Seattle, WA

This restaurant isn’t bad if you’re into football, sports-related, bistro food. The service isn’t bad. The cleanliness and atmosphere isn’t bad. It just isn’t all that good either. Located in the hoity-toity University Village shopping center, this restaurant serves hamburgers, steak, seafood creations, and beer. It’s almost as if Red Robin married Skagit Brewery and its offspring went off to college.

It isn’t that the food isn’t tasty. The hamburger I had was good minus all the mayonnaise. The beef was a great quality chuck that I really appreciated however, there was a serious lack of healthy alternatives. I thought I could have the coleslaw with my burger instead of their fries but the slaw was so rich with mayo and HORSERADISH I couldn’t eat it. Who puts horseradish in their coleslaw? Also, it had just as much red onion as it did carrot which, combined with the horseradish, made for a very pungent salad. I appreciate a restaurant that tries to be different but they should taste their coleslaw before serving it.

My boyfriend had the rueben and thought the amount of horseradish was overwhelming.

My waitress did a good job. She wasn’t over-approaching but she was around frequently enough to make sure we’re fine. We didn’t wait long for our food or our check. We never needed a refill because the glass they provided was enormous. The restaurant was very clean and well decorated.

Would I recommend this restaurant to anyone? If you’re the beer-drinking, bistro foodie, then you might like this place. Certainly the service was good and the beef was great so I wouldn’t discourage people from trying this restaurant. I just feel as though I could live without ever visiting this place again.

Lynnwood, WA

If you only went to one restaurant that I ever recommended, this is one restaurant you must go to but only if you love spicey food. The India Cafe serves the most amazing Indian food I have ever had the pleasure of savoring and encompasses the very trait that fell in love with Indian food for. Good Indian food should have musical flavors. The spices should be melodious and harmonious all in one bite.

My absolute favorite dish is the Chicken Dopiaza. This dish contains chicken, marinated in yogurt and spices overnight, and barbecued before being placed in a spicy, onion-y sauce of blissful spices. This dish is super spicey so if you’re sensitive to heat, I wouldn’t recommend you eat this as there is an element of napalm and your mouth will burn for awhile. The napalm is required as it adds to its deliciousness.

One of the greatest thing about this restaurant is that you won’t simply see the normal Chicken Korma, you will see a variety of dishes you have not seen at other restaurants but it has the normal, comfortable, trusty Indian food people like.

The staff are attentive, ready to refill your bowl of rice and your half-empty glass of water. Neither my boyfriend, Mikel, or I could drink our glass half-empty before it was refilled. For me, this is normal, for Mikel, the infamous water-drinker, this is amazing. The amount of service provided was nice and it wasn’t too much.

The restaurant, although nice enough on the inside, is located in a run-down part of town in a building that almost looks abandoned from the outside. Across the street from this restaurant is an old Comp USA store no longer in business as well as other dead stores. I almost didn’t go in this restaurant on the first visit because of how sketchy things looked on the outside. One should know you can’t judge a book by its cover because I was so wrong about this restaurant.

While their food is amazing, the prices on the “Indian food accessories” (naan, raita, chai tea…) are expensive. If you read my critique on the Curry House, you’ll see that I prize this restaurant for its inclusion of the Indian food accessories in the price as well as the little pot of tea they provide. You’ll also notice that I mention that I didn’t like it when other restaurants merely give you one cup of tea and charge you 2.50, this is a restaurant that does it. While India Cafe is generous with ice water, it is not so with tea and naan.

If you’re in Lynnwood, you really really need to go to the India Cafe. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate good Indian food and how rare I think it is to find the blissful goodness.

Ferndale, WA

Ferndale, Washington is a small, somewhat-prosperous town. Most businesses seem to do well despite the town’s size and location. The gems of Ferndale are its local ethnic restaurants–one of them being The Curry House. The Curry House is a pleasant surprise for any Bellinghammer disappointed with the city’s Indian food choice. For once, Whatcom County has a delicious, clean, prosperous, stable Indian restaurant. I can’t tell you how rare those are. The best thing about the Curry House, aside from its great food, is the staff. The staff is composed of an Indian family who is warm, friendly, outgoing, and willing to know you.

One of the biggest downfalls of Indian restaurants is the lack of hospitality and friendliness. Humans are what humans are and the fear of the stranger is a known issue. I can relate to an Indian moving from a land where just about everyone looks like them and comes from the same culture to a land where the folks are lighter, speak a different language, and eat bland food. I totally get that one would be shy. Being a restaurant owner and not seeming willing to get to know and welcome your patrons will make that shy Indian seem snobby therefore making the patron feel uncomfortable, unwelcome, and unlikely to visit again. This is a problem.

