India Sweet and Spices Fresno Vegetarian Review

I don't know what the deal is- am I just on an Indian food bent, or is it maybe that other than the two dedicated vegetarian restaurants in Fresno, Au Lac in the Tower District and New Stars on the North side (http://www.newstarsvegetarian.com/), there just aren't any vegetarian restaurants in Fresno?

Sniff.

Anyway, I recently went to India Sweet and Spices looking for some Indian Black Salt, or Kala Namak (more on that in a later blog), but ended up getting food to go. The place looks so much better than it did the last time I was there- the dining area is pretty nice now. It's a deli/restauarant/store located in a kind of neglected strip mall on Ashlan and West. After ordering, I wandered around for a while... there's so much to see and smell in ethnic stores. I ended up buying some incense, a box of mangoes and the Black salt as well as the food.

Here's what I ordered-

Aloo Gobi - $8
Rice - $5

Masala Dosa - $4

Aloo Prantha - I think they forgot to charge for this

Samosas - $9 (3x $3)

Essentially, the bill came to about $26.

The samosas were good, but I'm not sure about the $3 each price - seems a bit high. I ate one in the store with my favourite spicy mint sauce, but sadly that sauce was not included in my to-go.

I have no idea how the Masala Dosa was, as VvonV ate it all. The Aloo Gobi, with potatoes and cauliflower was good, though. Neither VvonV or myself were fond of the rice, even though there was a lot of it, and it had onions and spices in it. It just had the wrong texture and was oily. There were 2 pranthas, and they were good, though not as spicy as I'd like. As you can see in the first picture, there was a lot of food.

In the second picture you can see that there were three sauces- a slightly spicy, a sweet, a (maybe weak) coconut and a yogurt. I don't do yogurt unless it's vegan, but there was a lot of it, so the cats and Miss Mags got a treat. There was also a sambar soup included with the Dosa. It was a lot of food, and there's tons of leftovers.

Fit the rules- Knew what vegetarian was, knew what vegan was. Large portions. Completely vegetarian. Fairly inexpensive.

Didn't fit the rules- They need to change their to-go packaging away from styrofoam.

All in all, a recommend for takeaway.

Fresno Vegetarian North India Bar and Grill Review

North India Bar and Grill

80 W. Shaw

Clovis, CA 93612

(559)325-7788

Not sure if it's fair to review a restaurant I haven't gone to, but here goes.

My friend Mark came over last night and brought take-out food he got from the North India Bar and Grill. It isn't actually in Fresno, it's in Clovis.

He also brought me their menu. Since he paid for it, I have no idea how much the total was.

This is what he bought-

Pappad - $2

Samosa - $4

Daal Makhani - $8

Chana Masala - $8

Aloo Gobi - $9

Sabji - $8

Garlic Naan - $3

Spinach Pratha - $3

There was also rice, but I can't tell from the menu whether it was included in one of the dishes or ordered separately.

I'm no math genius, but it appears he spent about $45. This was to feed 3 adults and 2 children- which it did, with leftovers.

All of what he ordered was supposedly vegetarian. From my end, it was good, though I wasn't feeling well and only bite-tasted a few things. I did eat a samosa and a pratha. Not really spicy or 'standoutish', but good. They seem to know what vegetarian food is. But, if I went by my gut, I'd guess it was actually just vegetarian, and that there was ghee involved. Just a guess. I prefer vegan.

I can't really rate the by the rules, because I did not go there personally.

Looking at the lunch and dinner menu provided to me by Mark, the majority of dishes are not vegetarian or vegan, although they have a large selection of that. They actually have more dishes of fish, calamari, lamb, chicken, mutton, and seafood than they do vegetarian foods.

Many other Fresno Indian restaurants have a more vegetarian balance to their menu.

While I recommend this restaurant for anyone looking for vegetarian options, I won't personally go there. Because Mark has been vegetarian for over 15 years, I trust that what he ordered was vegetarian. But because there are so many other more vegetarian-friendly Indian restaurants in Fresno, I just wouldn't go there. I'd go to Mehek Punjab de on west Shaw. They're completely vegetarian, so you don't have to wonder if your food got cooked on a grill right after the 'lamb'. Ack.

So, ok vegetarian food, but not a really 100% recommend.

Fresno Vegetarian Mangosteen Review

VvonV and I went to Mehek Punjab de last week. I think it was the third time we'd been there. Alas, I still have not bought a new digital camera, so no pix. Maybe next time.

Mehek Punjab de
Time Square
3173 W. Shaw Ave.
Fresno, CA 93711
(559)226-0512

This completely vegetarian Indian restaurant is located near Shaw and Marks, in a strip mall, right next to a Mexican restaurant I went to years ago and did not like. Plaza Vindetta or something like that.

It is a very clean-looking place, with typical Indian decor, and with part of the kitchen in plain view. There are large, dark wooden tables that worked for just the 2 of us, but would also work well for large parties.

