Charlotte, North Bear-alina...this one's for you...this one's for you...us us us...

Betty and I took a last minute trip to Hilton Head last month and stopped in to visit some fam and friends in Charlotte, NC on the way. We had some good eats and the highlight of the trip was getting some quality time with our friends and family whom we don't get to visit with often. We kicked off opening night at a Mexican restaurant which of course I was eager to try. Our friend took us to Azteca. I must admit the location of the restaurant was slightly seedy as it was connected to a hotel but there was a warm vibe in the air which included a Mariachi band and folks who would stop by your table and make fresh guacamole.


chips & salsa w/ an interesting cabbage salad/salsa/slaw?


$8 guacamole made fresh in front of you


carnitas de puerca aka pork tacos.


sopapilla-esque dessert with fruit topping

Overall I was pleased with the meal, the vibe and the great conversation during dinner. There was perhaps slightly a bit of ADD in the air with all the music and action happening in the restaurant but it was fun none-the-less. The chips and salsa were standard. The cabbage dip was intriguing though not my favorite. I asked for hot sauce and hot salsa and was underwhelmed with both options that were brought out. The $8 guac tasted more like $5.75 guac but was still decent. The highlight of my meal was my carnitas taco dinner. The pork was extremely delicious and cooked tender topped with my favorite veggie red onions. Does it really get any better than this? I thoroughly enjoyed my tacos. Dessert was very delicious and a palette cleanser to change up everything we had been eating all evening.

The next morning I noted there was a Bojangles nearby our friend's place so I had to let Betty experience the guilty fried indulgence that is Bojangles.


biscuits & gravy to the left to the left & a spicy chicken biscuit with taters to the right to the right...

The biscuits and gravy were sinfully delicious. I really need to find a recipe for biscuits and gravy because I really love and crave them. I know Bojangles is fast food -- but their biscuit and gravy gives all the other dine-in joints up north a run for their money. The chicken biscuit was very good too. The potato wedges were a'ight but not anything too exciting. We also ordered a blue berry biscuit from them which was excessively rich and buttery but also delicious. It was fun to share this Southern fast food tradition with Betty though you really only need to eat Bojangles once every 2-3 years.

Betty and her bear-friend went to get their paws done at the bear-lon so I decided to stop by and visit my aunt and uncle. I was treated to some fantastic-ly fresh and tasty Indian food.

my aunt's Indian falafel

These were great. The meal was a take on Greek falafel but consisted of chick peas and lentils in the batter. The balls were rolled, deep fried and then served with a pita with some very tasty cilantro cream chutney. Talking to my aunt about how she made the Indian falafel made me want to revisit the process of deep frying foods. Betty got me a fry daddy when we still lived in the Short North but I was always scared to use it.

Up next was my aunt's golgappa a true Indian delicacy:


golgappa covered with seasoned yogurt, tamarind chutney, cilantro and chick peas

When I ate this yummy dish I couldn't help but reflect on how my tastebuds have evolved since I was a bitty bear. I never liked this dish as a cub -- i think mostly because the sweet and sourness confused me -- but now being somewhat older my taste buds have matured or something and this dish hit the spot. For those not familiar with golgappa -- it is essentially deep-fried mini crispy bread shells topped with chick peas, onions and usually a mix of yogurt and sweet-and-spicy chutneys.

In the evening Betty and I visited my cousin and her husband in the heart of downtown Charlotte. My cousin prepared for us an organic vegetarian Mexican dish of chili verde enchiladas. Not pictured were some tasty appetizers of guacamole and a cheesy bean dip.


chili verde vegetable enchilada stack

The enchiladas were fresh, simple and pretty tasty. A little light on the spice for my tastes but all in all a good meal. During dinner Betty and I had great discussion with my cousin and her hubs about the China Study, the challenges of maintaining an organic lifestyle and bear-ituality. Good times indeed.

The next day we caught up with more fam and hit up Big Daddy's Burger Bar which is a burger joint that prides itself on grass-fed hormone free burgers. Since I was down in the South I figured I should try their Classic Southern Burger:


Classic Southern Burger: burger topped with chili, American cheese, relish, mustard and slaw along & french fries fried in duck fat.

This burger was fresh and tasty but a bit of a mess. I suppose you get what you order right? The duck fat fries were good but I couldn't really distinguish the taste of the duck fat from the usual french fry preparation except for the fact they tasted firmer and were a little on the salty side. No worries because this place specialized in soft serve for dessert which was the perfect way to end the meal.

ultra sweet-soft serve with sprinkles

I forgot to take a picture of our last home cooked meal with my cousins and aunt but it was a delicious meal of cholay and dal. Betty and I had a lot of fun in Charlotte. I was impressed with all the yummy home cooked meals my family shared with us and really the best part was getting to visit with everyone and seeing our family and friends. I was happy to learn of similar cooking and diet interests with my cousins -- and hopefully next time we visit I'll get to share with them some of my ck freestylings in the kitchen. Word is bear-log!

bear in the city day 3: no dosa for you! - Amma

For one of our final meals in NYC my cousin took us to one of his favorite Indian restaurants in the city called Amma. He described it as a place that has unique menu items that you wouldn't expect to see at your typical Indian restaurant. When we arrived at the restaurant it had a quaint, contemporary lounge feel. The place was empty as we were having a late 2PM lunch. After perusing the menu we ordered from their pre fixe lunch specials. I decided on the bhel puri for my first course, the shrimp balchao for the appetizer and the tandoori sea bass for my meal. Betty was bummed because the South Indian lunch special of idly and dosa was unavailable. How you gonna be an Indian restaurant that serves South Indian food and not have idly and dosa? Come on now.


