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| - I am extremely glad that there are more and more options for Indian food near where I live. I noticed Annapurna on Ridge Road just south of Pleasant Valley recently and I decided to give it a try. it was a mixture of good and just OK experiences that kept me from giving the four star "Yay I'm a Fan!" rating, but I can't say I won't try it again. The convenience factor alone might bring me back around.
One quick note about ethnic food. I love to try ethnic food, especially regional ethnic food. When I walk into a place and I'm hit with unfamiliar but delicious smells I'm all in, and fast. This place won me over on the first impression test when I saw the old grandmother in the kitchen area cooking the food. I can't explain why, but all my favorite foreign-country food restaurants have grandma in the kitchen. For whatever reason, it works for me. Your mileage may definitely vary.
First, Annapurna is a vegetarian restaurant. So, if you are like I was last night and just want to punish some Tandoori Chicken or Chicken Tikka Masala, this is not the place to find it. And if you look for any indication in the signage inside or outside that this is a meat free zone, you won't find that either.... and unless you speak Hindi the menu at the counter where you order take out is equally unhelpful. So that was a disappointment that factored a little into the rating. Given that the vast majority in India are Hindu and most of them are vegetarian, it's certainly not unexpected or shocking. And if I was told I had to become a vegetarian, I can confidently say I would eat a LOT of Indian food. Bottom line, I had to order from a vegetarian menu, OK. I can handle that. I ordered two samosas, Pav Bhaji, and some Gulab jamun for carry out. This particular order is in the spirit of the "street food" vibe the menu kind of suggests is a theme. The dining area is very unadorned, so there is not a real feeling of theme to it. The kitchen is wide open and visible behind the counter which I like and does kind of evoke the street food vibe of food being prepared in front of you.
The Samosas were pretty good. They came with that bright green cilantro-y sauce on the side, the filling was a savory mix of potatoes and spices. They were good, and the price was good too, I think they were .99 cents each.
Pav Bhaji was just as you expect it; a stewed, mashed and spiced mix of vegetables Nicely seasoned if a little on the spicy side. The color was a vibrant orange. Pav Bhaji is served with something like a bun. Now I've had a lot of Indian food in a lot of places - and I've had a lot of the breads usually associated with Indian food. Roti, Chapati, and Naan mostly, some Puri too. In general, bread in an Indian restaurant is unleavened, flat and cooked on a hot surface, so the idea of a "bun" was intriguing. I googled before writing this to actually see what the bread item usually served is and the term "soft bread roll" is used. Some of the pictures had something like a dinner roll there, others had flatter, rounder rolls. This one came with hamburger buns, probably from Giant Eagle, buttered and grilled. I was taken slightly aback but I will say that some of the images I found online for this dish did have what looked like sandwich rolls with them. I'll just say I would have enjoyed a higher quality bread item than the one served and leave it at that - but this entree, which I have leftovers for lunch today, was only $5.99.
The Gulab Jamuns were not big, maybe about the size of Calamata olives, but I got five or six of them for $1.99. If you don't know Gulab Jamun, it's an Indian dessert made from fresh whole milk which is processed in-kitchen to a loose cheese not unlike feta cheese in consistency, then formed into balls with other ingredients, fried and soaked in a sugar syrup with cardamon, and saffron. It's heavenly and these were pretty good. I do not know if they make them in house, and I could not ask questions of the nice lady who took my order because there were few words in either language we both know. They were out of jilebi or I would have ordered that for dessert.
Overall, an OK experience, a tiny bit short on execution with the Pav Bhaji in my estimation, definitely not a place to take a date for ambience and being a very white dude, I felt like I was in a place that was definitely not trying very hard to appeal to customers who aren't from India and don't already know everything about the food on the menu. It wasn't explained well at all in terms of "what" the food is and for the uninitiated, that can be daunting. If you're adventurous, it's awesome - roll the dice and eat some food! I would be comfortable ordering at random, it was not bad food at all and the price was very very good. I tipped 15% on the total bill for two samosas, pav bhaji and an order of Gulab jamun came to less than $12. The price was definitely right and I will probably be back.
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