The Palace of Dosas, Amherst, NY

Restaurant Review by Jennifer Kumar.

This is our second visit to this South Indian themed restaurant. (First visit here.)

We started with Aloo Boonda and Sambar Vada.

Sambar vada was tasty. Aloo Boonda was also very good, but had too many tastes inside and was a bit spicy for me.

Main meal for me was Palace Thali. This is rice served with dhal, sambar, rasam, cabbage curry, aloo chole (potato - chick pea curry), raita, papard, roti, pickles and halwa. Everything tasted really good, but I was suprised to see the aloo chole as this is more a North Indian dish and never saw this preparation in Chennai especially. In fact, I never saw chole (chick peas) in curries- only in sundal (a fried snack), and especially not mixed with potato The preparation was the only choice in the thali also not including mustard seeds.

My husband had the mysore masala dosa. He thought the potato filling and dosa were tasty but the mysore masala paste smothered on the dosa left the taste buds wanting more. In fact, I need to figure out how to make that paste. If you know a good recipe, please link it in the comments below.

Another good experience at this hotel. In addition to the food, I have to say that the restrooms are very clean and inviting. This is concurrent with our last visit as well.

Another more detailed review of this location is found on the blog, Ahaar.

To find/contact
Palace of Dosas
656 Millersport Hwy
Amherst, NY 14226
(716) 834-1800
Directions to The Palace of Dosas

Olives Restaurant, Mayville, NY

Restaurant Review by Jennifer Kumar.

Greeted by the same waitress for a late 9pm dinner and a mid morning 9:30am breakfast was a refreshing surprise.

For dinner we had bruschetta as an appetizer. There were two types of bruschetta, other than that, there were no other vegetarian appetizers on the menu. For main course, we ordered the two vegetarian items on the menu- a mushroom pizza and vegetarian pasta. The pasta was coated with an amazing red pepper cream sauce. It had a great kick.

Along with this, they served complementary salad, ciabatta bread with olive oil dip and a small cup of marinated olives. The olives were tempting. interestingly, I don't like olives. For me, eating olives reminds me of things in life we all have to do everyday but really don't want to do. I guess I overdid it on eating the olives. Wonder what that means about me!? We also had a desert- chocolate cake. Yet to eat, as it was put in a to-go box as we were stuffed completely!

For breakfast, we had a nice buffet. We came in about 9:30. The buffet was complementary as part of the room rent. This buffet was from 8-10am. From 10am the buffet was to change to a more elaborate one. Though we were there until about 10:10, they did not ask us to leave and even encouraged us to eat off this more tempting buffet. We passed as by that time we were already full.

We liked the service and ambiance of this location. Though there is a dearth of vegetarian options, we were satiated and if in the area may be tempted to visit again. (Also because there did not seem to be many vegetarian options in area restaurants.)

If you visit, it's best to make reservations, especially for dinner a day or more before you plan to visit.

To visit/contact
Olives
215 W Lake Rd
Mayville, NY 14757
716-753-2331
Olives Website
Directions to Olives, Chautauqua

Taco Bell

Restaurant Review by Jennifer Kumar.

Ok, here I am posting on my second fast food visit- the first was Tim Horton's, now Taco Bell.

Today we tried the new Fiesta Platter with beans and NO meat!

It was very good, again it had a lot of variety. One overstuffed grilled burrito, flavored rice, chips and salsa, and beans with cheese. Everything was very tasty. Us two shared this platter along with a fiesta potato and a 7-layer burrito. I couldn't touch the 7-layer. I ate most of the potatoes, some of the beans and rice and chips, and 3/4 of the grilled burrito. It was good and very filling.

We actually went to Taco Bell on Valentine's Day, it's a little joke to each other. Of course, I followed up dinner with a great aloo palak.

Visit Taco Bell's website.

Aladdin's Natural Eatery, Pittsford, NY

Restaurant Review by Jennifer Kumar.

We ate here the other day. I consider this restaurant to be Mediterranean/ Middle Eastern.

I love this location as it sits right on the Erie Canal in Pittsford. I have also eaten at the Ithaca location and the other Rochester location. These other locations are equally beautiful in their own way.

Today, finding the entrance was interesting as the front entrance was blocked with a sign that read, enter through back door. However, near the back door, there was a sign that said use other entrance. I couldn't figure out where the door was. Finally, we found it. The door sat on the ground level facing the canal.

It being winter, the canal was not functioning, and all seating was inside. In warm weather, there is faciliy to eat outside with an Erie Canal view. We were happy that the restaurant was open though under construction. The taste found here is just unmatchable.

I had the Emilio pasta - garlic flavored pasta noodles with eggplant mash. He had the vegetarian platter with a variety of great tastes- falafel, hummus, tabulee, spanakopita. Each item was bursting with taste, it was great!

Food Rating: 8 out of 10 (hot food was served on cold plates)
Service Rating: 8 out of 10
Hot Chocolate Rating: 5 out of 10

For more on Aladdin's Natural Eatery

Aladdins Natural Eatery
8 Schoen Pl
Pittsford, NY 14534
(585) 264-9000
Directions to Aladdin's Natural Eatery

Other blogger reviews: Gaurav at "Eating Out in Bombay"

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