May 16, 2007
Reminder: The DC Meetup is THREE DAYS Away!Meetups!
Actually, it’s less than three days away, but who is being pedantic…not me, especially not when there is gluttonous dosa and vada consumption to anticipate in my near future.
D.C.’s sixth meetup will occur this Saturday at Amma’s Vegetarian, in Georgetown at 1 o’clock isharp. Since none of you read that, I’ll restate it, this time with formatting:
WHERE: Amma’s Vegetarian Kitchen, 3291 M St. NW, Washington, DC 20007, 202-625-6625
WHEN: Saturday, 1pm
WHY: Because you asked for it!
Lakshmi, MuraliMannered, Ashu, Arun, Coffeeface, Portmanteau, Sriram and at least three others have all tentatively RSVP’d— what about you? For all of you who are thinking, “There’s always next time”, don’t. There may not be. Besides, brunch this weekend sounds enticing, doesn’t it? Yum. Carpe dosa!
anna on May 16, 2007 06:20 PM in Meetups! · T·r·a·c·k·b·a·c·k address · Direct link · Email post
Mmmmmmm.... *slobber*
Is that dosa really the size of a sofa cushion? Bet I could still finish it...
That picture is killing me. When are you coming to NY? And why do NY meetups never happen at Dosa places?
Dosa always makes me so sad. When will there ever be a decent dosa restaurant in SF? If my taste buds had hearts, they would be broken.
That Dosai picture looks really good, except for that fork in the background. Dosai should be eaten with fingers not a fork, to really savor it!
I have never consumed dosa with a fork. :)
The picture you posted is evil!!! I have to be at the office for a few more hours and when I get home there's no dosa waiting for me:(
i hope there are dc meetups in august-- that is when i'll be leaving my beloved california (well for the academic year anyhow) and heading to foreign dc...
A picture is worth a thousand words. Dosais taste better when eaten digitally (with fingers). The beauty pictured in this post makes me proud to be a "southy" (I'm Telugu and a vegetarian.)
Yeah, when is the Annapalooza rolling through NYC? Siddhartha could organize it, but it just wouldn't be the same without you.
Beautiful picture.
I've heard so much about this Amma's Vegetarian Kitchen from a cousin of mine who lives near Washington. It makes me feel like NY South Indian restaurants are nowhere as good....is that true?
When I was in the 6th grade, I went to a friend's place for lunch after school. Her mom gave me dosai and a knife and fork. I was pretty rattled, but ended up using my hands while everyone else (my friend, her mom, and her dad) all ate their dosais using knives and forks.
camille, i went to saravana bhavan near stanford, and it was quite good. i'm pretty sure it's part of the madras-based franchise. obviously, it's a ways from the city, but if you're ever down there, it's worth a try.
JESUS GIRL, i'm hungry now....
Amma's is special because it's
a) Mallu
b) in a rather unlikely place-- across from Dean and Deluca in a neighborhood so prissy/gentrified/popped-collar-welcoming that our Siddhartha avoids it with the same zeal the Bush twins exhibit in flocking to it...which is an arduous way to say that instead of being lodged in some dingy strip mall, it's somewhere pretty and posh. ;)
Madras Mahal in NYC is just as good if not slightly better, food-wise...but it's cramped and rushed (uh...it's in NY, so no I don't expect otherwise), which is why Amma's is a very different experience. I love not being hustled through my food, not that I hold it against Madras Mahal for doing so. Now if Amma would]d just start serving that coffee drink MM does so well...
So New York Southie restaurants are good. Well, okay...one is...it's also vegetarian AND kosher. :)
Saravanaas in New York (26th or so and Lex) rather than Saravana Bhawan is the place to go in New York. I don't know Amma's in DC so I cannot compare the two, but the cook at Saravanaas came on an H1B visa! His chutneys are better than any I have eaten in the US, or come to think of it, North India!
saravanaa's is the official franchise for saravana bhavan from madras [and, oddly, the eponymously named restaurant in NYC is not associated with that chain]. i've heard quite good things about it, but of course, i cannot ever go there because my ex-best friend runs it...
if you can get out to queens, the canteen at the flushing hindu temple is really good - proper udipi style, with chefs from karnataka. though, in my opinion, house of dosas in hicksville is the best in the area, and they serve amazing madras coffee. as you can see, i love my dosa fix...
