$20 Thali at Bindi

My best friend, sister, and I decided to go to Bindi for their $20 thali special, I get these e-mails every week and was really excited to see that they had lamb chops, so we went.  Below is the menu

goan spiced lamb chop

minted pea puree, local sour cherry chutney

cooked and seasoned perfectly, tender, juicy, everything a lamb chop should be

or

lime-jaggery glazed prawns

summer carrot mash, lemongrass foam, baby thai basil

or

masala brined paneer

yellow tomato kut, creamy quinoa, crispy beet chips

 my friend told me it was quite good and she likes quinoa to begin with

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each  person will receive the following:

 

heirloom tomato-watermelon chaat

toasted spicy peanuts, chickpea sev, chutneys, yogurt

this was my favorite side, i didn't think i would like it, but the combo worked out quite well

 

south indian spiced bhindi

spiced buttermilk fried okra, charred tomato-saffron aioli

this was my least favorite, the batter on the okra was not fresh, these had been sitting out or double fried, but they were soggy and no longer crispy and the consistency of the okra was off

 

basmati-wild rice pulao

coconut, mustard seeds, curry leaf

very straight forward, nice flavors 

baby fennel and asparagus kosambri

shredded carrot, thai basil dressing, madras curry

this tasted so fresh and clean, i liked it a lot

 

curried coconut cream corn

goat cheese, sambar lentils, crispy masala shallots

anything with coconut and goat cheese and I am sold!  the sweetness of the corn and coconut worked well without being too sweet

 

ginger-lemon raita

yogurt, cucumber, lemon oil

i'm not usually a yogurt fan but i tried it and i enjoyed the texture and flavor of this yogurt

 

farm apple chutney

local cameo apple, fresh mint, lime

i didn't know this was apple chutney until i looked back at the pictures, it was almost like a dried date consistency and too sweet for my taste

 

date-pecan-goat cheese paratha

hand rolled griddle bread, ghee, sea salt

i was apprehensive about this because of the combination but it tasted spot on but it did taste heavily of raw flour

This is the guava juice they had, my sister ordered it and liked it

You get free chips and the sweet sticky chutney, I am a big fan of mint chutney with lots of big flavors

this is the masala brined paneer thali.  we all got the same sides.

the lamb chops were cooked perfectly!! 

Overall, this was a great experience, we got so much food none of us finished it all.  I will definitely go again when they have a main dish that is unusual, I think i remember seeing goat on one of the e-mails, but I could be wrong.  

Sign up for their e-mail and you can get their weekly thali special to your inbox

Bindi Restaurant | 105 S. 13th Street | Philadelphia | PA | 19107 215.922.6061

baked goods for toady and tomorrow

Tonight I am making gluten free mini cheesecakes with a ginger snap crust (cookies bought from whole foods) I will make the crust myself, and put berries on top.  Then I am making mini sweet potato pecan pies and mac and cheese.  I'll try to remember to photograph but my hands are always full. 



Love Life.

apologies

I have not written on here in a long time and there are no pretty pictures like I promised before... bah humbug. Life just crept right up on me there.

Well on Father's Day, I cooked up a storm [I don't have any pictures of these either... surprise!] The best thing I made was pecan shortbread, next was the potato salad, then I made these citrus bars [lemon, orange, lime] with graham cracka crust, mini quiches, mini cheesecakes with berries and a graham cracker crust, banana bread, applesauce, and blueberry muffins. I was a busy busy girl, it took me a few hours to bake all of that stuff, I did the pecan shortbread on sunday. we actually forgot to get the pecans, after a long winded conversation about what size to get, the back and forth confused me, so i guess i forgot to get a bag of pecans. bah. it was ok, we were going in the neighborhood anyways.

All of this baking makes me think about my dream job: baker! ha! so now everyone i meet who has tried my baked goods, I am offering them a deal: if they buy me a bakery, i will bake all day long; it would be like it was perpetually sunday - beautiful. i'm a hell of a baker, i don't know how or why, but it just comes natural i guess. years of practice i guess. i love wingin a recipe, those always come out the best.

win win win

You could win a hand mixer and a cookbook, that's a sweet deal!

Devil's Alley

So after working my full time job at the flower shop I went to work at my part time job helping a lady with accounting stuff - mostly adding stuff. So my friend calls me and wants to hang out but we want food and there is some fashion show at Camac where the love of my life, Dave, works, but we didn't go there, we went to Devil's Alley, and I apologize in advance I have no pictures for this post, but I assure you, the food was quite good.

