ask most people what the best cure for a hangover is and they'll probably tell you
advil & toast
ask most twenty-something guys what the best cure for a hangover is and they'll probably tell you
more booze
ask any one of the percussionists at juilliard what the best cure for a hangover is and they will tell you
indian buffet
there's nothing like sitting with my friends and stuffing our mouths with paneer and pakoras, trying to remember what exactly happened the night before.
{my efforts are usually focused on trying to remember if i had one or six gray's papaya hot dogs. and did i go to big nick's after that}
the point is,
i usually get my indian fix in the form of
how much food can you get for the least amount of money and which places have unlimited naan and who cares what the quality is you're going to puke it up later in the day anyways.
but when my very hairy friend nick came to town craving some fine indian,
i couldn't think of a better way to experience this phenomenon.
indian at night time?
high brow?
limited quantities?
sounds good, let's do it
my teacher's indian dentist says there are two good indian restaurants in this city:
tamarind
&
and since my asian girl food enthusiast friend david told me that i must try chola,
i tried chola.
it was a really really strong decision.
typically when it comes to indian,
i start with samosas.
but i was feeling a little bubbly on this occasion of legit indian dining,
and nick seemed to know what he was doing,
so we started with
roti canai
roti with coconut chicken curry
and
ragara
taters, chickpeas, yogurt, chaat masala, cumin, and chutney
and i think i just about died and went to heaven when i assembled my roti canai and stuck it in my mouth.
the roti was so buttery!!!!
i love butter!
the ragara was also really good and refreshing.
but i couldn't stop drooling over the roti,
so it kind of took the back seat.
sorry, ragara.
for our mains,
nick braved the
chicken vindaloo
quasi-successfully.
i almost had to call an ambulance,
but he eventually manned up.
{in his defense, vindaloo is some pretty hot shit. and while nick is usually pretty good with hot shit {if ya know what i mean}, i had to throw him some sympathy here}
i didn't try it.
i've learned me lesson.
instead of my usual tikka masala,
i got
chicken chutneywala
curried mango, mint, ginger
not just because it has a cool name,
but because mango seems to play well with chickens these days.
above is a sort of ghetto representation of how indian food should be eaten
the naan/rice/chicken taco
dunked in summa that green sauce and showered in raita
fantastic!
indian food is even better when it hasn't been sitting on a buffet table for hours!
chola was completely worth the trip to the dark/east side.
the quality and freshness and service was pretty outstanding.
if you're not hungover,
or even if you are,
you need to go here.
i'll definitely be going here again.
as soon as i try the rest of my 27 restaurants!
xoxo
yeh
chola is on the upper east side. just. take a taxi.