Lifespan of a Chennette

I like this restaurant. I like Indian food, so it’s easy. I thought since this is the 3rd time I have eaten here, I should do more of a review type post. After all, that’s why I blog now, right? To write more – make more words on a page. For people to perhaps read. Anyway, onward to the review! Lilandra and I went this time with our mother. This was after my lengthy convalescence from typhoid fever and before my return to Guyana. Rasam is in the City of Grand Bazaar the large open air mall at the crossroads of the East-West and North-South highways in Trinidad. They have buffet nights, which are affordable, and a wide variety of dishes from North and South India on the menu, which are usually all available. It has all halaal meats, so we can order anything off the menu. We have found though, particularly for their buffets, that the vegetarian dishes taste great -sometimes better than the meat dishes.

I have actually been to this restaurant space 4 times, but the first time it was Apsara and I got the family to go for my UWI graduation. While we liked some of the food, and considering we had 9 people at the table the bill wasn’t too high, our server then was definitely NOT helpful or friendly. Considering this was the first authentic Indian restaurant in Trinidad, and we didn’t know all the dishes, she could have tried harder to answer our questions. Anyway, again I am supposed to be reviewing Rasam!

The people at Rasam have always been friendly and very helpful with the menu. The service was a bit slow this time, but our server did explain as soon as she seated us that there would be a little delay. Once the food started coming it came quickly though, so there are no complaints really. Well, other than there’s a table cloth on the far eastern corner of the restaurant that has a burn on it. The burn was there the last time too. And we did point it out to our server, but they haven’t changed the table cloth, it was still there. Fortunately, we weren’t seated AT that table, just next to it.

But to the food –

Appetisers - we ordered Spiced Lamb Balls because we’d had them the last time and loved them. This time they seemed smaller and definitely a smidgen burnt, and perhaps not as beautifully spiced as last time. But good nonetheless. We also had Murgh Malai Kebabs which are pieces of spiced chicked on skewers. These were brought hot and sizzling to the table and were great. Big on the cloves, so be warned if you don’t like the taste. We also had Aloo Samosas, which were obviously fried by the same cook who did the lamb balls, since they were a bit too brown, but still good, especially with the coconut chutney they serve.

Entrees - Paneer and Mushroom Masala – very good. I like Paneer and Rasam’s vegetarian curries are always good. Then Murgh Sagwala which is chicken cooked in spinach – also good, but I was getting a bit full by then. Still not back to a full eating limit. And Chicken Vindaloo, with bits of potato – spicy hot. Apparently I need to build back up my tolerance for heat. Darn. Despite the heat, it had great flavour though. All this came with basmati rice and we ordered some Garlic Naan, which was really good – I didn’t take a picture of it, but Lilandra did.

We skipped dessert since we were full. But yet again, another good experience at Rasam, in Grand Bazaar.