I’ve been eating at Korma Sutra for years, and I never knew if the restaurant name was a glib reference to the Hindu text (I don’t speak Indian and have never really studied the culture – for all I know, “sutra” means “lentil.”  But probably not.)  This weekend, I decided to place a carryout order and wanted to have a reminder look at the menu, so I sought out the Korma Sutra website and noticed that they refer to their fare as “sensual” Indian cuisine, so I guess the restaurant name is intended as a sort of wink-wink.

Like every other Indian restaurant in existence, Korma Sutra has an extensive vegetarian menu.  So, this weekend I tried really hard to will myself to order something new.  But I just can’t help myself.  I love their yellow dal soooooo much, I had to order it again.  But I did notice a host of other yummy-sounding veggie entrees, like saag paneer (curried spinach and cheese), korma sutra korma (house special veggie platter) and chana aloo (garbanzo beans and potatoes – a feast of carbs!!!).  One of these days, I’m going to have to host a book club or take-out dinner party or something that gives me an excuse to order multiple entrees and try EVERYTHING.

Of course, there’s always the buffet option.  Both MO and KS locations have a lunch buffet from 11-2:30.  Unfortunately, I have a serious phobia of buffets (is there a Latin term for fear of buffets?) so despite the excellent service and general cleanliness I have observed at both restaurants – that will probably never happen.

Suffice it to say – I highly recommend Korma Sutra for anyone who likes Indian food, or even if you are just trying it out for the first time.  The staff are so kind and good-humoured.  Every time I order carry out, they throw in little extras like pakora bites and hot chai tea to go.  They also give out these cute balloons.  Another year or so, and I’ll have enough saved to host a child’s birthday party.  Catered by Korma Sutra, of course.

Here’s a run down of my standard Korma Sutra order.  Whether dining in or carrying out, this combo always leaves me with at least two extra meals at home.  (I mean, seriously, how can you not love Indian food?)

Despite my usually healthy diet, I love to start out with vegetable samosa.  Curried potatoes mashed up and mixed with peas (sometimes carrots, onions and other veggies – though Korma Sutra keeps it simple), then breaded and fried.

I’m not a big fan of fried foods, but there’s just something about samosa… I swear I could eat twelve of them.  I like to take an introductory bite of the top, and then pour the sweet/sour tamarind sauce inside the pocket.  Yumm!!!  I must admit, I would like for the potato mixture to be a smidge more spicy, but this is a solid appetizer nonetheless.  I understand though – samosas are likely prepped at the beginning of the day, or the shift at least, so unlike entrees it’s not realistic to expect they could be tailor-made to an individual’s spice preference.

As I hinted at before, the main entree was yellow dal.  Lentils, onions, tomatoes, pepper and cumin are the primary ingredients – but every chef has a unique take on this dish.  At Korma Sutra, the yellow dal has a heavier texture than many other restaurant offerings (the dish is often heavily blended and takes on a soup-y texture).  In fact, I remember the first time I ordered yellow dal from Korma Sutra, I thought that is was full of corn!  Apparently, that was the first time I had ever seen the pigeon peas in their full glory!

The dal is served with a side of basmati rice (my plate, pictured above, includes about a fourth of the yellow dal and a fifth of the rice from my takeout order).  I also use Indian take out as an opportunity to get my garlic fix, so I will typically add a side order of garlic naan.  Korma Sutra’s version features big, juicy slices of garlic.  I love it!   My dinner plate includes a 1/4 serving of naan – as you can see, it is a very generous portion.

No surprises here, another tasty and satisfying meal from Korma Suta.

If you’ve never used foodler, it’s pretty straight forward. You enter in your address or a city and it returns a list of places that you can order from using the site.

Some of them are close by and others are not-so-much. You can narrow it down by distance… although some of those not-so-close-by will deliver for $10 or so. There are quite a few places in Quincy that use foodler so we’ve never had a hard time picking a place to order from. Another cool feature of foodler? It stores what you’ve ordered so you can look back (great feature because sometimes I can’t remember what I’ve tried… or if there was something I really liked, I don’t always remember what it was.)

As you can see by the star ratings, you can rate not only the restaurant itself, but each individual dish you ordered. I love this feature – I definitely use it as a reference when ordering something I’m unfamiliar with and to review what I ordered for other users. Yet another perk of using foodler? There are always coupons (for free items when you spend a certain dollar amount) or rebate offers (at least on your first order from a particular place – it’s usually between 10 and 20% and gets “refunded” back into your foodler account for a future order.)

