Restaurants/Dining Travel

My Taste of India – My 1st Trip to an Indian Restaurant in 10+ years

I decided to take little “B” on a new adventure this week. Most everyone who knows me, knows that I love to eat out! I have my favorite places that I like to go to, and then there’s the places that I go to because the kids want to. I rarely get to venture out and try something new or exotic. When I do, I am usually pleased with the results.

I have lived in San Ramon, CA for over 4 months now, and I have driven by this Indian Restaurant on numerous occasions. They have had a sign out front, announcing that they have a lunch and dinner buffet. I have been tempted to go in on numerous occasions, but didn’t want to pay for the whole family to go. Well, this week, I finally decided to go. The boys were at school and Aaron (hubby) was at school, so Brielle and I went for a lunch buffet at the Favorite Indian Restaurant.

I have got to tell you that I am not a big fan of very spicy food. I was always under the impression that many Indian foods were spicy. I grew up in a town with many Indians, and I got to try a few things on occasion, but they were usually spicy. I did already know that I had a love for Vegetable Samosas! I don’t get them as often as I’d like, but I will from now on, make more of an effort.

I decided to be brave and try as many things as I could fill my plate and my belly with. I fell in LOVE! The buffet was beautiful and I loved the variety in color. If you get the chance to try Indian food, please do! It will be well worth it. If you don’t end up loving it, it will still be a great experience.

I did kind of find that the brighter the color the food was, the spicier it may be. This may not hold true for everything. There really was only one dish that I tried that was spicy, and the rest were mild, but VERY flavorful. The spices and herbs that are used are just phenomenal. It wasn’t all Curry like many think either! I have included as many pictures as I could find, with a description of SOME of what I ate.

GARLIC NAAN is leavened bread cooked with fresh garlic. This was brought to the table, and we had the choice of Garlic or Plain. I’m a Garlic girl, so Garlic it was! I met a nice lady at the restaurant who was telling me about the sauces. There were about 6 different sauces, and she taught me to just ladle several onto my plate and not to be afraid to let things mix together a little bit. This was wonderful advice. I used the variety of sauces on my plate, to dip my Naan in, and it was heaven!

CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA is Shredded roasted chicken in tomato, butter & cooked with creamy sauce. This is one of the spicier dishes that I tried. So flavorful though!

MATTAR PANEER is Green peas cooked lightly with home made cheese. I am going to have to learn how to make this one. I couldn’t find a picture that would do this dish justice.

CHANNA MASALA is Garbanzo beans cooked in spices. This was another one of my favorites. By the look of it, I thought it would be bland, but it really isn’t! Little “B” even enjoyed this one quite thoroughly, along with a chicken and broccoli dish. She’s a broccoli girl. I can’t seem to find the name of the broccoli dish, but it was tasty and mild as well.

TANDOORI CHICKEN is Chicken marinated in yogurt & spices and roasted. I saw men at the restaurant who were just PILING their plates with several pieces of Tandoori Chicken – a very popular item.

VEGETABLE SAMOSA is Pastry with vegetable stuffing. You can also get Meat Samosas, but I absolutely love the potatoes and peas that you often find in Samosas. Some can be a little spicy, but most are fairly mild. If you’ve never tried Indian Food, at least do yourself a favor and try a Samosa!

RAITA is a Yogurt and cucumber sauce. Some used this to top a salad, but this was one of the sauces I first put on my plate. I dipped my Samosa in it, my Naan and even let it run into my Channa Masala. It was so light and refreshing! They also had a Mango Chutney, and a green sauce that seemed like a Mint Chutney of a sort. I had some of it on my plate to blend with the other flavors and Naan as well.

Mango Ice Cream – this doesn’t really need any explanation does it? This Mango ice cream was such a nice light flavor that little “B” and I both thoroughly enjoyed. This was a perfect way to end our date. It may not be that all Indian restaurants are this good, but I give the Favorite Indian Restaurant an A+! I have only been to one other Indian Restaurant and I was a teenager. Either my taste buds were not mature enough, or the food wasn’t as great. This was a real treat though.


Are you a fan of Indian Food? Share your experiences!!

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*Some of the photos are not actual photos from the restaurant I went to – but are similar. I didn’t want to be invasive with my camera so I pulled what I could from their website and got the rest offline.

I was not compensated for my review. I visited the restaurant and wrote about it on my own accord. All opinions expressed are my own.

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Emily Buys

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