There Once Was A Place Called Ned . . .
September 16, 2007
If Shangri-La were in the Rocky Mountains, it would lay about 20 minutes west of Boulder in the community of Nederland, Colorado. "Ned" as it is called by locals, is the mountaineer's paradise, complete with the ever-famous Kathmandu Restaurant. I first heard of this Nepali restaurant from a friend in lawschool who extolled the combination of curry and Left Hand Porter on a hot summer day. An afternoon of hiking around the Barker and Gross Reservoirs with my boyfriend left me hungry for something spicy and refreshing. The Kathmandu wasn't very far (it sits in the middle of "town").
The menu seemed to have everything I could ever want - chile this, chile that - and the aroma of every plate that passed you by made you want to sample each item on the menu. I decided to order the Chicken Tika Masala, extra spicy, and my boyfriend ordered the Lamb Chili, also extra spicy. While a Left Hand Porter sounded appetizing, I opted for another local favorite from the New Belgium Brewing Company - Fat Tire. The lightly spiced amber ale paired nicely with the pieces of chicken stewed in curry, cream, tomatoes, and peppered with peas. In my greedy state, I also managed to eat a siginificant portion of my honey's Lamb, jalapenos and all. By the time I finished the second helping of Garlic Naan bread, I had to be rolled out of the restaurant, all the way down the mountain, and stuffed back into the car.
Needless to say the Kathmandu is perhaps the best curry I've ever eaten. If you like Indian curries, the Nepali version is slightly more hearty and rather spicy. If you've never had curry, than the Kathmandu is about the best place to start.
Labels: curry, Nepal, restaurant
Chipotle is the Devil
April 03, 2007
I can't seem to stop visiting Chipotle once every 2 weeks for some yummy crispy chicken tacos. To curb my appetite for these devlish treats, I decided to get some nutritional information. While the main page for Chipotle has a grid with nutritional information, it is a bit overwhelming to add up. I did find, however, a chipotle calorie counter that uses this info in a friendly form that calculates the nutritional information for you. The great thing is that you can quickly assess what not to eat, i.e. cheese and sour cream, but the drawback is that if you've eaten these things all along, it will just make you depressed. The only light at the end of my tunnel is that my crispy tacos came out to 660 calories as opposed to 890 as I cannot consume dairy. Tragically, I love dairy, so there are no real winners here people! AHHHH!
Now the challenge I pose here is what is the most calorie filled combo you can come up with? Gross, but sort of fun.
Now the challenge I pose here is what is the most calorie filled combo you can come up with? Gross, but sort of fun.
Labels: restaurant
Tom's Home Cookin'
May 09, 2006
Tom’s Home Cookin’ in Five Points (a neighborhood just east of downtown Denver) is a monument to American southern cuisine. A good friend brought me there to eat for the first time in early March just after a frightful snowstorm (we now go whenever the weather is crummy or it’s a Friday and I need to have a meat fixin’). The train ride and 3 block walk led us to a little house just off of Clarkson and east 26th avenue that had a line trailing out the door and around the block. Hordes of people were bustling in and out of the house with Styrofoam to go containers and tall cups filled with sweet tea and southern lemonade. For only $7.96 (cash only, Tom’s don’t believe in holdin’ up the gravy line for your credit card or check to clear), a person can walk out of Tom’s with one main dish and two sides, and a drink from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. weighing nearly 5 pounds and adding about 10 to your thighs.
On a typical day, Tom’s will have 6 main dishes (3 permanent--Fried Chx, BBQ Pork, Catfish-- and 3 rotating) and at least 6 sides to choose from (did you know that in the south, peach cobbler is a side?!!). For example, the menu might look like this: Fried chicken, Meatloaf, Catfish, Chicken & dumplings, BBQ pork, Country fried steak w/gravy, Collard greens, Green beans, Mac & cheese, Mashed potatoes, Peach cobbler, Candied yams, Broccoli rice & cheese casserole, Cabbage w/bacon. On really lucky days, I am also faced with choosing between black eyed peas and green beans, or gumbo over rice and shrimp & grits.
Now that you are salivating, I have to share that at Tom’s you also get the pleasure of your nose, as well as your tongue, stomach, and brain, feeling tingly, relaxed and somewhat food happy because of the aroma and taste of so many saturated fats, including real butter, bacon lard, and chicken drippings. One bite of the MP&G (that’s mashed potatoes & gravy to you untrained Tom virgins) or crispy fried boneless catfish sends you into a euphoria; the serotonin suddenly spikes and then you understand, with the warm peach cobbler and its flaky crust breaking up in your mouth, that this is what southern “comfort” food is like. The blues you came in with suddenly turn rosy, and the work left piling up at your desk seems to disappear from view as your stomach expands and the food coma sets in. If you manage to finish all that food, I have to warn you that getting any work done is futile because your body won’t know what to do with that goodness you just inhaled except shut down and go to sleep.
With that thought in your mind the pictures featured in this post are of a partly eaten catfish with sides of mac & cheese, and the broccoli & cheese casserole, and my favorite, the chicken & dumplings with mp&g and side of cabbage & bacon (did I mention also that these dishes come with a serving of cornbread, plain or jalapeno??). In the words of the Westward food review for Tom’s in November 2002, “God Bless America” (for the dirty south and it’s amazing gourmandize).
Blogger Post Script: My roomie, the Baking Fool has finally graced the pages of Blogger.com with her fabulous baking arsenal. I don't do dessert, so be sure to check her site out for sweet finds post-dinner.
Labels: restaurant
