The Sacred G'Raj Mahal

So, yesterday I went out to dinner with my friends Mary and Drew. We had all heard about this place called G'Raj Mahal (pronounced garage), and we were all eager to try it. Let me just say: this place is pretty magical, especially if you love Indian food! It's all outdoors except for the kitchen, which is in a trailer. When you first walk up they have the menu posted on a little fence, and then you seat yourself and a server will come and take your order. I really loved the the outdoor seating with the white curtains around the perimeter. It was pretty cute. Another thing is that this place is BYOB and while we were sitting there it was like someone had their IPod on shuffle. We heard everything from Iron Maiden to Siouxsie and the Banshees.

Also they share the space with the Austin Bike Zoo. They have on display a giant rattlesnake made out of bikes and recycled bottles and other things they have found, and apparently you can rent them.

Another cool thing about G'Raj Mahal is that they strive to be locally and environmentally responsible. They use biodegradable service-ware and they try to find the organic and local ingredients whenever possible. 

Awesome!

The menu:

Let me start off by saying that they have an extensive menu. I was surprised and super stoked about what they have to offer. The three of us shared the dishes and still had enough for at least one other person.

Samosa: Two filled and fried pastries with mildly spiced potato and pea ($4.00 for 2), or curried lamb ($5.00 for 2). We had two orders of the vegetarian samosa and one order of the curried lamb. Both Samosas come with a mint/cilantro chutney and a tamarind chutney. They Samosa are everything the should be, not over-cooked or dried out or greasy at all. Just perfect.

*I don't eat lamb, but another cool thing about this place is that they serve grass-fed, Halal blessed lamb*

Naan with Paneer: $3.00, Naan is a bread baked in a tandoori oven. This naan had an extra surprise by having paneer cheese in between the flaky layers. Perfect for dipping. You really can't go wrong. The paneer was/ has a super mild flavor. It compliments the naan nicely. It comes with about 4 large pieces.

Tikka Masala: $11.00, A creamy curry. Buttery sauce with tomatoes and peppers recommended with paneer, chicken, lamb or shrimp. We ordered the Chicken Tikka Masala. The white meat chicken was cooked perfectly and their sauce is amazing. Rich and creamy and perfectly spiced. We ordered "Spicy" for our dishes and they were pretty spicy, just the way I like it.

Aloo Gobi: $9.00, Curried potato and cauliflower. Aloo Gobi!!!!!! I was super excited to eat this dish, since I have eaten it in about 8 years. My old friend Huma's mom used to make me this dish all the time when I lived in Houston. It's the simplest dish but it's just perfectly cooked potatoes and tender cauliflower in a spicy, red curry. It's like comfort food to me!

Saag Paneer: $11.00, Pureed spinach with curried cream. Much to my surprise, the cubes of paneer were very big. They kind of reminded me of tofu. Not spicy at all. It was so good. It's a must-have every time!

I wish I could have tried more items from the menu, because this menu is extensive! Another plus is that ANY DISH CAN BE MADE VEGAN! which is so cool, especially when you have a group of people with many different dietary restrictions. Everything can be made mild instead of spicy and the servers were super friendly and helpful! I would recommend this place to anyone!

P.S. Remember you are sitting outside. Bring bug spray!!

They don't have a website.

G'Raj Mahal Cafe

91 Red River ( in the backyard)

Austin Texas

512-480-2255

Me and Sandy McGee

So, I went to visit my family in my hometown of Rosenberg, Texas. Some of you may know that I am moving to Salt Lake City, Utah soon and I wanted to see them before I left. As I am sure that most of you do not know where Rosenberg is...well it's probably about an hour from the heart of downtown Houston. It now has about 34,000 people. It was the tiniest place imaginable while I was growing up and I couldn't wait to get out of there as fast as I could. Even with that said, I still enjoy going back there from time to time. One of my favorite places for lunch is Sandy McGee's. It's been around since 1986. It first started in a little white house in Rosenberg, which has since closed, and it now resides in sleepy downtown Richmond. Richmond/Rosenberg is basically the same area, they are technically two separate towns, but they are so much together that it's hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. 

Let me introduce you to the lovely and delicious dishes that this lady has created....

The way the restaurant is set up, is that you walk in through the door and order from the gal at the counter. There is a huge menu with all your options. Your order your food and you get an assigned table. You get glasses for your drink, which is self-serve and you also get...and probably 1/2 the star of the show...these amazing and SPICY CROUTONS. They are basically a baguette cut up and toasted until super crispy and the doused in a special secret spices mix and butter. SO GOOD!

