20050918

manila: a bollywood minute.

mango rose pannacotta

i actually had a lovely meal (lamb tikka, gobi aloo) at bollywood bistro, a swankish, newish indian caff in makati. unfortunately, no photos 'cept one of the very nice "mango mafia" dessert: pannacotta with mango, pistachios, and rosewater.

overall food was good--not the best indian i've had, but certainly far from the worst; for some reason it tasted healthier--less oil, and cleaner (probably because it's not that spicy, so the flavours aren't as complex). the decor is tasteful, although a little like a teenage girl's idea of "ethnic", and there's a casual, friendly vibe, efficient service and one of the nicest hosts i've come across anywhere, with indian movies on a flat screen tv and live entertainment at night (geets, gazals & qualies, anyone?).

anyway, i was sort of engrossed in the film playing, which was bombastic (typical), but set mostly in snow (er, atypical). from what i remember it's mainly about an indian guy in the russian army who is fighting in a civil war, and at the same time falling in love with a young russian peasant girl. er, indian country girl. in russia. hip deep in snow. okay, see why i was preoccupied?


bollywood
L3, greenbelt, makati
757.3536/7

6 comments:

I love the bollywood movies alot too..! they are so funny..! they never fail to tickle my funny bone.. :)

hi big bok! i wish they were more available here. luckily they seem to be growing in popularity in the philippines so i can find dvds every once in awhile.

Hi Santos,

That dessert looks sooooo good right now. I can just taste it. Are there any really good Indian restaurants in Guam? The ones here are just OK too. My favorite, India Cafe, used to show Indian movies (well you know those with the dancing and stuff), but for some reason, they haven't shown them the last 6 or 7 times that I've been there. *sigh* ..and I used to go for the "entertainment".

hi reid! there's only one indian restaurant on island, but it's decent. it doesn't knock my socks off, but i'm glad it's here and that it's not terrible :) i'm sure there are a lot more in manila, i just have to find them.

once I went to an Indian restaurant in New York and they had no paneer dishes. I wound up having a curry. Overall, it was very bad.

Oh, dropping through by Asian Vegan's blog.

no paneer! i'm told it's fairly easy to make, but in new york you'd think it would be easy enough to obtain.