On Friday night we decided to order from Sher-A-Punjab, a newer Indian restaurant in Quincy. This was our first time ordering from there but they had great reviews, for our entrees we went with:

And no Indian meal is complete without some naan, to mix it up we went with:

This was delicious… it is described as a tandoor cooked naan with pistacio and coconut. And of course, the “chips and salsa” of Indian food:

with a trio of sauces:

Everything truly was delicious and arrived via delivery faster than promised! You can pay using any major credit card and store different addresses – it remembers where you’ve had food delivered to so you don’t have to type everything in every time you order. You can also add any tip to the delivery driver right into your credit card transaction… or pay in cash upon arrival if you wish. Credit or not, we will definitely be using foodler.com again and again.

*Disclaimer, a $15 credit for use at foodler.com was given to me in exchange for this review. However, my opinions are completely mine and truthful.

You would have thought, being his final moments, he would say something amazing, something life-changing.
Instead, Fred said: ‘I knew I should’ve ordered in.’

You see, not half an hour earlier, Fred had discovered that everything in his fridge was growing a gourmet layer of delicious, green mould. Thanks to his helpful flatmate, Nicolas, who had conveniently left the fridge door open while Fred attended a work-related convention, in Denmark.

It had only been three days, but those three days were enough.
Fred would have been a fool to presume the fridge was the only thing Nicolas had massacred and, as he walked into the sitting room, he was quite unprepared for the coffee-ring patterned table, the new split-screen (giant crack down the middle) television and the beer-flavoured, Dalmatian-spot, once white carpet that awaited him.

Fainting, you would think, would be an appropriate reaction, as would screaming or shouting obscenities, perhaps.
Even, finding the Detox and starting the long journey towards a clean room would have been normal.

However, Fred, being tired from the flight and quite used to Nicolas’ behaviour, simply walked back to the kitchen, found the free takeaway fliers and walked out the door to find his dinner.

It had taken but a moment to select the Chinese menu, his personal favourite, and start walking to the car.
It was simply seconds after he sat in the car and leaned forward to start the ignition that he realised: Nicolas has been using this car…

It took him not a moment longer to get out of the car, back away at quite a pace and wait for the second-hand 1987 Honda Civic to explode.
Needless to say, it didn’t, but Fred wasn’t going to take the chance, not that it made any difference in the end.

10 minutes later, Fred found himself walking on that road, unaware of the lorry speeding towards him but, would he really have lived, had he taken the car?
Would the engine not have spontaneously burst into flame because Nicolas had been frying bacon on it the morning before?

Had he stayed in, used the phone and ordered the Chinese, would the phone not have given him a fatal electric shock because Nicolas had, the night Fred left, gotten steaming drunk and decided to start sawing through the phone cable, only to stop part way through and practice his ring making on the table?

It was unclear to Fred, as he was hit, just why he had died but we can say for sure, no matter what Fred had done, no doubt Nicolas would have been there before.

—

Mere moments after the man was hit, the driver got down from his cabin, he ran over to where the body lay.
There was a surprising lack of blood, considering a lorry had hit him. Maybe he’s still alive!, the driver thought, treading cautiously towards him.

As he reached the man and turned him over to check, he recognised the face.

“Fred? What’re you doing here? I was just driving home to tell you about my new job!”

If Fred could have spoken at that moment, he probably would not have bothered. Instead, he probably would have, and rightfully so, punched Nicolas in the face.

Seamless or GrubHub? You decide. (Photo courtesy of sixninepixels/www.freedigitalphotos.net)

Battle of the Websites

We love Seamless Web, affectionately referred to as “Seamless” because, hey, it’s that seamless.  You can find out what restaurants are open near you, how expensive they are and what they serve.  Then the site securely saves your credit card information and makes ordering fast and easy for the future. Be sure to sign up for their e-mail list. They only occasionally send e-mails, and they usually have good deals that will save you a percentage off your order.

Another favorite is GrubHub, although, our experience with it is limited, so we can’t vouch for it.

Whichever site you use, be sure to tip the delivery person. Bad weather days are their busiest, and these poor people are out in the elements when you don’t want to be.

