaurant
334 State St
Madison, WI 53703

State Street, the lively heart of Madison, features casual and varied flavors. There is one thing you must remember. State Street itself is a pedestrian mall. Only Buses, delivery vehicles, and bicycles(and there are many!) are allowed.

In other words, don't be like us....nerdy techies using our GPS system(don't you love modern technology?). We took a turn onto State Street. We're driving along, and I notice that while there are many people eating and walking, I notice not a single car! Of course we come to find out that automobiles are not allowed on State Street. I'm guessing that the clueless are many, for not a single pedestrian stared, nor batted an eye...... Makes me a feel much better, that's for sure!