Restaurant Week: Rasika

Today at lunch, (in alphabetical order) Alvin, Annie, Chris, Melissa, Natalia, Stacey and I went to Rasika. I have dined at Rasika almost two years ago with Alyssa and really enjoyed the food, ambiance and drinks. Unfortunately, since we all were coming back to work, drinks were not to be had.

Quick observations:
* We had almost an entire separate room to ourselves
* I absolutely loved the big wood table: very homey
* The silverware seemed to be made for giants
* The service was very attentive, but not obtrusive
* Some of the dishes were presented in pretty copper pots: adorable!

Natalia ready for food!

And now to the food:

Appetizers All the girls ordered Beetroot Wada: lentils/onions/cumin/coconut chutney. I had no idea what this dish would look or taste like, and was pleasantly surprised. The dish consisted of two doughnut-like shapes made from beets and onions, which were de-fried (never bad!). The beetroot "doughnuts" were accompanied by a sauce made from lentils, coconut, cumin and (I'm guessing) cilantro. The flavors were strong, but not overpowering, and I loved the crispiness of the "doughnuts."

The boys ordered Parsi Lamb Cutlet: minced lamb/ginger/garam masala/spiced tomato chutney. Again, it was hard to tell from the description what the dish would be like. Turned out, there were two pancake-like patties made from lamb and served with a very delicious tomato sauce. Thanks for letting me take a bite ;)

After the appetizers Stacey sadly had to head back to work, and we stayed on for the remainder of the meal. Seems like it's rare for Stacey and me to eat an entire meal together (lol).

Entrees I ordered Ananas Gosht: lamb/pineapple/cashew nuts/mace/cardamom. It just dawned on me, as I'm writing this, that ananas is pineapple in Russian! The dish came with rice and bread, unlike the Taj Palace in Old Town. The lamb was fork-tender, the "curry" was smooth and fragrant, and the rice was absolutely perfectly cooked.

The other entrees around the table were Chicken Makhani (broiled chicken/tomato/fenugreek), Tandoori Salmon (Scottish Salmon/cinnamon/black pepper), and Palak Paneer with Vegetable Moilee.

We were all satisfied with our choices and surprised at the amount of food on our plates: not to worry, we pretty much finished everything! There were no take-home boxes.

And then there was time for...

Desserts Melissa, Chris and I ordered Mango Saffron Icecream. We first tasted mango, then the flavor of saffron hit us! And it was a bit bizarre. However, after a few bites, we got used to it. Annie and Natalia ordered Carrot Halwa with Cinnamon Sabayon: I thought that was a rather strange dish made from carrots, nuts and raisins (?)--almost like a bread pudding. But I did like the frothy milky mixture it came with; Annie thought it was spiked with something! Alvin ordered Lychee and Rose Sorbet: it looked absolutely gorgeous because of its bright pink color, but I thought the rose flavor was too overwhelming.

And then it was time to pay the bill and head back to work.

Tomorrow it's Restaurant Week dinner at Equinox with Wendy and Ashley!

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