Stock Up on Non-Perishables

We recommend stocking up on a few non-perishables.  Keep them in your kitchen cabinet so that you’re prepared in case of:

• The apocalypse
• The snow storm of the century (like the Day After Christmas Blizzard of 2010)
• Paralyzing sickness
• A wicked hangover

Keep non-perishables on hand to make sure you have a stash of food just in case. (Photo courtesy artemisphoto / http://www.freedigitalphotos.net)

You can pretty much buy whatever you want to prepare for these three events (Spaghetti-O’s are Sonia’s personal favorite), but for unpredictable bouts of sickness, we recommend you add these things to your shopping list:

• Gatorade or Gatorade packets to rehydrate after food poisoning, the flu, a big night out with one too many adult beverages
• Low sodium cans of chicken soup
• Ramen (this is Julia’s version of chicken soup)
• Pasta and pasta sauce
• Tuna
• Mac & Cheese (we like Annie’s because it makes us feel less guilty about being adults eating kid food)
• Bottled water

Your Friendly Neighborhood Restaurant

You know all of those annoying take out menus that get shoved under your door at all hours of the day that you probably end up throwing away? You might want to save them. Believe it or not, there are random times of the year when everything in the city shuts down. When the weather’s bad, even the most reliable restaurants can slow down on their deliveries, but if you keep some local eateries’ menus on hand, you’ll be set. Often during particularly bad days, nearby restaurants will still walk orders over to you, but bike orders are usually cut off.

Stuff these take out menus in a drawer to be used in times of great need. Right after Hurricane Irene Julia dove into her menu drawer to order restorative Chinese food.

Fortunately, my brother, sister and I weren’t picky eaters, which I believe my mom was indirectly responsible for. Since my mom enjoys trying new foods and eating all types of cuisines she naturally tried to instill that same approach to food and eating on her children. From an early age my mom used sauces and spices in her cooking from different parts of the world, and on Tuesdays, when she worked late and we got to order take-out, we almost always brought in some type of ethnic food.

From as early as I can remember we brought in Chinese, Italian and Mexican food; however the list of restaurants we ordered from included Mediterranean, Vietnamese, Thai, Greek, Afghan and Middle Eastern, and I honestly can’t remember a time when a member of the family had an issue finding something to eat at any of those places. Unlike many of my friends whose families would order in American food, and when they branched out never moved past basic ethnic food staples such as Italian or Mexican, our family was always looking for new restaurants and cuisines to try.

Of course we loved ordering deep dish pizza from Lou Malnati’s as much as any Chicagoans; however that was only one restaurant in our rotation, and in fact I wouldn’t even say that it was the family’s #1 choice when we ordered take-out. A Mediterranean restaurant called Pita Inn, which was about a 5-minute drive from our house, was probably the family’s favorite place to order in food from with a close second, until it unfortunately closed, being a local Vietnamese restaurant.

While other families were sitting down to a good ole American dinner of burgers, baked potatoes and corn on the cob the 5 of us were chowing down on shwarma, falafel, kefta, humus and warm pita bread. From these global eating experiences I developed a love affair with ethnic food and sampling different cuisines; however I understand that type of eating isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Up until the past few years that sushi has become trendy many people I knew had never tried Japanese food, and even though Thai and Middle Eastern are now more popular so many people still overlook Vietnamese, Tibetan, Indian and Moroccan.

Of course I love a medium rare ribeye steak, juicy cheeseburger and piping hot salty french fries as much as the next red-blooded American; however that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy some global variety. Whenever I meet people who haven’t tried many different types of foods I always try to encourage them to explore cuisines that are outside of their comfort zone. So many people restrict their restaurant choices to cuisines that they are comfortable with such as Mexican, Italian and Chinese; however there are so many delicious types of food out there to try that it would be a crime to restrict yourself to the same types of foods over and over.

Obviously it would be a lie for me to imply that I’ve enjoyed every ethnic food experience during my life; however for every not so good experience I’ve had trying a new restaurant or dish I’ve had many more positive ones. In the end you never know what you are going to end up liking unless you take the leap and try it, so I encourage you to find a friend who enjoys eating globally, like me, and ask them to dinner, because chances are they’ll take you to a good place, and even if you end up not liking what you order you won’t have to worry about wasting your meal since chances are also good that they’ll be happy to finish it for you.