They have an extensive vegetarian menu, and also seem to understand the difference between vegetarian and vegan. It was hard choosing, but this is what we ordered-

1 Gol Gappe
2 Punjabi Samosa
2 Aloo Tikki
1 mixed Pakora
1 Special Mehek Punjab de Thali
1 Basmati Plain Rice
1 Masala Dosa
1 Punjabi Onion Prantha
1 Punjabi Masala Tea
1 Mango Shake

We weren't really sure what to do with the Gol Gappe, as they were puffed little balloons that came with a broth and some potatoes, but the waitress reassured us we were attempting to eat them correctly. I don't think we'll order them again. The 'Special' came with three curries, a small rice, yogurt raita, tapioca pearls and two papadam. Sambar soup might have come with that, or it might have come with something else we ordered. Or something like that- we had so much food it was hard to keep track. Overall, the food is very good, if not as spicy as I'd like. I ordered a spicy onion Prantha, and it wasn't really spicy at all, even though it was good.

All of the food was good- it was presented on minimalistic metal servers. The service was quick and pleasant, and water glasses were kept full. All in all, we got a ton of vegetarian food, enough to take home and have for a couple of meals over the next two days.

The tab for all that food, after tax but before tip was $31.04.

For anyone just wanting to try them out, I'd suggest ordering the Special at $7.25 if alone, and maybe ordering just an appetizer if for two- it really is a lot of food.

Fit the rules-
Had vegetarian or vegan food
Fresh ingredients
Clean place
Attentive staff
Inexpensive
The servings were large

Did not fit the rules-
None. Staff knew what vegetarians or vegans eat, and knew the ingredients in the foods they were

c

Fresno Vegetarian Mr. Sushi Review

VvonV and I were looking for some place quick to eat yesterday before his band practice with Sparklejet (look them up on Google), and we decided we wanted something light, and an internet search suggested Mr. Sushi. It has been written up well in some local blogs.

724 E Olive AveFresno, CA 93728(559) 485-3978

The place looked very clean, but there wasn't a very cohesive decor/theme going on. I can overlook that if clean is abundant. It was about 6:15 on a Tuesday evening. Other that us, there was only one other patron.

There was an extensive menu, most of it not gearing towards vegetarians or vegans.
The waitress was pleasant, if not enthusiastic. She had a face piercing that was hard for me to not focus on. She did, however break 2 of my eating out rules-

Staff should know what is in their food
Staff should know what a vegetarian/vegan is

Her first suggestion on hearing we were vegetarian was a combo plate of vegetables, rice, miso soup, salad and gyozas. Problem being that the miso and gyozas were not vegetarian. They offered to give extra vegetables to make up for the miso and gyozas. She did ask the cook what was in what, after she said she had no clue- so we have to give her credit.

We ended up ordering this- An appetizer of tempura and one side of vegetables with rice, one sushi roll, and one dinner with vegetables, one small saki and hot tea. It ended up being that both of our vegetable dishes were exactly the same even though they had different names. And although VvonV's order should have had extra vegetables, it really didn't. And the variety of vegetables was slim. We were told the eggrolls were vegan, but we got the impression it was iffy, so we did not order them.

Although Mr. Sushi offers what looks like a million different sushi rolls, we were told there was only one for vegetarians- the avocado roll. Which is exactly what it was- rice, nori and avocado. Strange , since many of the other non-vegetarian rolls had vegetable ingredients that we were not offered. The dipping sauce given tasted like watered down soy sauce with a bit of sugar. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't memorable, and it did not take away from the fact thatg the nori was too chewy. I like pepper, but there was no pepper to be had. I had to ask for wasabi and some pickled ginger, which made it more palatable. The food was nice. Not good or great, but nice.

The tempura was ok- light and not too greasy. It would have been nice to have a flavourful sauce to dip them in, but it was the same watered down sugar soy sauce.

The saki was good. Hot saki is always good. The tea arrived in a large teapot, and was very good as well.

I would like to give the breakdown of what things cost, but I can't. Overall I can say that it cost about $35 before tip- I don't know because the cashier refused to give me the receipt that had the breakdown- I only got the end charge receipt.

Fit the rules-
Had vegetarian or vegan food
Fresh ingredients
Clean place
Moderately attentive staff
Fairly inexpensive
The servings were large

Did not fit the rules-
Staff did not know what vegetarians or vegans eat, and did not know the ingredients in the foods they were serving
Admission that at least one of their foods (the miso soup and the gyoza were pre-prepared and frozen elsewhere) were not made on site
Refusal to substitute or create new dishes even if paid extra for. There were many other items on the non-vegetarian menu that could have been added to our dishes, but were not. Those ingredients were onions, broccoli, yams and carrots and asparagus at the least.

I would rate this restaurant a 3 out of 5. There is not an extensive vegetarian/vegan offering, but the one vegetarian offering they have (the menu pretends there are more) was good. It tasted clean and fresh.

I will probaby not eat there again, but I will recommend the one dish that is vegetarian/vegan to others.

c