Restaurant Review by Jennifer Kumar.
For appetizer we had the mixed vegetable platter with aloo bonda, vada, idli, onion bajji and other various vegetable fritters along with sambar and coconut chutney. I had the sambar vada (or as listed in their menu Vadai with Sambar). I also took up the idli from the mixed plate and had a meal in the appetizers! The vadas are really big- they are at least 2.5 times the size the ones I make at home! I liked the sambar. Seemed they may use the frozen mixed vegetables (hope I am wrong, but the cut and texture is same as the mixed frozen vegetables) and a few authentic south Indian vegetables. One seemed like a potato but I am forgetting the name of it, as it is not a potato. But, to my surprise there were no curry leaves in the sambar. I was curious about that!
** Regarding the appetiser in our last visit we did have the aloo bonda and remembered we did not like it so much. This time, hubby says they have improved on the taste of the bonda and he enjoyed it very much.
For the main course I had a butter masala dosa. I was somewhat pleased with it. The side of dosa that goes on the grill was finely browned, but the other side did not seem to have been put on the griddle, it was white and also not fully cooked in the thicker parts. I also did not get such a butter or ghee taste. Maybe this comes more with the ghee roast, which is a paper thin dosa? The masala potatoes inside I could not begin to eat as I was stuffed. I did have an additional side of mullagai podi (spice and dhal powder with oil) with the dosai in addition to the sambar and chutney that come with the dosa. The mullagai podi was very tasty as it was spicy but not too hot spicy.
My husband got the aloo poori which is potato curry with puffed deep fried breads. He liked the pooris but did not think the potatoes were tasting as they should. He also could not finish the potatoes. We took the potatoes home and will have them in our upcoming meals. We were interested to see, though the potato curry for the dosa and the poori aloo were two different potatoes, so that is good!
Totalling the bill, for the sambar vada, mixed vegetable platter, aloo poori and ghee masala dosa plus tip it was $30.35 ($3.00 tip). We prefer to drink water with our meal.
Don't miss the complementary rasam that is served with the meal. It's a must have!!
I should also not that now that I have learned to make dosa and idli, it's not as fun for me to go out for dosa or idli. I'd like to see other south Indian stuff out there, but anyhow south Indian restaurants being few and far between I shouldn't complain.
As an added benefit- this is a great place for Indian students on SUNY Buffalo campus to try when tired of the Indian fare found on the commons at "Bollywood Bistro" (which we have yet to try) or those pining for South Indian food in Buffalo. It's a must visit!
To find/contact
Palace of Dosas
656 Millersport Hwy
Amherst, NY 14226
(716) 834-1800
Directions to The Palace of Dosas
Photo Credit: Krishna Kumar
tags: "south indian restaurant buffalo new york"."south indian buffalo",buffalo-new-york, indian, restaurant review, south-indian,"vegetarian buffalo"
Monday, May 5, 2008
The Palace of Dosas, Amherst, NY
Sunday, February 17, 2008
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
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Moti Mahal, Buffalo. NY
Restaurant Review by Jennifer Kumar.
Moti Mahal is a long standing Indian restaurant in Buffalo, NY.
The last time I was there was in 1998. But, as we drove by there the other day, I remarked to my husband, who speaks Hindi that I thought Moti Mahal was a funny name for a restaurant. I knew Moti to mean 'fat' and Mahal to mean 'palace' in Hindi. I always found that funny to eat at a place called 'Fat palace'- should be spelled with a PH! (As in Phat Palace!)
Anyhow, I was told that there are two words in Hindi Moti- which means fat, and Mothi which means gem. But when these words are translated from the Devanagri script, the letter is T in both cases, but pronounced differently. Dumb Americans like me would not know, then mistaking Gem for Fat!
Jokes and linguistic lessons aside, I remember it to be a nice place for North Indian food.
To find Moti Mahal
3545 Sheridan Dr Amherst, NY 14226
(716) 837-3038
Alice's Kitchen Buffalo, NY
Restaurant Review by Jennifer Kumar.
We came here for breakfast. We were impressed with the menu. There were so many choices for all meals. They even had spaghetti with butter and cheese only. Simple, plain and seemed tempting. Since we were there for breakfast, I chose 'cheese blintzes' and he chose 'potato pancakes.'
I liked the cute coffee cups and saucers. All the plates and cutlery were clean and shiny. No problems, until the food actually showed. My blintzes were new to me until I saw them and realized they were what I grew up eating for dinner - palachinta- a Hungarian dish of crepes rolled with cottage cheese in the middle. It came with a huge side of sour cream and apples- like the ones in a pie. I am not sure who can eat so much of sour cream, but the apples- I was not happy with. They seemed to be the pie filling apples from the supermarket can. Those kinds of apples have scared me since being a small kid, and now even more since I know they are full of High Fructose Corn Syrup. So, I skipped that. And, his potato pancakes appeared to be heated hash browns - fresh from the freezer section. I have to say- YUCK.
YUCK in taste and in price. For the heat and eat delights and coffee- that were not even enough to fill us- was $20.00 with tax. I was no longer impressed and decided I would not want to come back for the noodles.
Though, the service was commendable and the place was spacious and clean.
To find Alice's Kitchen-
http://www.aliceskitchen.com/
3122 Sheridan Dr Amherst, NY 14226
(716) 834-4182
The Palace of Dosas, Amherst, NY
Restaurant Review by Jennifer Kumar.
We stopped by this pakka vegetarian place on a Friday night about 9pm. We were surprised to find there were only two other tables occupied. Once they left, we were the only ones left. For a Friday night, and in Buffalo, hope this doesn't say they will be on their way out- the food was great.
If any closer to India, they may put a sign out in front of their door upon open in Tamil namesake of this blog- sappard ready- which means food and meals are ready!
Signage inside reminiscent of Chinese fast food take out with photos of South Indian food labeled in transliterated English - including thayyir vadai.
We had bhajjis (fritters), sambar vadai, masalai dosa, and tasty tomato/onion utthapam, all served on steel plates. Price was also nice.
The waitstaff are very friendly and helpful. The bathrooms are also clean and recommended- a sign of a good restaurant in my opinion!
To find/contact
Palace of Dosas
656 Millersport Hwy
Amherst, NY 14226
(716) 834-1800
Get Directions
