Saravanaa Bhavan

I swear it must have been the universe trying to tell me something for at least a week… So, my sister is married to a man of Middle Eastern decent, and his family cooks some of the best Indian food this side of the globe and fortunate enough for me I get to eat it often! I also tend to get many awesome recommendations through the grapevine with all the festivities that go on, and I’m lucky enough to live close to an area of town that has many Middle Eastern shops and restaurants. 

So at random my sister mentions this amazing restaurant that her family goes to often, then in the same week 2 other people mention the same restaurant! My cousin Collette comes into town and the universe himself says, “Go YEE and eat at thine Indian Restaurant”. So we do.  ;-)

I’d say most people (me included) get excited by dishes like Lamb Biriyani, or Prawns with Rice, or some delicious Curry with Chicken, but not at this restaurant… for it-ith be-ith Vegetarian-ith!  And despite that moniker, it did indeed prove to be AMAZING. After going I blabbered all about it to my boyfriend who promptly replied with an unimpressed response. He is definitely a meat and pasta kind of GORILLA, and he actually loves a good Indian dish, but sorry for him with this he will sorely be missing out due to his own prejudice. So maybe I will be able to convince all of you to try it out.

First of all the place was packed with Indian families (always a good sign), second of all it was just simply PACKED, and this place is huge. That’s a lot of eating going on. Must be good right? A man greeted Collette’s sister Michelle with a big smile welcoming her back and started cracking little polite jokes. He showed us to our table and she immediately smiled at us saying that she comes multiple times a week; apparently this is going to be deeeelicious… here’s what we got:

“Gobi Masala” – Spicy Cauliflower / onion + Indian Spices (a recommendation from my sister)

“Palak Paneer” – Cottage cheese cooked with spinach seasoned with Indian herbs

“Chappathi” – a thin soft whole wheat bread served with daily differing sauces to dip in. And,

“Onion Masala Dosa” Thin rice + lentil crepe filled with potato + onions

Thinking we probably weren’t ordering enough food I kept the menu just incase it wasn’t enough for the three of us. The scarf rate was incredible. My first bite was of the Chappathi. It came with two accompaniments. One was what appeared to be eggplant in a brown curry, and the other was a potato and onion mixture, kinda looking like potato salad but not. Both were fantastic- differing versions of tangy and salty. The chappathi was thin but dense and thick to the bite if that makes sense. You’d never know without reading the description; that this thing was “whole wheat” or at least the taste is nothing similar to the “crunchy grainy whole wheat” Americans often experience.

Next they brought the Onion Masala Dosa. This was a GIANT triangle puff. The crepe was basically this monstrously large, super thin crepe that was folded over a couple times into a still huge triangle. In the middle was the potato and onion mix I mentioned before.

It came with three dipping sauces: the green was some sort of peppery veggie salsa, the red was a tomato dip sauce, and the white was what looked like some sort of cottage cheese mix. It was sooooo good. Beside the fact that it was all so pretty, we couldn’t stop ourselves from attempting to clean the plates once we started.

The main courses were the Gobi Masala (cauliflower) and the Palak Paneer (spinach). These came out in small little metal bowls along with rice. We didn’t specify any particular type so it just automatically came with white rice. And I have to say seeing that it all fit on a third plate, I thought for sure that we would need more food after all.

Tucking into those little bowls of stewy goodness was so dramatic that we realized after a little while that no one was talking. They were perfect. The cauliflower was spicy and just steamed enough to make it not too mushy and not too firm. The Spinach was a lot like the dish called “Saag”. My ignorant guess might be that the name either changes by region or because it was made with cream cheese; who knows, and who cares… it’s worth every penny.

Despite my big eyed behavior, by the end I was surprisingly so full that I thought I might have to roll myself out of the booth. But this was the best part. You know when you get so full after a meal that you feel you need to “roll yourself away from the table” but its doubled with that “weighty- sinking at the bottom of your belly” pain, that makes you wish you hadn’t done that… Well the second part of that usual combo wasn’t there! It was truly amazing and EVEN BETTER! was that I didn’t feel in any way shape or form that I had just eaten an entirely vegetarian meal. My sister said it best. She said, “I’d be a vegetarian for sure if I was able to eat every meal there.”

Even the dessert was good.. Already knowing some desserts within the culture through my sister, I was aware of the fact that they tend to be very milky, perfumy, or sweet. So i tried what looked to be safe -- when it came out it was a little cup with 3 little balls of fried dough swimming in what tasted like a sweet honey mixture of some sort. Talk about yum. And to cleanse her pallet, my cousin Collette simply got a milky little tea. Both were slightly perfumy but so different and so good that i'd be sure to have them again next time I go. The moral of this whole story I guess is "Have no fear."

A lot of the time with American vegetarian meals those of us who may be trying to eat “better” feel that we are having to sacrifice, as if we had a plate with steak, potato, and corn and someone at the table just stole the steak right off your plate. With this restaurant there are so many flavors and everything is still so thick, creamy, and satisfying that you are basically fooled! Everyone should at least try it once. Let the good people at Saravanaa Bhavan pull that wool right over your eyes, you’ll be thanking me later.

 

2179 Lawrenceville Highway
Decatur, GA 30033-4303
(404) 636-4400