So on Saturday night, when Mike and I decided to stay in and order Chinese food, I thought nothing of pulling the menu from New Big Wong off of the fridge and dialing in with our typical order. New Big Wong is my place. It is my favorite Chinese carry-out joint in DC. It is the third Chinese carry-out place that I tried, and it has been the standard since. Its food is priced well, imbued with a satisfactory degree of moisture, is not too rubbery, and tastes better than the others. On the not entirely infrequent occasions on which I order Chinese food, I have been delighted by New Big Wong’s reliability and sameness. Just imagine my surprise, then, when the woman on the other line informed me that their driver was on vacation. No delivery, no mercy.

My knee-jerk reaction was that the Chinese food plan had been irrevocably compromised, and we’d have to go back to the dinner plan drawing board. As in, if I couldn’t get exactly the same Chinese food that I’d become accustomed to, then we’d just bike to Chipotle or something. But, even I am willing to admit that is technically whacky. There is no shortage of Chinese restaurants in DC. A small minority of them are even in Chinatown. So, I cracked my mind open a smidgen and plopped down with my laptop.

Here is where methodology gets tricky. How does one zero in on a restaurant? Is it best to trust a food critic, a friend, or random Yelp reviewers? On what criteria might one base these decisions? How could I ensure that the recommendation I take reaches conclusions in the same what that I do? Furthermore, how could I possibly quantify my own preferences in the first place?

I like how New Big Wong tastes. That’s really all I can say. How can I expect Yelp reviewers, or friends, or people who write about eating for a living, to help me now? Can Trish N. from Annandale, Virginia guide me when I cannot guide myself? And, even if our taste receptors function in a basically similar way, is there a way to assure myself of the fact that the cultural components that govern our personal food preferences could possibly be aligned? Does she insist upon ordering chicken friend rice every single time, too?

After grappling with these impossible questions, we settled on Tsim Yung. Our reasons were these: the name sounded slightly more authentic than China Boy, the prices appeared to be low, the website’s graphics were inoffensive, and their menu included our standbys.

It was okay. It was several hairs shy of New Big Wong, but I would not necessarily choose it again. That isn’t a problem, though, because I had an idea.

As it turns out, there is a much better way to determine, predict and account for food preference than scrolling through anonymous reviews. According to this study, our food preference is largely determined by what our mothers ate while pregnant. This cannot be completely true (it is impossible, for example, for my mother to have eaten Chipotle during a pregnancy that occurred seven years before the chain opened,) but it seems to be a reasonable litmus test.

The secret to selecting a new Chinese restaurant, then, is this:

1. Determine your mother’s favorite Chinese restaurant within the months prior to your birth

2. Do your research – are these restaurants still open?

3. If yes, you should probably eat there. I bet you’d like it. What fortune did you get? Just curious. Anyhow, attempt to befriend the chef. Build a rapport, and then try your darndest to obtain an ingredient list and/or complete recipes of your favorite dishes. Are they high in MSG? Are they salty? Are they, like, inundated with water chestnuts? Are you more of a baby corn person? Is it because baby corn is adorable? It is.

4. If no, you have a bit more work to do. First of all, talk this over with your mom. Were her Chinese food preferences during pregnancy a sort of anomaly? Or, did she consume the same kind of Chinese food before and after you were born? If so, this may need to be your point of reference. If you are ambitious, you can research local business records and attempt to unearth information on the former owners. Are they alive? Can you contact them? Are their kids alive? Would they have access to the information on the restaurant’s menu that we mentioned previously? You’ll probably need a back-story. If you casually mention that your research is a strategy to avoid reading Yelp reviews, people might not believe or trust you.

5. Congratulations! Now you have a Chinese food taste baseline by which to determine the local restaurant you are genetically programmed to like. All you have to do now is to visit, call or independently research the menu of all local contenders so as to determine which most closely matches the particularities of the information you have so laboriously acquired. Next time New Big Wong’s driver is on vacation, you’ll be FREAKING READY.

If as you were reading this, you thought to yourself, “my mom never ate Chinese food,” “my mom and I like different sorts of Chinese food,” or “my mom always sort of just ate at whatever restaurant she happened to be near,” then it is very likely that you are adopted. Find your biological mother, follow steps 1 – 5, and try and then tell me with a straight face that you’ll ever use Yelp again.