bhel puri consisting of puffed rice, lentils and potatoes served with a tamarind chutney

This was pretty tasty. I've never had it before but it reminded me of what namkeen chaat -- if such a thing exists -- might taste like. My only complaint was that the puffed rice was soggy from the chutney by the time it arrived to our table.


minimalist shrimp balchao

I've had limited exposure to Indian seafood dishes so I was pleased when I saw the shrimp and sea bass on the menu. The shrimp was good but there were only two shrimps on the entire plate. They should've used a smaller dish for plating. The shrimp was tasty with a tangy tomato seasoning with mother curry and masala over-currents. I've never had shrimp like this but imagine if someone made a spicy shrimp bruschetta. Pretty good but over seasoned.


tandoori sea bass

My sea bass was cooked perfectly. The fish flaked off like butter and was enhanced by the seasoning and buttery tomato curry accompanying the fish. Again there was a bit of overkill with the seasoning but still very good.


palak besan ki kadhi

My cousin had the kadhi which is a yogurt based soup with fried vegetables and chick pea flour balls in it. The kadhi was pretty good.


chicken tikka

Betty had the chicken tikka and was not impressed with it finding it overseasoned. I tried a bite and found it tasty however.

Overall Amma was decent food at slightly high prices -- but such is the norm when you dine out in NYC. The meal delivered on my cousin's promise of unique selections and combinations. At the same time I found some of the classic dishes like the chicken tikka and kadhi to not be anything extraordinary. I would say Amma is gourmet Indian food and though tasty -- I felt like they were trying to hard with their flavors that often made simple dishes overly complicated e.g. too much masala and curry sauce with the sea bass, shrimp, and chicken tikka. If you do go I would recommend not ordering anything classic and instead venture out and try something new from their extensive eclectic menu.

a marriage of flavors...Amar India

Betty and I were in Dayton from Wednesday night until Sunday for my sister's wedding. An exciting action packed and emotional weekend of memories with loved ones and of course as is typical with Indian weddings...a sampling of every delicious combination of veggies and meats under the Indian sun courtesy of our favorite Indian Restaurant and caterer in Dayton, OH Amar India. The legend goes that Amar India was one of the first Indian restaurants in Dayton, Ohio and also catered the first Indian wedding in the city so how fitting decades later that Amar India would cater not only our wedding but my sister's too.

Enough of that onto the food.

Up first food from the Lady's Sangeet


aloo tikki with channa, cilantro, onions and chili powder, namkeen on the side

This was the first time I've seen a specialty tikki stand at a catered event which made it double-so-sweet that it was on my parent's patio. The aloo tiki is essentially a spicy potato pancake. The tikki is then topped with seasoned garbanzo beans, onion, cilantro and then spiced up with chili powder and masala. I scooped up the namkeen -- aka deep fried seasoned nuts and flour mixture with other crunchy treats -- and ate them with each bite. The flavors tasted like a match made in heaven. The tikki's were delicious as a matter of fact I had 3 of them and was still salivating for more.

Up next dinner:


starting with the left going right counterclockwise: I'm thinking it was basant chicken (seasoned chicken), plain nan, rice pilaf with cholay (seasoned garbanzo beans), saag paneer (spinach and cheese), green chilis, mint chutney and spicy onion chutney

This meal was rich but delicious. Crucial to Indian food for me are side garnishes -- onions, green chili's and Amar India's special spicy onion chutney are must haves in excessive amounts in this case. Think of those as my Indian version of El Yucateco. Everything tasted delicious and even better being around all of our friends and family at the party. Truth be told, I was never a spinach eater growing up until I had Amar India's saag paneer. Ever since then I've been a champion of Indian spinach. Many times I've noticed that restaurants do not put enough paneer with the spinach but that night there was plenty of paneer to go around.

I had more food photos from the weekend festivities but the lighting was off on them so I was not able to post them. When we left Dayton we left with an arsenal of leftovers from Amar India to eat throughout the week. To give you an image of how well we ate:


starting with the rice at high noon, nan, saag paneer, saag with corn, cholay, lamb do piazza (lamb curry), chicken tikka makhani (tandoori chicken in a butter sauce)

Oh man I ate like a cholesterolking this week. This food was so delicious even 2 days later. My only complaint would be the richness of the food which has an excessive amount of cream and butter. This in contrast to the lighter but still tastier version of Indian food my mom or I usually make though my mom usually will fatten up her food with cream and butter when guests are coming into town. Eating this food day in and day out was a bit indulgent but it's not often I have an opportunity to devour such food. This weekend was a great homecoming to catch up with family and friends that I have not seen in a long time and to celebrate my sister's marriage through singing, dancing, gup-shupping (talking), and of course indulging in very tasty colorful foods and sweets.

mom's mattar paneer + Sri-g samosas...

Was fortunate enough to go back to Dayton this weekend and stock up on my mom's home cooking. Call me a momma's boy but my mom's got mad skills in the cooking department. She also hipped us to her new favorite samosa joint. Sri-G Grocer's in Dayton, Oh makes samosas on the weekend. These samosas were to die for. I credit it to 2 things: 1) their potato-pea filling which is very spicy and tasty that you don't even need hot sauce or chutney and 2) the mastered art of reheating aka nuking a food item in the microwave just enough so that the insides are warm and then broiling the outside of said item so that it crisps up. This meal was crucial.


heated up whole wheat pita, home made roti, 2 samosas, 3 dollar tomato-onion salad, and mattar paneer.