Club Croissant: Fresh butter croissant with oven roasted turkey, bacon, baby swiss, lettuce, mayo and tomato. Now I got mine without bacon ( for those of you who do not know, I don't eat pork or beef.) This sandwich is completely perfect if you are looking for something light. It's nothing fancy and it is what it is. The croissant is toasted and flaky, the lettuce and tomato are crisp and fresh, and they really put on the mayo lightly, just the way I like it. 

Creamy Chicken Salad: It's served on health nut bread with mayo, lettuce and tomato. So let me say that she keeps her recipes a secret, at least to the public. I am not sure of every ingredient in this chicken salad, but let me tell you that when she says creamy, she means it. This chicken salad is super delicious, but it can be a bit rich at times. It compliments the other factors on the sandwich very well. Again, all the produce she uses has always been fresh. This chicken salad was a childhood favorite of mine.

Now, when I was growing up, she used to have kitschy little names for the plates you could order like, The City Secretary and Ann's Plate. Now-a-days she has on her menu a section called : "The Foodie N' Us All".

You can order any 2 items for $9.00 or any three for $10.00. What you have to choose from includes:

Quiche of the day, Scoop of Chicken Salad, Scoop of Egg Salad, Scoop of Three Cheese Pimento, Scoop of Tuna Salad, Pasta Salad, Spinach Salad, Fruit Salad, Farmer's Market Salad, Any 1/2 Sandwich, or a Cup of Soup. 

As you can see in above pictures, we ordered the three items. The first picture includes the soup, croissant, and fruit salad. The third picture is the soup, fruit salad and chicken salad sandwich. 

Let me tell you about the Broccoli Cheese Soup. It is truly to-die-for. Again, secret recipe! It is a melty, creamy cheese soup. Lots of milk or cream , or both. Bits of  broccoli and little diced pieces of red peppers perhaps. It's a bit spicy and completely worth every calorie. If you ever try it, it will haunt you. The third and final piece of the masterpiece is the fresh Fruit Salad. Every fruit that is sliced up in the salad tastes magical. The bananas are always perfectly ripe and the strawberries always sweet. Sandy has (Again!) a special secret sauce she gives you to compliment the fruit. It's a poppyseed dressing. It's kind of thick and it's clear, I am thinking there might be some gelatin involved in that creation. It's pretty tasty and I have never seen any other poppyseed dressing like it. No other brand even comes close.  

So, if you ever find yourself in the Richmond/Rosenberg area, at the right time, on the right day...then you should definitely pop in to Sandy McGee's. It's lunchtime comfort food at it's finest.

P.S. They have tons of pies and desserts there. I haven't tried them, but they look amazing.

www.sandymcgees.com

Sandy McGee's Restaurant and Catering

314 Morton

Richmond, Texas 77469

Star of India

So, last Friday, 7/16/10, my friend Freja and I decided to grab some Indian food.  Let me start off by saying that I love this place. I am a huge fan of Indian food, and this place does me right every time. It opens at 5:30 p.m. for dinner and we rolled in at exactly 5:30 and we weren't the first ones in there. I have been to this restaurant many times, at different times of the night and as I have only ever eaten from the buffet, I must say that the food has always been fresh. Never once have I seen any dried up, cracky food that a buffet can easily turn into. Another plus about this restaurant is the staff is unbelievably friendly,( now I am not a huge stickler on the personalities of servers and long as you aren't being a total jerk and are relatively paying attention I will tip you) but these people are on top of it. They are always silently filling your water without being asked and clearing away plates. Even the management is super friendly, making sure everything is satisfactory and that your visit is pleasant. 

Like I mentioned before, I have only eaten the buffet, but if you are scared of buffets ( and  you are probably  thinking about the Golden Corral ) they offer a full and extensive menu. However if you are down with the buffet ( and I don't mean the Golden Corral ), let me tell you a little about what they offer...

Naan: Leavened white bread baked in the tandoor. For those of you who have never had naan, it's sort of like if pita bread had a baby with a tortilla. If you love bread, you'll love naan. It's magical and perfect for dipping.

Samosa: Crisp shell stuffed with seasoned potatoes and green peas. The only Samosa I have ever had were made with vegetables. They are little perfect triangles of mash-potatoey goodness. Samosas are delicious and perfect at anytime. Try it once and you'll be hooked.

Saag Paneer: Tender chunks of homemade cheese in creamed seasoned spinach. Now, if I had an Indian comfort food, this teamed up with naan would be it. I love spinach in any form and this is perfectly smooth, creamed spinach with smallish cubes of paneer that look like cubed tofu. Paneer does not have a strong flavor, so don't be scared. It's very delicate and mild. It's a non-melting cheese and does not involve rennet in making it.

Long grain rice with mixed vegetables: White rice steamed with carrots, peas, and green beans. As with most Asian dishes, this is used as a base for meats and sauces. It was moist and the vegetables were fresh.