- A waiting-for-the-driver-to-come-back-but-prepared-if-he-doesn’t Natalie

My name is UWS Eater and I am a Seamless Web junkie. I use the food delivery website two, sometimes three times a week. The convenience of e-dining combined with the ease of ordering (no screaming over a noisy bar phone; no worries that my “sauce on the side” requests are not being noted) have me hooked. Bistro Ten 18 is new to my e-dining repertoire. The usual suspects include Cafe Du Soleil (meatloaf and garlic mash), Sura (river prawns with creamy lemongrass broth) and Metro Diner (B.L.T. and baked potato). I’d been eyeing the menu at Bistro for a while, but was reluctant to order due to the high prices. (Having a $25 meal delivered just seems wrong.) One recent afternoon, my hungry self made a compromise with my practical self and I ordered two side items: the mac and cheese and the onion rings with remoulade. Though I had high expectations for the parmesan, Gruyère and cheddar mac, it fell flat. Oddly enough, given the aforementioned cheeses, all I tasted was waxy Swiss, and the breadcrumb topping was sandy and blah. The onion rings, while better than the mac, were a bit greasy—moreso than one would expect from an onion ring. I might give Bistro Ten 18 another shot, but I will not be ordering the mac and cheese.

“Birthday girls don’t cook,” I told The Professor. “So we are going out to Myers + Chang for Chinese or ordering sushi from Genki Ya.”

I adore Myers + Chang. No doubt there are restaurants in Boston’s Chinatown that serve more traditional Chinese food. But I dream about M&C’s dumplings, plump with shiitake mushrooms and Chinese greens, not to mention the red-miso-glazed carrots. Mmmmm … I must sign up for the next M&C cooking class.

That said, faced with the prospect of finding a parking space in the South End, lugging the baby+car seat=20 pounds many blocks, and then trying to keep Ella from running wild, we ordered in from Genki Ya, my favorite Japanese delivery joint.

And. Yum. Yum.

I could write a long post about why people wanting to eat less meat should eat more Japanese food, but here’s the short version: Japanese cuisine isn’t meat-centric, doesn’t treat vegetables and grains as an after-thought, and is full of interesting flavors.

It’s a good habit to practice at home, with friends, and while socializing, as well.

Need I say more?

Photo courtesy of The Selby

Tonight I ordered the wontons, a spring roll and the cold noodles covered in peanut sauce.

I ordered the guacamole burrito and salsa and chips.  Yummy and filling without any work!

Oh and Papa John’s. I am surprised I hadn’t tried them until last weekend. When they say fresh dough, they deliver fresh dough. Brilliant toppings. A little more expensive than the Pizza Huts and Domino’s of the world, but not making tall claims of 30 minute delivery and still managing to deliver just in time and the sheer freshness is worth it.

Speaking of delivery, if you are just about venturing into ordering food online, please don’t start with Hungryzone – they have the potential to put you off ordering online forever. They are extremely unprofessional, not committed, rude, and I can tell you they have cancelled/ screwed up my orders more often than I have patience for. Fortunately I discovered Webdhaba in time. Every order is followed up with a call from a very friendly Ajay. And the delivery is always on time and never incorrect. Try them for parties. I recently did. Webdhaba ne izzat rakh li.

And another recommendation for ordering in – Foodiebay, for the menu of nearly every restaurant in town. I have never been disappointed. They have updated numbers, updated menus, and their database is HUGE.

Ok. I am done Sometimes I think I take my job too seriously

Slice Pizza

Due to this experience I am considering finding a new pizza location.  I mean I do live in an Italian neighborhood I should be able to find one that doesn’t have these kinds of issues, but it is a shame as Mike and I thought that this was the best and closest thing to NY pizza around.

Another nice feature is that get a referral bonus for passing along to friends, after their first order.

We’re in a recession. It’s not like I can afford it. Plus, I’m a damn good cook. There are so many reasons not to order in. But when have I ever succumb to reason?

Anyone who knows me also knows that I don’t eat a lot. In fact, that seems to be one of the main themes of this blog. I justify my order-in Sunday tradition with some excuse that I saved on food during the week (though I probably spent it on booze).

This, of course, is completely absurd. I am saving up for many things (summer vacation, grad school). If a middle-class upbringing has taught me anything, it’s that every little bit helps.

But I’m really no good at cooking Thai food.

— Andrea