I feel we've had this discussion before, but the best dosas in NYC can be found at Saravanaas (Lex and 26th, Manhattan) and Dosa Hut (45-63 Bowne Street, Queens). In New Jersey, I like the dosas at Sri Venkateswara Temple (Bridgewater).
I don't know which Saravana Ennis took me to, but I didn't like it. :D
There are two: Sarvana Bhavan (which I also dislike) and Sarvanaas (which I like) and they are across the road from each other. The latter is much better than Madras Mahal IMHO.
Since he's a Manhattan native, I'm pretty sure I went to the "good" one; still, I wasn't that impressed with their dosa. Who knows, maybe they were having an off day.
MM just felt more...Southern to me. Anyway, if I didn't go to the "good" Saravana, I now have something to mock him for, forever, since Pooja and every other person I trust has also taken great pains to distinguish between the two similarly-named joints. :)
::
Uh, is anyone else RSVPing? Just thought I'd ask. ;)
Anna, I happened to notice that you mentioned that when it comes to a meetup, there may not be a next time. Why is that, may I ask?? Are you getting married and moving away or something? :-)
Jokes aside, Amma's seems like a delicious place. Unfortunately, I might be a bit tied up, and so I'm tentatively RSVPing. Hopefully I can attend, but if not, you people all have fun! And save me a dosa...
Darling - you doubt me? We went to Saravanaas, precisely because of its rep. I try to only take you to the best, although I might not always succeed. The food wasn't very impressive, although it was near closing time so it may not have been the best time to judge.
I haven't been to Madras Mahal for a while, but it was my favorite for years. I've taken many a gora/gori friend there for their first dosa. Anna, as a bonus, Madras Mahal is also Kosher ;)
:D
This comment is for Bengali Chick...what the heck happened and why is your blog down???
I keep coming back to this thread just to stare at that thing.
Damnit.
I had a big dinner tonight and I still feel a dull, hollow ache in my stomach. There is actually one passable Southie place here in Mayberry, but it's a 30+ minute drive away... unnnhhhh...
PS- Those of you heading to the Houston meetup... be sure to pay your respects at Madras Pavilion.
Darn... in town, but will have to see if I can wriggle out of a commitment that my better half has made :-)
BTW, the best place in NYC is Saravanas (not Saravana Bhavan -- that place is evil!)
Reminds us, if we needed reminding, that pr0n is not just about the prurient interest, it is also about the nutrient interest! Yes, there is food pr0n, and this is a good example :) To eat out, or be eaten out, that's the question. That also explains why you shouldn't use forks, something I was wondering about, but now understand....;)
Anna, much love and God bless, and have fun everyone!
It should actually be, "Surrender your vessels..."
*zing*
Camille: in the SF bay area there are some decent spots for dosa. Udupi Palace is probably the best around, Vik's can be decent and there's a Tirupathi Bhimas in Milpitas I've been wanting to try. have you tried Dosa? it's in SF and looks to be uber-trendy... haven't been there yet.
do NOT go to Dosa in SF!! $11.00 for a dosa is totally highway robbery. i wrote yelp review about it and the owner of the restaurant wrote me a page-long email with counterpoints...he's a nice guy, but i'm still not sold. udupi palace in berkeley is pretty good as is my mom's house :)
Udupi in Berkeley is the only place in Northern California where we eat dosa. :) There was some tiny place somewhere Mountain View-ish that had excellent idli, but I can't remember what it was called or how to find it. Udupi it is. Yum.
I like Udipi in MD, too (but I never go, b/c I don't have a car).
Also, $11 for a dosa is wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong.
oh that looks sooo good.
That picture is making me SO HUNGRY. A pox on those who tempt others without access to dosai.
Amma's is great, I loved it when lived in DC. There's also a really good udupi place out in the north eastern suburbs, near the desi shopping area, not college park but not far.
I adore Saravana Bhavan in desh and think of it as the best dosai one can have outside a home, but the one in NYC was incredibly disappointing, yuppified decor notwithstanding. It's just a franchise for the name, do NOT expect the food to be like the Original Saravana's (TM). Madras Mahal is much much better.
To the barmaid who I hope will read this - I miss your blog terribly, please come back.
To quote Paris Hilton, it is cruel and unwarranted (only the best sources for me) punishment to emblazon the top of the mutiny homepage with a photograph of a scrumptious dosa, vada, sambar, and chutneys.