Chicken Pakora: Fried marinated pieces of chicken. These are battered and fried. Not really crispy or soggy and I thought they were pretty good. They remind me of tempura battered vegetables but with chicken.

Chicken Jalferzi: Chicken marinated with fresh ground spices and sauteed with tomatoes, onions and bell peppers. I thought this dish was excellent. The pieces of vegetables were good sized and it all had a lot of flavor. They used white meat chicken, and it was not over-cooked or weird. I am pretty skeptical about eating meat at restaurants sometimes, and the meat here was thoroughly cooked and good quality.

Mixed vegetables in curry sauce: Fresh vegetables cooked in curry sauce. This dish is so simple and ones of my favorites. The vegetables were tender and it consisted of chunks of carrots, potatoes, onions and peas. They were perfectly seasoned and the sauce was on the thicker side. Perfect for scooping with naan!

By the end of my meal I was definitely too stuffed for desserts. They do offer many more dishes on the buffet than I tried. They had lamb meatballs, tandoori chicken, they offered a yellow lentils dish, madras soup, a cucumber salad, fruit salad, yogurt for dipping sauce and many more items. For dessert they offered kheer badami ( a traditional rice pudding, which I have had homemade and is very good ) and gulab jamun ( which is sweet pastry balls ( think do-nuts) swimming in a honey flavored syrup). There are other things like mango pudding and ice cream, but like I said I was too stuffed. 

Nothing in the food is very spicy at all and everything seems to be spiced with garlic, ginger, coriander and curries.

The price is affordable, My total before tip was $11.90.

This restaurant is cute but nothing fancy and dimly lit at night. I really have no complaints. Check out the Star of India if you get a chance, I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

Star of India

2900 W. Anderson ln. Ste. 12D

Austin, Texas 78757

www.starofindiaaustin.com

p.s. I borrowed that one photo from the internet. I was too fatty-style to remember to take a picture of the sign.

Summertime Special

So, today I met the ladies and a baby at Freddie's Place for happy hour. For those of you who don't know, it is a summertime treat. It has a GREAT happy hour and delicious guilty pleasures. Freddie's has an awesome outdoor seating area with plenty of shade trees and tables. It's pretty family friendly and that includes a off-to-the-side seating area equipped with a play-scape for the kids. It has a stage on the far end that local bands often play on. On the very opposite end of the establishment is a more adult setting. Next to the bar area is a ping pong table and a couple of set-ups to play washers. ( For those of you who don't know what washers is, it's very similar to horse shoes ). Also, even though it was probably 93 degrees and humid, they keep it nice and cool with the misters set up all around the premises.

They always have the 2$ good 2$ be true happy hour during the week. It's all day Monday and from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Tuesday-Friday. It's pretty sweet because they offer half price appetizers and 2$ well drinks, 2$ frozen margaritas, 2$ *Jack Daniels and lemonade slushies* ( love them! ) and last but not least, 2$ Tall boys ( Lone Star, Pabst, and Miller HighLife ).

This place has an extensive burger menu and all the fixin's. They also serve all of those comforting, slightly greasy, and most certainly not healthy appetizers. Today we decided to just stick with the appetizer menu, besides, everything is half off....

Chips and Queso and Salsa:
I feel like this is pretty self explanatory. You can just order chips and salsa for $2.99 or you can get all three for $4.99. Luckily during happy hour you can get all three for $2.50.

Nachos or Nachos con Pollo: 
So, besides making nachos at home, I feel like these here are pretty damn good. We decided to go all out and partake in the Nachos con Pollo. ( That means nachos with chicken, folks! ) These people are genius! You get a huge plate of refried beans ( I don't know if they are vegetarian ), covered in melty, gooey jack cheeses, little diced up pieces of white meat chicken, juicy diced tomatoes, pickled jalapenos, black olives, a dollop of guacamole on one side and a dollop of sour cream on the other, and nestled in between all the excitement is a small bowl of salsa. The best and most important part is: THEY PUT THE CHIPS ON THE SIDE!! Okay, I know I seem too excited about that but seriously, it's awesome! You don't have the soggy bottom chips or the chips that got left out!!! It's great! It's an amazing price too. Full price is $8.49 but for happy hour it's a measly $4.39 and you could easily feed four people. 


So, I realize that this is a short list for a food blog but I just really wanted to share a cool spot in Austin that can beat the heat. There's nothing particularly fancy about this place except the atmosphere and the service has always been great. The margaritas come in pretty small cups but since they are only $2 bucks, it's fine. I really like the Jack and lemonade slushies. It's a nice treat, especially if you don't want a margarita.

