SBRRP installment 2: Tandoori Kitchen

Back when the Asian buffet was in this location, I included it and Udon Kaisha in the Public Road Restaurant Project because they are right next to other restaurants with PR addresses. However, since this is now a different restaurant, and it is technically on SBR, I included it in this round. It still has the same furniture and general ambience (although the wall art now has an Indian theme), but it is the first Indian restaurant in Lafayette in my memory, and I've lived here since 1989 (let me know if I'm wrong)! I had been here for dinner once before, but it was a while ago. I'd like to try the lunch buffet sometime.

We went for dinner on Sunday night with a couple of friends. When we arrived, I asked the woman who seated us what the best things on the menu are. She said if I liked creamy, it would be tikka masala or chettinad, and if I liked spicy, I should try vindaloo. Since I do like creamy sauces, and I frequently order tikka masala, I decided to try chettinad ("south Indian kerala-style curry cooked with coconut milk, curry leaves and spices") with chicken, which was very good and very yellow--lots of turmeric! G ordered tikka masala with lamb, and our dining companions both got saag, one with lamb and one with tofu. We each had our own little dish of rice. We divided an appetizer order of two vegetable samosas among the four of us--they are not that large, but we wanted room for our entrees. And we got two orders of naan: regular (delicious) and kabuli (I did not taste this one). The staff were nice, and it was reasonably warm inside, considering that it was about 20 degrees and snowing.

We braved the snow! (It wasn't really snowing very hard.)

I tried a Taj Mahal beer, a basic lager. Otherwise, we stuck with water and hot chai tea.

Vegetable samosas. We cut one in half to show the filling. They were nice and hot and flaky.

Clockwise from top left: lamb tikka masala, lamb saag, tofu saag, and chicken chettinad (south indian kerala-style curry cooked with coconut milk, curry leaves and spices). I liked the curry leaves. The whole dish was good.

We each got our own dish of basmati rice.

Kabuli naan. I forgot to photograph the regular naan before we started eating it.

Inside Tandoori Kitchen. There are booths along the walls.

SBRRP installment 1: Dillinger's

A couple of years ago, G and I did a Public Road Restaurant Project that involved dining at every restaurant on Public Road (all 21 of them at that time). This winter, we will try all of the other restaurants in Lafayette, which together total up to a lower number than those on Public Road. We are starting with the South Boulder Road Restaurant Project. Since we are excluding fast-food restaurants and franchises (not because we don't like them but because everyone pretty much knows what the food is like in these places), our list for the SBRRP is quite short, as fast-food eateries abound in that part of town. We put the names into a jar and drew the first one tonight: Dillinger's!

Dillinger's has been in this spot on the southeast corner of SBR and Centaur Village Drive since 1991, but we had never been there even though we've lived here longer than that--we are Old Towners who tend to stick to our neighborhood, so this is helping us branch out. A friend told me she didn't think they served food! Well, this is not true, as you can see from their name, where "food" even comes before "spirits." We liked the colorful, cozy interior and the friendly staff. The menu is mostly typical bar food, but many of the dishes are made fresh, and we thought the food was tasty. G had a burger and fries and said the burger was very good. I tried the fish and chips, which came with a side salad that was fairly basic but fresh tasting. The fish was crisp and tender, the fries were good, and the prices were reasonable. We washed it down with Alaskan Amber (on tap) and finished off with churros and vanilla ice cream for dessert.

The World Series and other sporting events were on TV, and there are pool tables in the back, but it was pretty quiet on a Tuesday night between 6:30 and 8 p.m.

I forgot to take my own photo outside, so this is a low-res one from the Yellow Pages website

My fish & chips. I'm sure the cod starts out frozen, but it was tender with a crisp crust, and we all know it's really just a vehicle for the tartar sauce. 

The colorful interior reminded us of other bars we like. 

Alaskan Amber beer! We couldn't pass that up. 

Side salad--basic but fresh tasting

G's burger and fries. He said the burger was delicious.

The order of churros came with two churros and a scoop of vanilla ice cream, so this is half of the order after we split it up.