India Palace and… other weekend events
First, a health drink, courtesy of Husband:
Not for use in Green Monsters
Our local liquor store is right across the street from Home Depot. This can make things… interesting when Husband runs out for screws. This weekend, he came back with absinthe, Prosecco (unpictured because it didn’t make it through the night), Frangelico, and aromatic bitters. He is the consummate experimenter. You like the piles of junk mail and the salad spinner top in the background?
The absinthe was interesting. Very strong anise taste, which is not my favorite flavor. Somehow I still liked it, though I preferred it straight like a liqueur instead of diluted into the water, shown below.
No fevered imaginings resulted from this experiment.
Enough of that.
Just a quick recap of my experience with India Palace in Nashua. A few months ago, I held my birthday celebration there with a group of my friends. The restaurant generously set aside the area usually reserved for their Sunday buffets for our party and everyone had a great time. The only small snag is that each dish is made fresh at the India Palace, so if you show up with 20 people (some of whom have kids), do not expect that your food will arrive 15 minutes after ordering. It will trickle out slowly, but deliciously. The staff took such good care of us and I couldn’t wait to go back for a more intimate meal. I had the Chicken Jalpharizi with the Mulligatawny Soup, by the way. It was absolutely delicious. I love a good lentil soup and now I am wondering if I should go have some for lunch today?
Now, several months and one vegan diet later, Husband and I finally went back to the Palace. Before I went, I shot them a quick email to ask about vegan options because I’m not exactly sure how many Indian dishes involve ghee or yoghurt. Not to get off topic, but have you ever noticed that vegetarian options in restaurants usually involve some sort of pasta or rice, lots of butter and/or cheese, and a smattering of vegetables? It must be healthy, right? It’s vegetarian! I never noticed before becoming vegan.
Anyway, I expected an email with a list of, like, 2 dishes I could order. Instead, I got a call from Sage, a lovely young man who proceeded to go over the ENTIRE MENU with me explaining the various ingredients and modifications that can be made for vegans. He very politely inquired after my particular parameters of eating as there are some vegans who will not eat root vegetables (carrots, potatoes, turnips, etc.) because it kills the entire plant to do so. I had no idea! I was so excited after talking with Sage because there were tons of options for me to try.
Unfortunately, we chose to visit on a Sunday after church when the restaurant is offering the all-you can eat buffet. Although you can still order from the menu, the rather indifferent waitress clearly expects that the guests will see to their own needs and won’t trouble her for pesky things like drink orders or questions about the buffet. Almost everything in the buffet included yoghurt or cream so I ended up only being able to eat rice, Mulligatawny Soup, and a dal dish. I think the dal might have included cream and I was a little upset that I couldn’t ask a simple question to the waitress who stared off into space and turned her back on me when I approached her. At the end of the meal, I eventually was able to track down a waiter to ask for an order of paratha, which is a bread that doesn’t involve milk or butter. For non-vegans, the buffet offered incredible looking garlic naan.
So here’s the take away lesson: if you’re trying to eat healthfully, even if it’s not as a vegan, definitely check out the website or call ahead to the restaurant you’ll be visiting and see how they can accommodate you. Places that actually make their own food instead of receiving everything in frozen shipments from their corporate distribution center are usually happy to help you out.
The other lesson is: unless you like being completely ignored at a restaurant, avoid the India Palace on Sundays. The non-vegans at our table loved the food, but everyone was pretty irritated that we couldn’t even order a drink from the waitress.