Fuego Mundo

Fuego Mundo is a place I have been wanting to go to for a long time now. Finally, the stars were aligned perfectly this weekend and we ended up going with M and family. Fuego Mundo is known as a South American wood fire grill. I really like the decor of the place. The colors are warm and sunny, classy decor, lots of glass and light... all in all, a cool vibe. The menu has some vegetarian options, not a lot. Another visit, and we would be done sampling all the vegetarian menu options, I think.

We ordered the Yucca Fries and Dip to begin with. They were really nice. Yucca is fairly starchy but thankfully, the fries were not too greasy (in case there is a connection between starch and oil retention?). I am not sure what the dip was. It tasted like garlic ranch (and I hope it wasn't!) but it was not very tart or garlicky.

I got an order of the Soup of the Day. It came with a side order of quinoa, black beans and baked plantains.

It was a pretty good combination. I love plantains (fried, steamed, baked, roasted!) and these were really sweet. Normally, I am a little wary about black beans (much flatulence ensues... sigh) but these felt fairly light. Quinoa also is a grain with a very "light" feel plus it has a great crunch and is so nutritious to boot. So that plate made me happy. The soup was nice and hot. It was made in a broth of water and featured carrots, cooked corn and some other vegetables I can't recall. Fairly okay. I mean, nothing spectacular, no outstanding flavors or spices. A regular soup.

P got an order of the tofu steak and a side of the Veggie Lover's Stir-Fry.

Both dishes were great. The Tofu Steak was tender (obviously!) and nicely flavored. Of course, the crunch of the plantain chips provided a great foil to the steak as well. Most stir-fry dishes are so ordinary but this one was good! Probably the nicely sauteed onions provided that additional spice element. All in all, a nice combination.

Couldn't pass up dessert, right?

 

The Gourmet Mango Pie was a good choice. M got the Tres Leches. I need to find out more about this dish but it was sweet and rich without being too cloying.

Nice and light flavors, very clean tastes, relaxed and chic decor... A place I could recommend easily.


Fuego Mundo
5590 Roswell Road, Suite A120
Sandy Springs, GA 30342
404-256-4330
www.fuegomundo.com

Back to Udipi!

There was a week when we visited Udipi Cafe twice. Let me recall. Yes, we were planning to go to this nice-sounding Italian place but P had had such a bad case of sniffles and sneezes that he really wanted to slurp up some spicy tomato rasam. That is one delicious way to open up your sinuses, for sure! Now I have been battling a bad case of Pitta aggravation since some days now. I am no expert on Ayurveda but this is a familiar situation for me as it isn't the first time. Long story short, tomatoes are a major cause of Pitta aggravation. So also is tamarind. Suffices to say that I wasn't sure what I would find to eat at an obviously South Indian food place. But I agreed to go along (also I hardly ever say 'No' to anything P asks for - my weakness, obviously.)

So we landed up at Udipi Cafe, Smyrna. I don't know what it is about many Indian restaurants and service. As the server ushers you in, how difficult can it be for him to have a smile on his face? Seriously, the guy who showed us to our seats was glowering. I have had the same experience at Udipi Cafe, Decatur as well. It's truly odd. Let me not get started about how they always have the cleaning supplies in full display of the restaurant. Who wants to see spray bottles and dish cloths while eating delicious food? Not me.

Ok, let me get on to the food. P ordered the Pongal-Vada combination and I ordered a plate of Pesarattu-Upma. Pretty soon, we switched.

Pongal is a traditional South Indian preparation of rice, dal, whole black peppers, cashews, lots of heavenly ghee. It is comfort food at its finest and healthiest. And it is panacea for my Pitta-aggravated soul and body. P offered me a taste and then the entire plate itself. The sides were sambar and coconut chutney. I pretty much cleaned up the coconut chutney but the sambar, as delicious as it looked, I had to avoid. Tomatoes + red chillies + tamarind is a lethal combination for me, at the moment. The Vada was delicious too! Not greasy at all, it was very nicely spiced and had the perfect "crunch" in your mouth.

The Pesarattu-Upma was a good combination too. Now I have been making a lot of Pesarattu in the last few weeks. It is basically a batter of soaked whole moong dal, spiced with cumin, ginger and green chillies, that you make dosas out of. Very delicious and healthy, indeed. These dosas were fairly decent although they lacked that freshness which I have come to associate with this preparation. Well, it isn't homemade - so maybe it's too much to expect.

I honestly don't recall much about the Upma. Or did we order the plain Pesarattu? I can't recall.

I like the food served at this place. The service is decent too. I wish they'd move the cart of cleaning supplies someplace out of sight. Maybe ask the servers to smile a little? Is that asking for a lot?

