Red Pepper Indian Restaurant

One of my friends from my graduate school days in New York had moved to Melbourne several years ago, and was fortunately available to meet us for lunch while were in town; even more conveniently, she works down the road from our hotel, and suggested an excellent Indian restaurant around the corner from where she works and where we happened to be staying.

I can't recall the name of the dish we each ordered, but each of us got four different curries (my friend ordered the vegetarian curry options, while my husband and I got three curries with meat), rice, and naan. 

The Spice Room

After a morning of visiting the Sydney Opera House and the Royal Botanic Gardens, my husband and I wanted lunch, so we swung by The Spice Room for what turned out to be one of the best Indian meals we've ever had.

appetizer: gheeya mushroom tikka

appetizer: tandoori lamb kati roll

butter naan

mushroom and cheese naan

I ordered the Dhaba-Style chicken curry.

My husband ordered the Railway Canteen Goat Curry.

Spice Bistro

We found ourselves on the other side of the Salt Lake Valley this evening, heading to an open house hosted by a coworker of my husband's, but we stopped off for dinner at Spice Bistro first.

appetizer: Samosa Chat
 (vegetable samosa mixed with chickpeas,
tomatoes, cilantro, and onion,
topped with mint tamarind and yogurt sauce)

garlic cheese naan

I ordered the lamb korma. The sauce was good, but the lamb
was not especially tender.

Himalayan Kitchen

My father-in-law was in town unexpectedly this weekend, and on his last night here, we took him to Himalayan Kitchen. We've been there with him before and he had enjoyed it, so requested to go back.

We started with the vegetable platter, which came with a
vegetable samosa, vegetable pakora, and onion bhaji.

We also shared paneer pakora. 

My father-in-law had the Kathmandu tandoori, which came
with chicken, lamb, prawns, and shish kebab.

Both my husband and I had the lamb tikka masala.

Also: poori!

Flavors of India

My husband expressed a desire for Indian food, and since I'm nearly always amenable to Indian food, we had dinner at Flavors of India.

We shared an order of assorted fritters, which came with
a vegetable samosa, onion pakora, vegetable pakora, and
chicken pakora. 

I can't go to an Indian restaurant and not order a lamb dish.
Tonight I ordered lamb tikka masala.

And we shared an order of garlic naan.

Flavors of India

I've been experimenting cooking new things in my crockpot lately, and I'd recently tried two Asian dishes that didn't work out as well as I'd hoped - a chicken Tikka Masala and a beef dish, the name of which I can't even remember offhand. Because of all this Asian-inspired goodness, my husband, who knows that Indian food is my favorite, suggested that we have dinner at Flavors of India tonight. (Bless him.)

We're always brought papadam at the beginning of the meal.

We shared some assorted fritters (vegetable samosa,
onion pakora, vegetable pakora, and chicken pakora). 

I got the lamb saag, because I can't go to an Indian restaurant
and not order something with lamb.

My husband ordered the chicken Tikka Masala, because he
can't go to an Indian restaurant and not order chicken
Tikka Masala.

Also ordered: poori. 

The sweet naan was a new item, and we were given a free
order of this. It was quite good: naan stuffed with coconut,
raisins, and cashew.

Flavors of India

Indian food is my favorite. My husband knows this, so we went to our favorite local Indian restaurant, Flavors of India, for Valentine's Day this evening.

We shared an order of vegetable samosas.

We also shared an order of aloo papadi chat (fried crispy
potatoes, chickpeas, yogurt, mint and tamarind chutney).

I had the lamb tikka masala (because I always order lamb when
I got out for Indian food).

My husband ordered the Poori (deep fried leavened whole
wheat puffed bread).

I had the Bhatura
(deep fried leavened whole wheat puffed bread).

Bombay House

A teacher friend had a birthday today, and because I'm always looking for a reason to go out for dinner with people I like, I managed to convince her to let me take her to dinner; we went to Bombay House.

We shared some vegetable samosas.

I had the Rogan Josh.

I also tried the Channa Roti, a bread made with chickpea
flour and spices.

Everest Indian Restaurant

My husband and I had an early night tonight, since we're flying home tomorrow, so we stopped off for dinner at Everest Indian Restaurant on our way back to our hotel.

These were traditional Tibetan (I think) dumplings. They were
quite good - as was the dipping sauce, which was mild but
very well seasoned.

I tried something new: Everest Lamb, a chef's special in
which lamb was cooked in a coconut apricot sauce. I'm not
a fan of apricots, but this was quite nice.

And of course we had the obligatory naan.

Blair's Bistro

It's fitting, somehow, that the last meal we have in Ireland is at the same place in which we had our first meal: Blair's Bistro, located within the Park Inn, a perhaps five-minute walk from Shannon Airport.

I started with chicken satay, which was rather oddly served
atop what tasted like lo mein. I'm not sure if this counts as
fusion food.

I also had the spaghetti and meatballs.

Cafe Deli Gold

Once again, my husband and I got some lunch before heading out to do some sightseeing on our last day here in Dublin. We had lunch at the nearby Cafe Deli Gold.

I had the chicken tikka on white bread, and toasted. It was
very, very delicious.

Garam Masala

My husband and I are spending the night in Drogheda, Co. Louth, which is just north of Dublin. We've been eating some wonderful pub fare recently, but we decided we could use a break, so we had dinner at Garam Masala, an Indian restaurant a short walk away from our hotel.

appetizers: meat samosa and prawn pakora 

entree: Rogan Josh (one of my favorites)

This was one of the two types of naan we had, but I forget
what type it was. Oops.

plain naan

Flavors of India

To celebrate the end of the school year (and because I have a cold, and Indian food is wonderful when one has a cold because one can actually taste it), my husband and I ordered takeout from Flavors of India.

appetizers: vegetable samosa, fish pakora, and dahi bhalla
(lentil dumplings with sweetened yogurt)

The lamb tikka masala was really excellent, and hit the spot.

Flavors of India

On the spur of the moment, my husband and I decided to go out to dinner tonight. We hadn't been to Flavors of India in months, so off we went.

assorted fritters appetizer platter

appetizer: amritsari fried fish

I can't resist the lamb saag.

My husband's favorite: chicken tikka masala. 

We shared an order of cheese naan.

Madras Grill

In search of dinner, my father-in-law, my husband, and I decided on the Madras Grill tonight.

I realize this is a terrible picture, but it's the non-vegetarian
appetizer platter, which included a lamb samosa, chicken
lollypop, masala fried shrimp, sheekh kebab, and fish koliwada. 

two orders of naan: cheese naan (right) and kheema naan

my entree: Khadai Ghost
(marinated lamb braised in a wok with ground kadhai masala
and garnished with dry fenugreek leaves)

dessert: rasmalai
(chilled cheese dumplings cooked and served in condensed
milk and pistachio nuts)