Check out Freddie's if you get a chance. I feel like it is quintessential Austin. It's really community and the part of South First that it's on is a cool part of town and easy to walk around.

P.S. They are super dog friendly! They even have little gumball machines that crank out dog food.

www.freddiesplaceaustin.com


Freddie's Place
1703 S. 1st Street
Austin, Texas 78704

Liberty vs. the EastSideKing

So, last night I met up with an awesome old friend of mine who just moved back to Texas. She was interested in some of the trailer food that Austin has to offer so I took her to Liberty to meet the EastSideKing. I really have to say....I really enjoy this food. It's clean and very simple. You can literally count all the ingredients on one hand. 

We went to order our food and the guys that work in the trailer are super friendly. We ordered Beet Home Fries, Fried Brussels Sprout Salad, Curry Buns, and I totally dropped the ball on getting the name of the other item I ordered. The price was right, and with the four dishes we ordered we could have fed at least 3 people, and the wait was short. Let me introduce you to these dishes...

Beet Home Fries:  $ 5.00                                 

 Deep fried roasted beets, kewpie mayo, schichimi togarashi, and green onion. For those of you who are asking what schichimi togarashi is, well...it's a Japanese spice mixture of seven ingredients. Usually red chili pepper, sichuan pepper, orange peel, white and black sesame seed, hemp seed, ground ginger, and nori. (Now I am not sure if those are the exact seven they used.) These little bite-sized beets are warm and savory. 

Amazing. I highly recommend trying these if you get a chance. The Kewpie mayo makes a great dipping sauce, it furthers the savoriness of the dish, for those who don't like beets because they are sweet. Check the beets! They are good for your heart!

Fried Brussels Sprout Salad: $ 5.00   

   Fried brussels sprouts, sweet and spicy sauce, fresh shredded cabbage, alfalfa sprouts, fresh basil, cilantro, mint, onion, and jalapeno. Okay, let me just say that I love brussels sprouts. This salad was so refreshing. The fried baby brussels sprouts were happily co-mingling with red and green cabbage, thinly sliced onion, a generous amount of fresh thai basil, and also thinly sliced pieces of seeded jalapeno. I didn't quite notice the alfalfa sprouts but the salad was pretty juicy with all the sweet and spicy sauce so they might have been too soaked and mixed in to see. All in all I thought this dish was great. I loved the spiciness of the dish and the faint sweetness. My only complaint would be less sauce, for it was a little soupy at the bottom. Meh. It was totally worth it.  

Curry Buns: $ 4.00 for two buns

   Peanut butter and home made curry in a deep fried bun, fresh basil. cilantro, mint, onion, and jalapeno. Okay. So I must admit that I didn't even try these little guys. However.. they looked like little golden pillows of curry goodness. Jenny really seemed to like them and if you like curry, you can't go wrong.

Delicious Buns whose name I can't remember but it starts with a "T" and is the last item on the menu: $ 6.00 for two buns

    Okay, Okay...so I forgot to snag a menu before I left. Let me describe them to the best of my memory: Dark meat fried chicken and a spicy sauce on a steamed bun, fresh basil, and slivers of onion. I added Sriracha sauce, or for some: rooster sauce. These buns were pretty jammin'. I loved the spicy sauce and the soft steamed buns. It was a perfect marriage of textures. I admit, I could have totally eaten two more. They are little and very good! I think they were called (maybe) "Ted's favorite/special buns". Perhaps. Actually I have no idea. Whatever.

So, good experience? Yes. Be forewarned though...This little trailer is bumpin' and they open at 7 p.m. We got over there right when it was opening up and it was still kinda busy. I have seen LINES for this place so, if you are planning on hitting it up late then eat a snack because you could be waiting awhile. Though, it's totally worth it. 

P.S. Cash only!

http://www.eastsidekingaustin.com/

I also love Liberty. I really like their outdoor seating and the most awesome cowboy painting I have ever seen is on the wall above one of their tables. The prices aren't bad at all and if you want to be out around a lot of people, then this is the place to be. I like to drink beer usually when I go to the bar, and they have a good selection. I really like their juke box, and if you are anti-social but want to be out, they have those game machines on the bar. There is also quarter-machine pool and pinball machines. For a good time, Go to Liberty. 

The Liberty Bar

1618 E. 6th St.

Austin, Texas 78702

     

Adventures in Wonderland

The world is our oyster. We wanted to create this blog to share all of the little gems we find along the way. I was feeling really annoyed by all the "guides" I have seen out there, so I decided to put my two cents out there as well. Maybe someone will read it and maybe no one will. It's just my opinion and I like what I like. Some may not consider me a "foodie", but I don't care. Dine or don't. It's your choice.

Love.