Thai House, Roswell

Thai House (Roswell, GA) is a place I have visited multiple times before. I enjoy the food there. They have a separate menu section for vegetarians, the decor is nice, and they have some interesting menu items.

This time's visit was a little different, though. The servers were terribly rushed. I think there were just two of them serving a bunch of tables. The food was fairly okay this time but I thought I'd write about the place anyway since I have visited so many times and liked the food every time.

So what did we order? We began with a soup, the Vegan Coconut Tofu Soup, to be precise.

It was wonderful! A great combination of light coconut milk, lime juice and lemon grass, it came with tofu, baby corn, water chestnuts and carrots. I love the hot pot presentation too. A great refreshing start to the meal, as cliched as it sounds!

For the entree, we ordered Basil Sue-Yi and Vegetable Fried Rice. I didn't explain about the Sue-Yi, did I? Ok, Thai House offers a couple of variations of Tofu namely Sue-Yi and Sue-Gai. As per the menu online, Sue-Yi is essentially made from seaweed, ginger, salt, soy bean, soybean fiber & vegetable oil. Similarly, Sue-Gai is made from soy bean, vegetable fiber, flour, soy sauce & vegetable oil. I have ordered both of them in multiple dishes and enjoyed the tastes thoroughly.

Very tasty indeed! The flavors were bright without being very strong, the vegetables retained the crunch and thankfully, there was none of that overwhelming scent-taste of garlic that drowns all other flavors.

The Vegetable Fried Rice was a disappointment. Ok, let me rephrase. What they got for us afterward was disappointing. When they first brought it, we noticed flecks of fried egg scattered all over. So we sent it back. The version they sent us the second time tasted dull. Hardly any flavors in there; some crisp broccoli florets and some tofu, possibly? I wouldn't recommend ordering this one.
 

Did we have dessert? If you know me, you'd know that I always give dessert a chance. So we went ahead and got Bananas in Coconut Milk. Maybe that isn't the exact name of the dish.
 
Our server explained that these banana fritters were deep fried in a rice batter containing coconut milk, then drizzled with sugar and honey. I LOVED them. I must mention, this is a HUGE dessert. As much as I would have loved polishing the plate clean, I had to regretfully admit that I couldn't. This dessert can be shared by 3-4 people. Can I say it again how much I liked this one? There was something almost Indian-tasting about this one. Probably the taste of rice and coconut milk.

Not a very satisfying visit but I'll go another time, for sure.

Thai House
1227 Alpharetta Street
Roswell, GA 30075
770-993-1688
www.thaihouseroswell.com

A cool recipe + picture

Until I find the next cool vegetarian place to write about, I thought I would share a picture from my kitchen yesterday. Well, day before, to be precise.

To the left is a dish that I have never cooked before: Dum Aloo. Roasted baby potatoes in a cashew-tomato-onion based gravy, spiced with cumin, nigella seeds, dried fenugreek leaves (also called Kasuri Methi) and garam masala. And garnished with fresh cilantro leaves too.

This recipe is a keeper. I always err on the lesser side when it comes to salt. Really tasty, nonetheless.

I picked the recipe from One Hot Stove, one of my favorite blogs. Nupur's approach to cooking is very similar to mine and I always love cooking out of her blog. Here is the original recipe.

Sweet Potato Bisque from Trader Joe's

Trader Joe's is a favorite store of mine. I love their product assortment and how it keeps changing through the months. They have a decent array of vegetables and fruits, not-every-expensive Medjool dates (YUM!), excellent range of cheeses (some vegetarian and some not - you need to check the ingredient list, as always), lots of delicious stuff to nibble on... the most decadent one possibly being Lacey's chocolate cookies. Chocolate, honey, caramel...? Maybe. They are such a treat.

As always, I digress. What I wanted to share with you was TJ's brand of sweet potato bisque. After pouring the soup into a pan for warming, I threw the packet in the trash. And then went right back to take a picture. But P forbade me to post a picture of the trash can. So here's the soup.

It simply needs to be warmed before serving. Surprisingly, this one contains no onions or garlic. Carrots, sweet potatoes, parsnips, salt. Maybe some other ingredients that I don't recall.

I threw in some basil leaves while the soup was on the stove. Added some freshly ground black pepper and shredded Parmesan cheese before serving.

Excellent soup. The texture is rich and creamy and it tastes mildly sweet. P loved it totally and said so. Again and again. Well, I had made a fresh batch of pesto that he ladled into his bowl. I think that's what he really loved, the combination of fresh basil pesto, root vegetables, Parmesan cheese and black pepper. I didn't taste that version but I can take his word for it!

Next time, I'll take a picture of the packet before I throw it in the trash!