The Curry House does not have this problem. I have been greeted by the owners and recognized. During my first visit, they made attempts to get to know me. They make it a point to make you feel welcomed and at home and they don’t rush you out the door. They seem to like it if you stay and linger after your dinner for a bit.

Also nice, The Curry House’s food is a good value. For one price (not including beverage), you get soup, entree, rice, naan, and raita. I really don’t like Indian restaurants that do not include rice with their entree price. I don’t like the idea of ordering rice a’la carte and paying 2.50 for it. I am grateful The Curry House is not like them.

I’ve been to The Curry House many times and on my recent visit, I had Curry Chicken. I wasn’t expecting the dish to come with a tomato-based sauce but I really loved it nonetheless. The only downside to this dish is that it came with dark meat. One of my negative critiques of The Curry House is that I can’t seem to find a dish with all white meat.

Ok, so giving patrons a white meat choice (even charging a bit extra for it) would be nice, it is my only critique. And when you visit, you should try their Mango Lassi and their Chai Tea. A Mango Lassi is a mango and yogurt smoothie. I’m in love with mangoes and this beverage is tasty and refreshing. Some restaurants can botch the lassi but The Curry House does a great job. Also a favorite, their tea. If you’ve never had Indian tea before and you’re only experience with Chai tea is Oregon Chai or Tazo Chai, you’re in for a different but amazing treat. Indian tea is a spiced tea boiled with milk and sometimes sugar. You’ll taste cardamom, pepper, clove, cinnamon, and other widely-used spices with warmed milk and black tea. Some Indian restaurants give you a small cup and charge $2.00 but The Curry House gives you a small pot and lets you pour. I don’t know if they’d refill for free as I haven’t finished my pot and needed more yet. I suppose that need may come in the coming winter months.

The Curry House is my Whatcom County Indian food friend and I recommend this place to anyone who likes spice. Remember to order the Chai and the garlic naan if you go. Oh, and don’t forget to save room for dessert. Their desserts are delightfully simple, Indian, and tasty. Have Kheer.

Bellingham, WA

A couple of weeks ago, in conversation I told my good friend CJ that I ate at Pel Meni and her friend piped up and said, “that restaurant is the best place late at night after drinking when you want something bad for you to eat.” Likely true. I eat at Pel’meni about once a week. This unique restaurant stands out amongst the restaurants in Bellingham yet it fits right into the Bellingham culture. The Russian name of this restaurant, Pel’meni, takes after the name of the only food it serves on its very simple menu: dumplings–tiny bite-sized meat or potato-filled bundles of joy served with condiments of hot sauce, butter, yellow curry spice, cilantro, and sour cream. It has a bite with a little bit of napalm but if you stir in sour cream the heat dissipates. I crave these dumplings.

Again, the only variety is in your Russian dumpling choice. You can get either meat or potato but I only like the meat ones. I really don’t like the potato for two reasons. Firstly, the potato ones have lumpy, dirty-tasting mashed potatoes inside them. Secondly, they’re peppery. They are really really peppery. If you’re a pepper fan, this would be great for you.

For six dollars you get a nice helping of dumplings and a dry slice of wheat bread. For a dollar more, you can have a soda. I’m having a harder time wanting to visit as often as they recently raised their prices and changed their dumpling size. I understand the price change is justified but it still bums me out.

This place is great to visit in the winter because they constantly have pots of water boiling on the stove ready for your order. The friendly folks that work there have great complexions. This place is open quite late and is very casual. The owners have hung large multi-medium paintings on the walls of this long and narrow room. There is a bookshelf stuffed with LPs that you can play. While you wait, you can read the local free alternative newspaper.

While the atmosphere is casual and quite laid-back and the folks are friendly, I do have a couple of complaints. Recently, I got sick from eating a meal at Pel’meni. Not horribly, laid-up, puking, life-threatening sick but I missed my Spanish tutoring session because I had to rush home. It was an emergency. Also, the cleanliness could be a bit better in the dining area. There have been several times that I have visited where all of the tables were dirty. Finally, they use Styrofoam boxes to serve you with and that makes me feel guilty.

Would I recommend this place to you? Yes, I still will. After eating there frequently for over a year, I still like it but it isn’t my favorite place. I prefer this place to any fast food restaurant in town.