Saturday, March 8, 2008

Just in Time for your Saturday Date Night

Does it seem to you like there's just no east side restaurants that fall into the catagory of unique, fun and really good food? When you're trying to think of somewhere to take your out of town guests for dinner, do you find yourself headed to Scottsdale or Chandler far too often? We should not have to go to neighboring towns to find a great little restaurant!

With Jason and Jill in town, Handsome and I set out for a bite to eat on a Wednesday evening. The goal: go some where our out of towners couldn't go to in Portland (aka: NO Chains!) but we had to stay close to relieve grandma of her babysitting duties in a timely manner. Ugh! We couldn't think of anything other than Tia's (Miss Tia, we love you but we'd already had Mexican 3 times this week). Then I remembered I'd seen a new Indian Food restaurant on Gilbert and Baseline. Should we drive by and check it out? It's called "Guru Palace, Cuisine of India". Jason pointed out that a. Indian food is good and b. every single person living in India is a good cook, so we figured it's worth a shot.

The verdict? We loved it! The restaurant was clean with just enough of that "far away" ambience a good Indian food place needs; we got to sit (barefoot) on the floor on piles of soft satiney pillows (the majority of the restaurant is at regular tables, but we were up for the floor adventure); we were served by a man in a turban with a big smile and hearty laugh; and most importantly, the food was delicious! Just thinking about it as I write this post makes me want to load up the kids in the car and head down there immediately (it's breakfast time, pre 8:00 a.m.. Think I could rouse them to make me a Morning Sunshine Mango Lassi?)

If you've never had the pleasure of eating Indian food, I implore you to at least try this fine cuisine. 1.129 billion people can't be wrong, right?! (for the novice, first try an appetizer of garlic naan and Samosas with a Chicken Tikka Masala and basmati rice main course and Mago Lassi as dessert). And really, here's the important part: we were the only people in the restaurant. This place needs you and we need it. Let us champion the good businesses of Mesa and support our regular date night! Two birds one stone! Get yourself on down there! You'll be glad you did! And if you sit on the floor, take better pictures than I did:


7 comments:

Nancy said...

that looks fun and very out of townish, too bad Travis doesn't like Indian food, maybe we could trick him.

pam said...

Glad you are having a fun time with Jason and Jill. Was Elaine able to handle all the children at once? Super Grandma!

Shari Goodman said...

Can't wait to try it out! Maybe we will run into you two on date night!

Sidney said...

I don't know if I can afford dinner out and a pedicure, and this place looks like you'd definately need to have a fresh pedi to attend.

Becky said...

Sidney, Ha Ha! You can easily dine with your shoes on if preferred! We went back on Saturday night and tried some new stuff (all yummy!) and there were plenty of people there! Hope they make it :)

Angela said...

You'll have to take me the next time I come to visit. Was it the place by Trader Joes?

Rebecca said...

Becky, Danny always tells me that when he dies, he wants Chicken Tikka Masala served at his post-funeral luncheon. No joke. That is how much he loves Indian food. We get Indian take-out at least once a week--which is why I am struggling to lose an ounce of baby weight.