And then there's Anna's buried threat that this might be her swansong, and she even ignore Mr.Wise#23's question about it. Idle threat? Food for thought? Munch on it. Hmmm... Huuungry.
Me and The Man...maybe. :)
I went to Madras Mahal several years ago now (early 1990s maybe?) and thought it was very eh... After that I almost gave up on eating dosa in New York till Saravanaa opened. But many of your comments have inspired me to give MM a second chance and go there for lunch today, so its all good! I don't promise to like it better though :)
I agree with the many others above: Saravanaas has the best dosas in NYC. Nearby Chennai Gardens isn't bad either, but Saravanaas is excellent. The next NYC meetup should be there.
(Problem is, the place is somewhat small.)
Does ANNA just constantly travel the country meeting up with people to eat? Beyond SM does she have a job?
Curious,
She has a job, a full-time job at that. She also loves the SM community, who in turn enjoy meeting her and hearing her say he word "porn".
Curious,
You are right. In fact, she even has websites to that effect.
Rahul
Hes sitl there. hes on washington sq south now east of the law school
could this feed the mutiny at a meetup?
have a great time!
okay, that's IT. when is the next nyc meetup happening?!?!? i am sick and tired of seeing all this gorgeous food and hearing about it being eaten by cool people in other states. bring it home new yawkas, doggamit. pleeeeeeeeease?
try again
http://origin.people.indiatimes.com/quickies/msid-1412013.cms
last time!
Anybody can make a good dosa..it is all about the SAMBHAR!!! I remember back in Delhi, it used to be free refills of sambhar and we used to just sit & sip until our lips would be burning. After that a cold thumbsup..ahh fun times.
Next NYC meetup should be at a desi joint! Dosa Hut in Jersey City is excellent and for only $4 you can get your fix.
You got some excellent suggestions, but it'd be wrong to omit Dimple at 11 W 30th. Wonderful chaat, too.
Dosa for President.
That picture makes me so hungry. Too bad I don't live anywhere near DC. However, a trip home is coming up soon. Yay!
I'm still here... just enjoying from a safe distance:) I'd love a NYC meetup the third week of July. I'm being shameless... July is my next trip out to NYC.
Can somebody please please please put up a new post so that I don't have to see a giant dosa leering at me everytime I refresh the page? There's only so much taunting I can take.
I think there's a secret ploy to plumpen everyone up. Everytime I see that pic I'm shoving food in my mouth.
yes. i will be there. yes, indeed.
Gawd. I want dosa. And vada.
Dammit, Anna...do you know how cruel that picture is?
Man......that "Dosha" and "chammanthi" looks yummy and I feel funny in my tummy!!
We talking International Dosa Championships? Kindly to bring it please :p
Mani's Matunga Mumbai.
the unlimited South Indian Thali at Mani's *yum yum yum yum* :)
What is it about my hosting a brunch on a SATURDAY, IN THE CITY IN WHICH I LIVE which would make you ask such a thing? Do you work at 1pm every Saturday, because I don't. Is it considered "travel" to go two miles? Come on.
I'm getting really sick of the misogyny, trollery, hostility et al.
Readers love meetups. I try and host them when I can, because I love this community. Like most normal, mobile people, I travel. So, if I know I'll be in NYC at some later date or whenever I go HOME to Northern California, there is a meetup. Ennis lives in Chicago but is originally from New York. He does the same thing I do and hosts meetups in both places whenever it's possible. Why don't you torment him about his work schedule or itinerary? I know, the fact that he has a penis makes it far less fun to do so.
I'm not sure what your point is, but I don't appreciate whatever it might be. Nor do I care for your past commentary regarding my weight; if you think a size 8 is obese, you have issues.
I almost wrote in to cancel, because the Air Show & Joint Services Open house is in town this weekend, but then I relaized I could go Sunday as well. (let me know if anyone's interested in going Sunday ... it'll be Legen (wait for it ...) dary!)
So I think I'm in for Saturday! Have a bone to pick with you about one of your recent posts too, put up yer dukes! :p
masala dosa, blow-by-blow:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Gablcf7ki2A
and idli's:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwocphM_w4s
ummm 'Curious'...(-_^)
Anna, I am reminded of Mani's thanks to you and Shodan and it is making me damn hungry :D
Coming from Sie und Wir, you might want to watch what you say. She has a job right now, but trolling might lead us to ask you the same question.
