After our brief stop at Saffron Spot - Artesia (Little India), UnHipLA and I decided to go back to Little India specifically to eat, and not just for dessert. I suggested Woodlands Indian Cuisine after reading about their $9.95 all vegetarian South Indian buffet in the LA Times.
Joining us were Henry Chan's Food Videos and a couple of other people from Biggest Menu.
I don't really know Indian cuisine well enough to tell you the names of every item in the buffet.
The steamed white dough was a bit sour and fermented so I didn't care for that.
More stuff to go with rice.
My plate.
BuddyDVD's plate. He's a picky eater and I felt bad that he didn't get his money's worth.
At least he enjoyed the dosa stuffed with seasoned potatoes that was included in the buffet.
And a mango milkshake was also included. Not a mango lassi. It was still tasty, but more watery and not the thick yogurt flavor of a mango lassi.
Toward the end of brunch, the restaurant filled up more than it did when we got there.
Overall, the vegetarian buffet didn't really fill me up. I need meat! And I realized that I like Indian curries and other stuff, but that's usually because they've been simmered in the meat. Afterward, we stopped off at Saffron Spot again anyway for dessert.
I had grabbed a flier and upon looking at it closely, realized that Wednesdays were unlimited dosas night and Indo-Chinese buffet night. Indo-Chinese, or Indian Chinese cuisine, according to Wikipedia came about from the Hakka Chinese in Calcutta, India, using Indian spices and ingredients with Chinese cooking techniques.
Curious to try Indian Chinese food, I convinced cousin Q to check Woodlands out with me in February 2008.
I got an egg roll, gobi Manchurian (Indian Chinese cauliflower fritters), fried rice, and chop suey. Everything tasted really salty with soy sauce and liberally seasoned with Indian spices. Like when non-Chinese people try to make stir-fries and end up using half a cup of soy sauce because they don't know what's a proper amount.
The gobi Manchurian, which didn't taste like anything familiar with Chinese cuisine, was soggy from the heat lamps.
The chop suey was inedible.
So far, my first and only experience with Indian Chinese cuisine was a big disappointment.
Luckily, it was unlimited dosas night! The dosas were larger than the platter.
The first round, we tried a seasoned potato and an onion one. I liked the potato much more.
So I got another potato dosa. There were at least half a dozen choices of fillings, but I forgot them all.
Afterward, the waitress asked if we wanted coffee. Too bad she didn't tell us it wasn't included in the $9.95 dinner buffet, so it was an additional $1.95 when the bill came. That's carrot halwa for dessert in the bottom right corner.
Overall, I'd have to say while I like vegetables, an all vegetarian buffet didn't really satisfy me. And Indian Chinese cuisine, at least here, didn't either. But unlimited dosas are definitely worth checking out.
Other Indian restaurants:
Mahan Indian Restaurant - Alhambra
Punjab Indian Grocery Store - Alhambra
Saffron Spot - Artesia (Little India)
Woodlands Indian Cuisine
11833 Artesia Blvd.
Artesia, CA 90701
562-860-8690
Tuesday to Saturday 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.
*****
1 year ago today, Capital Seafood Chinese Restaurant (Wedding Banquet) - Monterey Park.
I think Woodlands must be the most popular South Indian cuisine in all of southern California. All of my Indian friends, no matter where they live in socal know about Woodlands. The dosas and lassis are great!
ReplyDeleteI also had the Saffron Spot that you posted. I had the one with noodles on it. A little trippy but it was good!
the white dough is called idyll. you gotta have chutney or dahl to make it taste good. but i am a newbie at indian cuisine also. i wish i had taken the opportunity to try more of it when my indian friend was still living here.
ReplyDeleteFive foot gal,
ReplyDeleteI wonder which other restaurants are South Indian? And are they all vegetarian? The restaurant is huge so it must be popular.
Bluang3lbby,
I tried dipping the dough with the other stuff. I also have vada written down somewhere, but I think that's the doughnut-like thing that I didn't put on my plate.
I like Indian cuisine, but I only know some of the dishes.