Amma's Kitchen

Amma’s Kitchen is the only South Indian vegetarian restaurant in Atlanta. They have a buffet for lunch and a la carte for dinner. We went on Ganesh Chathruti so that could be the reason why the food was exceptionally good. I’m told on regular days the buffet does not have as much of a variety. If you don’t like Tamilian food, I would not suggest that you visit Amma’s kitchen. From the tamarind rice to the pongal, the rava kesari to the laddus, the food is simple, authentic and truly south-indian.

Amma’s Kitchen is in the lesser knows parts of Alpharetta, and the buffet was moderately priced at seven dollars. All in all, this is a place that vegetarians would definately enjoy.

Minerva

I've been to this restaurant so many times that I've lost count. I go there just for lunch though. I guess all of us have one such favorite lunch place; where the food is decent, service is quick and the location convenient. Mine is Minerva.

If you look at the picture alongside, try as you may, you cannot help but notice the oversized red tumblers, the plastic jug, the green table top and the rexene upholstery. You are definitely not going to Minerva for the fine dining experience; you are going there for the food. Period.


They serve an exhaustive buffet during lunch hours. There's a counter with South-Indian snacks; the vadas are always fresh and crisp. They also have mini-uttapams and regular dosas. Then there's an array of vegetarian food from the tried and tested gobi manchurian to their own 'house specialties' like zucchini fry and saag-mushroom. The non-vegetarian spread, of course, is what I fancy the most. There are always at least five items, the staple one being some very good, mouth-watering tandoori chicken. On Friday's they also have two varities of biryani, chicken and goat. Apart from this they server the usual, white rice, pulao, puri, nans and Chinese noodles.

Dessert is usually gulab jamun, kheer or kesari and fruit salad. All this for $11 on week-days and $12 on week-ends.

This has been Minerva's menu since time immemorial and I can honestly admit that my taste buds still tingle every time we decide to go there. It's usually a Friday afternoon lunch place, that time of the week where your energy level is at a low ebb and you can get away with a procrastinated lunch break. Nothing can spur lethargy more than spicy, greasy, heavy, Indian food.

In the picture with me, are my cohorts in crime, the Friday afternoon slackers!

Madras Sarvanabhavan - NYC

Yeah we went to New York and yeah we went to a Madras Sarvanabhavan. So what! I guess you can get us outta South India but you can’t get the South-Indian outta us. I’m glad we went though, I actually tasted two dishes I’d never heard of or seen in my life.

The first one was an appetizer called ‘mini idli’. It had about fifteen bite-size idlis soaking in a bowl of sambar. The idlis were really ‘mini’, almost as small as a quarter! It was delicious. The second item stole the show. It’s called ‘Kuthu Parota’. It’s a cross between a paratha and a dosa and stuffed with vegetables. It was spicy and just out of this world. I haven’t seen this dish served anywhere else.

I ordered the ‘Pesarattu’. This is another uncommon variety of a dosa. The batter is made of ‘moong dal’. The dosa is therefore slightly green in color. If you order the stuffed pesarattu, it comes stuffed with ‘upma’!!! (unlike a masala dosa).

Dessert; ‘Sabudana Kheer’, can you get anymore South Indian than that?

The picture says it all, we definitely had a mouth-watering, lip-smacking, sambar-slurping meal!

Vatika

This was a Sunday lunch a few months ago. It’s a small Gujrati restaurant in Marietta that serves vegetarian thalis. I think it’s a popular lunch-hub on weekdays for those working in the Cobb Parkway – Windy Hill area. There were only 5-6 items on the thali. The items were really delicious though and the supply unlimited. The food was very simple, fresh, aromatic and wholesome. The chapattis were being continuously made and served hot. I was a tad bit disappointed because the thali did not include dessert. I was looking forward to some nice kheer or gulab jamun.


I definitely recommend Vatika to all the Gujjus and other vegetarians. I however, kept weighing it against the other Indian restaurants in Atlanta that serve a forty item non-vegetarian smorgasbord at almost the same rate. In comparison, Vatika is expensive. As much as I love Dhoklas, the Minerva mutton curry, at the same price, definately steals the show.


The place was pretty crowded though and if you’re like me and tend to judge restaurants by how crowded they are, then this one will definitely get a thumbs up.