Extended contemplation of above food pr0n made me realize that it's not masala dosas, but plain dosas with really good sambar that I love. Without a sambar made to perungaayam perfection, idlis and dosas are lost.
*sigh* I do love me home cooking and my amma's vegetarian kitchen. *sigh* Have fun at the meetup!
Can anyone interested pop by? Or is this mutiny by invitation only...
L. Rajiva
lila: all are welcome. this will be my fourth. i think i get a medal or a cookie.
Mmm...food pr0n.
I wish I could be there, y'all. Sadly, I'll miss yet another dosa-fest, thanks to a company day on Saturday. But when we do one in JUNE, I'm totally there. I will take assurance in the idea that it cannot possibly be as twisted as the last one without me there, too. :-D
Mutineers, consider this a challenge. I want to see live posts from the Meetup, and immediately after, and references to dirty inside jokes, etc. Anna, Jay, Sriram, y'all hear me?
Vicariously, by proxy...it's the only way for me to live.
This is very, very true. These have never been "invite only" joints. Lurkers, commenters, trolls, smurfs, unsuitablegals...all are welcome.
Ha. Try you get to live. That's what you get, snuff-star.
I've hosted meetups in three different cities as well: San Francisco, Chicago and New York. Stop hating.
If it's even remotely close to true, I's purty jealous.
i might have to scope out m street earlier in the day for an escape route. just in case.
I'll be there. Looking forward to it.
I was glad to see someone mentioned the great House of Dosas in Long Island. It's out of the way for non-Long Islanders, but worth a trip if you are ever in the area.
I've hosted meetups in three different cities as well: San Francisco, Chicago and New York. Stop hating.
So Ennis...when's the next Midwest-friendly meetup? :)
after salivating for hours at that dosa picture i showed it to my office buddies and promised them an enchanted indian treat along the lines of a large, tasty, masala crepe. we trooped down to 'india quality' restaurant at noon-sharp but alas there was no dosa. 'only north indian food sir.' oh, when will we unite? the lassi was a hit though. i am sugared and feeling very northern.
Ok guys - wasn't going to mention it - but couldn't hold back - I'm just back from a nearby 'South Indian' restaurant, where, to the incredulous astonishment of the maitre-d' - I ordered dosa for lunch. He tried his best to steer me to the buffet - 'not worth it at this time, Sir', but I wasn't swayed. Dosa it was going to be, and dosa it was. And when he saw that there was no changing my mind, he had the nicest, 18" long, paper-thin dosa made. Just for me, and with 'unlimited' sambhar and 'chutney' from the buffet thrown in (on the house)! Of course, I ate it with my fingers. And for his kindness, good humor and good service, I later tipped him 50%, a record of sorts, for me.
So this is what food pr0n does for you - you end up paying big money for the real thing. (just like with the other 'regular' pr0n? :))
Let's see how many families we can drive out this time...
Also, someone mentioned that there was a good place near College Park (a sort of suburb of DC). Yes, the Udipi in Langley Park has a DE-licious buffet if you can make it out there. Best. Vada. Ever. But Amma's feels more like home-cooking:) Can't wait!
Back from Madras Mahal for lunch and I have to report that I am still a Sarvanaa person.. Its the chutneys people! MM just did not cut it.
I love how so many went out and ate dosas today. Don't think I will do the same for the wholewheat naan though.
Done.
Just back from Madras Pavilion, the tomato chutney was awesome!! :)
ahh... those unsuitable gals..
I hate you.
HATE.
I was there (MP, Austin) with Priyavadan :). Dosa was yum.
Ennis:
You should host meet up in Chicago this weekend.
hey guys, i'm sorry but i'll have to bow out of this one. Family calls.
ANNA, you are wonderful, I say do your thang, girl! (I really did say "thang" in my head when I typed that)
Curious, :P. Way to sip on the Haterade.
