Himalayan Trek

In the interest of constantly expanding my culinary horizons I went to Nepal last night to sample some of the cuisine. Well, actually I just went to a Nepalese restaurant in Downtown Berkeley, but close enough.

I went with a friend who had formerly lived in Nepal for about 6 months and let him order what he thought would be best. We ended up with a delicious array of appetizers and entrees. We started out with the typical - and apparently hard to get - momos. They are steamed dumplings filled with minced chicken, onion, green onion, cilantro & spices and served with tomato chutney. Definitely yum. Think samosas minus the deep fried part. We did have some fried stuff though - in the form of pakoras, a golden-fried vegetable fritters served with mint sauce. Also yum.

For our entree we had what you see above, a mixed Tandoori platter with lamb, beef, chicken and shrimp served on a sizzling platter with grilled veggies and rice. Lots of flavor and I am always a fan when you can try multiple things in one dish.

All in all it was quite delish - but as my friend said: Its hard to pay $40 for something that would cost $4 in the country of origin... = )

Dessert Superstar

Because I love Burma Superstar with the burning passion of a Shakespearean hero, I simply must do another post on it.

I took my friends Kate and Ross there this past weekend to introduce them to her seductively addictive charms. After stuffing ourselves with chicken satay, the incomparable samusa soup, walnut shrimp and sesame beef we managed to find just enough room to sample one of their desserts. As I am always down for anything fried we went for the fried bananas slices with coconut ice cream, mango sorbet and sliced strawberries. Oh My God. It was incredible!

I tend to be more of a savoury than a sweets person so it is rare that I even bother with dessert, but Kate and Ross both have an insatiable sweet tooth so they required further satisfaction. The fact that I hate all things coconut aside - it was quite the stellar dessert. Kate and I just dumped all that coconut ice cream on Ross' plate and then attacked the rest with gusto. The mango sorbet was simply pureed and frozen mango and was ridiculously good. The bananas we fried to utter perfection - with a thin, crisp layer on the outside and hot, mushy goodness on the inside. Yum!

So, lesson learned. Next time I go to Burma Superstar (which will be as soon as I can drag the next unsuspecting victim down to Alameda) I shall endeavor to save some room for dessert. = )