This street is filled with typical shops you would see on the streets of India. There are plenty of salons that do normal salon things plus eyebrow threading. Shops that sell beautiful Indian clothes, gold, sweets and even little booths that sell chewing tobacco are all over. And of course, the restaurants.
The restaurants are the reason I went to Jersey City this week. Sunday night, my cousin picked me up for dinner and she chose an Indian restaurant there called Rasoi. It was my first time there, but so many people have told me that it's the best Indian food they've had. This particular restaurant was a little fancier than the other ones on the street, but was still fairly priced. I ordered a chicken tikka masala that came with white rice and naan bread. Chicken tikka masala is a chicken curry with a typical tomato paste base. And naan is really similar to pita bread.This curry is really savory and each bite was just filled with juicy goodness. It's definitely one of my favorite Indian dishes and I would recommend it to anyone who was interested in trying Indian food.
The other restaurant I went to, Dosa Hut, had a totally different type of atmosphere. It was more like a fast food type of place and it served only vegetarian food. This is normal among Indians because Hinduism is the most popular religion and they do not eat meat. I ordered a paper dosa with sambar. A paper dosa is like a really thin and crispy pancake but not sweet at all. Kind of like a unsweetened crepe, I guess. The sambar is also like a curry but the broth is thinner so it seems more like a warm soup filled with vegetables. Every bite had me wanting more. And I don't even like vegetables. Paper dosa is also something I would highly recommend to new Indian food eaters.
Newark Avenue in Jersey City is a place my parents go when they need to restock on Indian spices. Actually, they go there for all their Indian needs. Luckily for us, it's not too far. Being there this week was seriously making me too nostalgic. It's filled with Indians and their stores, what more does it need to be like India? It doesn't have the same environment, India doesn't get very cold because it's right next to the equator. But I think Jersey City is a great place to go if buying a ticket across the world isn't in your price range. Or if you just feel like trying different kinds of food!
This was an informative blog. I enjoyed reading it because the way you explained what the different dishes were and what they were made of and comparing them to things that all of us may be familiar with mad the story easy to follow. Also your description of how this place reminds you of India was good. I would have like to know a little more about the Indian spices and other Indian needs your parents stock up on when they visit. Great job. Keep it up.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, this blog made me hungry. I like the way you described the food as well as show us a picture of it after. Even without the picture, I was able to see it. This is a well written blog with a good imagery. As I was reading this, I felt the joy of you writing about this blog. That, or it was my mind playing games with me because it was dealing with food. Keep up the good work and I hope you will find other topics to talk about your blog. Finish strong!
ReplyDeleteBlog suggestions:
-Maybe you can talk about the first time you been to India ( If you weren't born there)
-If there's one place in India, where would it be
-The difference in education in India versus here.
-Things that you can find there that you can't find here.
Hopefully I am of some help. Good luck!
I like how you are able to present a sense of longing in your posts. You show that Jersey City isn't India, but it's the next best thing if you want a taste of your culture. Within this post, I liked how you analyzed the restaurant and food without giving a summary (a lot like a review of a restaurant). You do an excellent job of using images to portray your culture throughout your blog. I know you were looking for suggestions so I think writing a post about cricket could be interesting. It would draw people interested in sports into your blog, while still teaching us about your culture. Great job overall!
ReplyDeleteThis post made me hungry, but I like your descriptions of the food and the scenery - your writing creates a really strong mental image that stands on its own without the use of a picture. In addition, I like how you actually explain your descriptions (especially about the food), so you don't leave the reader lost or confused.
ReplyDeleteIf you were looking for suggestions for future topics, maybe you can discuss a few of your favorite Indian comfort foods, Indian actors, or perhaps some Indian poems/short stories/other kinds of literature. Good luck.
Great job! I thought this post was very informative. I have never tried Indian food before, but you did a really good job with explain the different types of restaurants and meals. Thanks to this post, I will probably consider trying these meals soon. I guess my only criticism would be that your punctuations could have been formatted a little better. Besides that, I think your writing is very strong, and I hope to read more from you. Excellent.
ReplyDeleteYou give a really accurate description of Newark Avenue here, especially when describing the closely packed shops. I also think your description of the foods are pretty accurate. I've always stuck to the same restaurants, but after reading your review I'm going to have to try the food at Rasoi. Awesome job!
ReplyDeleteYour description of everything is great. Since I've spent a good amount of time in jersey city I feel like this post takes me there. It's also good when you name a dish then compare it to another common dish that most people know of. Reading this encourages me to go out and try some of these foods.
ReplyDeleteDELISH! I live by Jersey City and I always past Little India and seeing all these pictures of Indian food makes me want to try it out even though I'm kind of scared of how spicy Indian food can be. The description of the food is on point. Good job and keep it up with this blog.
ReplyDeleteI love the variety in your blog posts. I think you nailed it by posting about food because that is something really important in culture. You go into depth with the details which really strengthens your whole blog as a whole. Each blog post feels like a chapter about India with the variations. I think you did a great job.
ReplyDelete