Since it doesn't look like there's any remote possibility of a Bay Area meet up anytime soon, I vote that the NYC meet-up happen in mid-July so that I can come ;) Unless my online personality is so scary that I would scare people away :(
Hey Aaliyah, thanks! I feel like all the best southie restaurants are in the South Bay :( (quite a drive for a public-transit bound East Bay'er like myself!) absolutgcs, I usually eat at Udupi Palace, and I like it. I used to also like Atithi (it was on Dwight/Telegraph near Boca Burger in Berkeley - not as good as Udupi, but the auntie was so cute!) but they closed after a year or something. So sad, I used to have Sunday brunch in college throughout my sophomore year with all my girlfriends. A thali with dosa, idli, sambar, veggie squares -- I loved it!It's not that the Bay Area doesn't do good dosa, it's that SF doesn't do good dosa. Now that I think of it, I can't even think of a good south Indian restaurant in SF County. I can never get my city-based friends to come to the East Bay for Udupi Palace. They don't know what they're missing! :(
So I went to Dosa the week it opened (since it boasts that it is the only South Indian restaurant in SF), and my review is as follows: DON'T GO! It's not worth your palate or money! It is hands down the worst South Indian restaurant I've ever been to, and I have been to quite a number of crappy restaurants. They're trying to do some kind of overpriced yuppie fusion junk, and I think they're just ruining good food. They even ruined the sambar. How do you ruin sambar!? The dosas don't taste quite right, and they have a lot of strange north Indian dishes that they also don't cook well. I've eaten there twice and have never found anything I liked on the menu. I feel like you can't name your restaurant for a dish you've murdered. I am also suspicious of restaurants that use dairy products in their South Indian cooking or who offer almost exclusively north Indian deserts (kulfi, gulab jaman, rass malai) on their desert menu.
Sorry, that was a bit heated. Really, Dosa (SF) sucks. I wouldn't even send people I hate there -- I could never inflict the pain that is their cooking on anyone.
camille, have you tried pasand? is it any good? never been there myself (new to this part of the world), but someone mentioned it a little while ago. but i agree, east bay and sfo suck for south indian food. each time i crave dosas, i drive for an hour to the *gasp* suburblands.
I used to go to Pasand back, back, back in the day before they had, uhh, all those legal problems. Friday nights used to be a madhouse there, complete with a sitar player (usually Habib Khan when I went). The dosa's were rubbish, the sambhar was blech and the portions were small. Not surprisingly, Pasand gets murdered on Yelp and the food is a secondary topic.
Forget the imitators, go to Udupi!
bytewords, the Pasand in Berkeley is no good. This is where my fam used to go before Udupi Palace opened (and before the owners were busted for being sex-trafficking sadistic assholes), and it wasn't good then, either :)
There is a Pasand in the South Bay -- I think in Mountain View? maybe in Cupertino? -- which seems unrelated to the one in Berkeley and is aight. Not brilliant, but aight.
Oh, and Madras (which is no longer open, I think?) in Berkeley is also no good. I'm with NVM, Udupi Palace is the only option in the East Bay :(
dude, this is terrible :(.
so other than udupi and temperamental byteword's kitchen who can make only rava idlis, not one other place?
Not in the East Bay, no :(
This is where my anguish and melancholy longing for dosa comes from :(
What's that expression? Eating dosa with a knife and fork is like showering with a raincoat on...
Camille,
We tried out Woodlands in Fremont last weekend ( Near Bombay Garden and in the same strip mall as Spice hut)
I had a major craving for good South Indian food ( I get a craving once every 3 months that must be fulfilled!)
Had the thali and it was excellent ( Side note: Why , oh why, must decent Southie restaurants ruin the thali by adding one gratuitous and poorly executed Northie dish ? This time it was poorly executed 'channa').Another family member had a dosa that was superb.
Like you , I also mourned the fact that from the east bay one has to trek all the way to the South Bay to get a decent rasam fix .But I heart woodlands
I am IN :)
ALBA ROCKS. And thanks for a grea meetup people.
have you people no shame? FLASHDANCE!
:) Next time you put up a picture of dosa on the front page, make sure there are a few flies circulating around the sambar cup.
Wait .... so was this today?
I keed - the company was great, food was good, the service was friendly (well, they did beat one of us up - but only one!), and the babies - they were loud!
Oh - and Flashdance did not star a Jessica :p (which is a good thing, because both were too young back then, and only one - Biel - turned into an actress anyway!)
To be honest I was never a big fan of southie food (where's the meat?), but the picture of that dosa is so tantalising, and the recommendations for Saravanaas on this thread so compelling (especially since it's a restaurant I've walked by many times), I decided to try it tonight with a friend...ordered idli as an appetizer, and rava masala dosa as the main entree...the food was delicious. The serving size was HUGE too...still feeling full so many hours later. Thanks to ANNA for starting this thread and all the commenters for pointing me in the right direction. I definitely plan to go back there sometime soon. And I am now officially a dosa fan.
Behold, the power of dosa pr0n. ;)