We were upstairs near the open doors, it was a nice night, there's a huge tree in the middle of the bar upstairs and lots of plants all around. Our server was very patient with us, because, well, we were a bunch of messed up kids by this point. I ordered a strawberry lemonade (I don't remember what was in it, I think vodka and some strawberry stuff and lemonade? I know it was sweet and tasted like a strawberry lemonade but got me drunk, those could be a "problem drink" because it tastes like candy), which was delicious!! For food, our table ordered 1/2 rack of ribs (comes with 2 sides, looked good, she ordered dry rub and ordered extra bbq sauce, she said she was craving them all day, so i bet they are awesome), pulled pork sandwich (came on a brioche-ish bun with cheddar, fries, and cole slaw, looked really good as well), cobb salad (was enormous! he ordered it with no bleu cheese and ranch dressing, it looked really good, and our waiter said that was the "good" way to order it, and i found out that dave does not like avocado or raw yolks, or raw tomatoes that are not cut in small pieces, i learn new things everyday!), turkey cubano (girlled on wheat bread, turkey, bacon, swiss, pickles, honey mustard, girlled and pressed, i almost ordered this sandwich but didn't,) and I got the buffalo chicken sandwich. Evidently, all the food is really really good because everyone was really pleased with their food. My sandwich was quite good and filling, it was breaded chicken slathered in franks hot sauce (i think) and bleu cheese, bacon and cheddar, they give you an option to get fries for $2 more but i figured I would be quite full after eating just the sandwich, I was quite right. i was stuffed to the brim after that sandwich, it was exactly what i wanted to eat, i had a vacation from eating buffalo (insert food stuff here ex.pizza, cheesesteak, sandwich, pizza, etc.) because i just ate too much and the vacation had to end abrubtly last night. I am glad because it was awesome buffalo chicken sandwich goodness.

There were two desserts: chocolate mousse cake and apple bread pudding. They were both good, the cake was chocolatey and sweet, not bad but not the best i ever had, but still good. the bread pudding was definitely my favorite of the two, it was more like a jewish apple cake but it was delicous and it was a huge chunk of it, it was sweet and a bit salty and warm with apples, it was great, i wish there was ice cream with it, but both desserts did have a dollop of whipped cream on the plate which was nice. I know that we all had the itis mixed with food coma after we were done eating, big portions of food that are worth the money because you will not leave hungry, at all!

All in all, I would definitely go here again, i did attempt to go here on a friday after work and it was packed to the brim. good food, great and attentive service, and fun girly drinks!

Devil's Alley
1907 Chestnut St.
215-751-0707
http://www.devilsalleybarandgrill.com/

PICTURES WILL BE UP TOMORROW! I am a big liar, i brought the wrong usb to work, sorry!

Last night, before Harry Potter, some friends and I went to the Good Dog at 224 S 15th St. It has rapidly become one of my favorite center city bars. We, of course, started with some drinks, Amstel light and big boy PBR can for my friends and I drank champagne with guava stuff in it, it was fabulous and only $6 (I forget the name but it is on the list located on the table). For food, I ordered the quiche of the day which was tomato, basil, carmelized onions, and asiago, it came with dressed greens with creamy balsamic; it was fabulous. I am always very reluctant to order quiche anywhere because there have been times when I am served a hockey puck that was obviously microwaved. The Good Dog got it right, the egg was nice and fluffly, like perfectly cooked scrambled eggs and the flavors melded perfectly together, and the crust was exactly what it should have been: buttery and flaky. The quiche was awesome and I can't wait to go back to eat some more.

My one friend ordered the Veggie Cake Sandwich, she enjoyed it and said it tasted good, and it came with their famous fries- sweet potato and regular potato. It was funny because she only wanted to eat the regular potato fries so she picked them all out leaving the sweet potato ones. My other friend ordered a half order of fries that comes with the uber special dipping sauce, and it was quite a bit of fries for half an order.

I do not drink beer but all my friends do and love it, and just because I do not drink it does not mean I have no idea what a good beer is. Although I hate IPAs I have tasted a whole lot of them and know which ones fall falt and which ones are super awesome. Ok, enough with that rant, the Good Dog not only has pictures of dogs all over its walls but it has an awesome beer selection and a great summer mixed drink menu (including my guava champagne drink). I did want to try some sort of lemonade concoction but they were out of the special vodka. This bar has swiftly become my favorite place to go after work or anytime, it has three floors. On the first floor, bar and booths, second floor, more seating for eating and a bar, and the third floor, pool tables, and yes, oh yes, a Galaga arcade game, it is true and glorious, no tables for eating up there but chairs to sit and did I meantion the Galaga? I do have one word of warning, it gets quite crowded once 7:30 rolls around, I tried going on my birthday and there were no tables left but you can put your name in and the waitress will find you when there is some room. Overall, the food is great, the staff is awesome and attentive, and the feel of the place is warm and wonderful, I would go here everyday if I could, seriously.

The Good Dog
224 South 15th St
215-985-1918
http://www.gooddogbar.com/

updated food list

I just read over the things I have and have not eaten, and times are a changin'.

I do not feel as strongly about steak tartare, only because my boyfriend's mom made it from scratch (what other way would there be?) and tried it from bordain's steakhouse book and she said it was amazing, and she is a great cook, so I guess I could try it sometime

I have tried heirloom tomatoes; they were grown by my boss and they were delicious.

I ate oysters and they were not so bad, it was cooked in korean soup called soonn doo boo jigae, it is spicy seafood broth with soft tofu and sometimes meat and eggs in there too, but the egg is raw when it comes to the table but it is in a clay bowl so it cooks the egg as the soup cools down

I ate polenta at chima, they had fried sticks of polenta, tasty, I would love to cook with it, it reminds me of grits.

I really want to have pretty pictures of my cooking on this site, I am working on it, my camera is finally out of the closet and now the arduous task of cleaning my kitchen is left, welp, see you later