In Davis Square, (a goldmine for restaurants and bars in Somerville, MA) lie two Indian Buffets some 5 doors down from each other. This epicenter of good eats is just down the street from where I intern. The first time I set foot in Davis and witnessed the dual Indian Buffet situation, I felt as if I had dies and gone to heaven. Having already started this blog at that time, there seemed only one logical course of action: to have these two buffets battle to the death. This is a battle to the death that consists of me surveying both buffets, and deciding if there is one that reigns supreme in medium-spiced goodness. If they both deliver equally, then I suppose nobody dies or gets hurt. If you haven't been to either restaurants, and you find yourself in Davis Square craving all-you-can-eat Indian food, this two part series useful to you. And now begins the first installment of the series. The battle shall begin with the restaurant that is known as Diva Indian Bistro....
Diva Indian Bistro246 Elm St., Somerville, MA
This may be the most chic Indian Buffet I've been to. Click the link above. Their website will give you an idea, as well as show you photos, of the interior and subsequent vibe of this restaurant. The fancy, tall, copper pots in which the dishes were contained added even more to the posh, sophisticated, aura of this place.
The Offerings:
Chutneys/Sauces:
tamarind: This one was exceptionally sweet. I tend to lean towards the tangy chutneys. It wasn't bad, but not ideal for my tastebuds, which crave a tangy whipping.
mint: n/a. This is what I'll put for now if I didn't try it. Sue me.
onion: n/a
raitha: It tasted like it usually does, refer to post so I don;t have to sound like a broken record describing the flavor. I had it on my salad.
(Clockwise from top-left) sliced melon, sliced apple, tamarind chutney, raitha, onion chutney, mint chutney, orange wedges, tomato slices, red bell pepper slices, sliced cucumber, and iceberg lettuce.
Salad: Holy crap this was user friendly! Not only did they separate the ingerdients, letting you build your own. There was also an assortment of fruit. We've seen a model similar to this at Pongal.
Bread:
pictured below: garlic naan
garlic naan: It was basket to the table service. Upon my being seated however, I was given the option of regular or garlic naan. Smooth move. I chose garlic. It was crispy, full bodied, and oily. Thumbs up.
Soup:
also pictured: spicy chickpea salad (I couldn't discern if there was an actual name for it)
The Offerings:
Chutneys/Sauces:
tamarind: This one was exceptionally sweet. I tend to lean towards the tangy chutneys. It wasn't bad, but not ideal for my tastebuds, which crave a tangy whipping.
mint: n/a. This is what I'll put for now if I didn't try it. Sue me.
onion: n/a
raitha: It tasted like it usually does, refer to post so I don;t have to sound like a broken record describing the flavor. I had it on my salad.
(Clockwise from top-left) sliced melon, sliced apple, tamarind chutney, raitha, onion chutney, mint chutney, orange wedges, tomato slices, red bell pepper slices, sliced cucumber, and iceberg lettuce.
Salad: Holy crap this was user friendly! Not only did they separate the ingerdients, letting you build your own. There was also an assortment of fruit. We've seen a model similar to this at Pongal.
Bread:
pictured below: garlic naan
garlic naan: It was basket to the table service. Upon my being seated however, I was given the option of regular or garlic naan. Smooth move. I chose garlic. It was crispy, full bodied, and oily. Thumbs up.
Soup:
also pictured: spicy chickpea salad (I couldn't discern if there was an actual name for it)
minestrone? It was minestrone soup: shell pasta w/ vegetables, but with and Indian spiced broth. I still don't know how I feel about these Indian covers of other culture's food. I suppose it's because I love seeing food I've never heard of.
"spicy chick peas": I suppose I'll put this here because it was next to the soup. I'm guessing it's to be eaten like a salad. Most likely, in my knowledge of Indian food, this was some form of chaat. It was spicy and lightly sauced. The chick peas dominated the flavor, along with the spiciness.
Appetizers:
left: pappadum, right: aloo pakora
aloo pakora: What we have here, in essence are battered, fried potatoes, cut into sticks. Wait, this looks familiar. In America, I think we call them "french fries". I think I prefer the Indian variation. Instead of flour batter, they are battered with lentil, in true pakora fashion. I'm noticing a continuation in the subtle cross-cultural cuisine theme...
papadums: Here they are again (once again, see Pongal). This time, less on the Muncho flavor and more on the spicy flavor.
Entrees:
front to rear: tandoori chicken, chicken tikka masala, aloo samgar, saag paneer, aloo chole
above (same as previous, from opposite end): aloo chole, saag paneer, aloo samgar, chicken tikka masala, tandoori chicken.
aloo chole: I love it when I find potatoes tossed into a chickpea curry. More to love. This was nice n' spicy n' tangy.
saag paneer: This one gets more points on how promising it looked than how it actually tasted. It LOOKED thick and creamy, perhaps slightly on the lime-green side. However, its TASTE was probably the mildest, dare I say blandest, saag paneer I've tasted. That's not saying much though, because I still enjoyed it. I've tasted worse.
aloo samgar: The curried potato dishes always seem do have different, confusing names. I couldn't actually find one picture or recipe of this dish online. Either they made it up or I'm getting the name wrong. I do recall that the label noted that there was turnip in the dish too. It tasted alright to me. I didn't see much difference between this dish and the Kashmiri Dum Aloo that I had at Mehmaan. Lightly sauced, starchy, and spicy.
chicken tikka masala: Ahh it's time to asses the classic tikka masala bid. Well, it was good, but not great. The chicken pieces were rather large and slightly dry. The good part was that the sauce was creamy, very creamy.
tandoori chicken: n/a
chicken patties? This left me befuddled. A pan full of chicken patties garnished with cilantro. I tried them nonetheless. What I got was something with a completely unique flavor that tasted almost likea completely different meat. This was an interesting wa to pick up some points.
Dessert:
lemon-poppyseed mini muffins: FAIL. I don't want fucking mini muffins for dessert. What the hell are they trying to pull? They're neither Indian nor dessert food.
Price: $9.63 on a weekday (w/ MA tax). Nice n' cheap.
Final Score: 4.0/5
Well I don't know how much headroom a 4.0 is going to give you. It's one of the lower scores I've given out. I heard Namaskar's buffet is a nickel cheaper than Diva's. Speaking quality-wise, Namaskar only has to have slightly better food to win. Diva has a nice ambiance, but I don't take that much into account, I never was very sensitive to ambiance...
Stay tuned for part 2...
No comments:
Post a Comment