Scott and Dave’s Review
Curry is not a spice, but is an all-purpose term devised by the English to cover the whole range of Indian food spicing. Curries can be made of vegetables, fish, meat, chicken or lamb. Indian cooks utilize a wide variety of spices in different combination and amounts in order to produce a curry flavor.
Sanjiv Dhar, chef and owner of Kabob and Curry, opened Rasoi, his second restaurant in Providence, R.I. in October 2006. In an effort to break what Dhar describes as the “curry taboo,” he and his staff prepare local northern Indian dishes (as well as many from several regions of India) that should even draw cheers from the Hindi community!
Our good friend Sasi joined us for lunch in order to help us navigate the unfamiliar Indian food waters. Sasi is a culinary “fire-eater” when it comes to spicy foods and we were initially apprehensive about his ability to make menu decisions for us that didn’t require a medic! Our concerns were quickly allayed when the food arrived perfectly prepared, spiced and balanced.
Bread Basket (choice of 3 breads – $7.99): We chose the following Naan: Date and Coconut, Garlic and Cilantro, Honey and Ginger. All breads were a hit. They came expertly prepared and hot to the table. The Garlic and Cilantro Naan had just enough browning, not over crispy and with a very generous sprinkling of garlic. The Date and Coconut was a standout partly because we generally don’t like coconut and were surprised how strangely drawn to it we became! You can’t go wrong with any Naan on the menu judging from the comments heard at the table.
Shrimp Moilee: Shrimp cooked in a creamy coconut sauce infused with turmeric and lemon juice ($15.99). One of our favorite dishes. If you love coconut you can’t go wrong with this sauce. I could have been happy just eating the Jasmine rice bathed in this sauce. The shrimp were a respectable in size and tender to the bite. Just the right mix of spice made this dish a standout. It came with a side of lentils (very tender lentils I might add) in a very flavorful sauce.
Chicken Tikka Lababdar: Yogurt, ginger, garlic marinated chicken tenders grilled and cooked in a classic tomato sauce. The all-time New Delhi favorite ($14.99). This chicken dish was another winner. The red sauce along with the ingredients was an excellent compliment to the bite-size chicken tenders. I was impressed with the tenderness of the chicken, expecting them to be a bit chewy but Rasoi did not disappoint. Make sure you have ample Basmati rice to sop up that sauce!
Tandoori Chicken: Skinless whole chicken on bones, marinated in yogurt, ginger, garlic and red chili cooked slowly in a tandoor ($14.99). This dish, a staple of Indian restaurants was very tasty. I can’t look at the picture without salivating. The pieces were moist and the charring was just right – no so much as to take away from the flavor of the spices. The color was beautiful on this dish. What a nice change to have chicken prepared in a Tandoor.
Lamb Curry: Cubed loins cooked with their signature Punjabi curry. Tempered with onion, tomatoes and garam masala ($14.99).
Mutton Masala: Halal choice on bones – Cooked slowly with Lucknowi spice blend of: green cardamom, cloves, peppercorn, and star anise ($17.99).
Fish Curry: Cooked with their signature Punjabi curry. Tempered with onion, tomatoes and garam masala ($14.99). The white fish was tender and moist.
Attention all vegetarians! If you’ve missed the restaurant train on Indian food, there are at least 10 menu entrées for the choosing. If you are currently a vegetarian-wannabe, Rasoi may tip the scales for you.
The best thing about Rasoi is that the food is unpretentious in presentation but complex in preparation. In order to serve full flavored Indian Cuisine, the quality of the ingredients and spices can never be compromised and Rasoi does not fail to deliver. This was a good eating day for the Rhode Crew!
727 East Avenue Pawtucket, RI 02860 | Phone: 401-728-5500
Ceviche! Cerviche! I liked it so intimately I had to write it twice. 
In this case it was beef heart. Now before you fade away into obscurity, try to put this into perspective. The heart is a muscular organ that shares the similar textures and mild taste of all the other muscles. If you think your beloved steak is not a muscle, think again. Also, lets not be hypocritical regarding the foods we are willingly eat. For example, common hot dogs and/or lunch meat ingredients include meat by-products, fat, sodium erythorbate and sodium nitrite. Beef heart ingredient; beef heart. By the way, the Anticucho de Corazon was terrific.
An additional standout appetizer was the homemade Saltenas (Bolivian chicken pie) made from a sweet corn pastry dough and stuffed with chicken, peas, olives and potatoes. Served with spicy pico – jalapenos and garlic relish. This flawlessly prepared baked “pot pie” is exciting enough to make you forget that you just ate beef heart!
As if the appetizer courses were not enough, Cesin brought out a sampling of all four Bolivian soups on the menu: Fricasé – pork and hominy in a spicy broth, Sopa de Mani – peanut soup with beef, Locro – Chicken, rice, plantains and/or potatoes, and Chairo –beef and barley with vegetables. Although the broth in all samples was one-note in flavor, they were all bountiful and had a good taste.
Of course there were entrees; the pieza de resistencia! The Pique a lo macho – steak and chorizo with tomato, onion and pepper in a spicy wine sauce served over thick cut french fries. This hearty dish was quite good. Including sautéed tomato was an excellent way to help cut the heaviness of this dish. The sauce was a bit over-salted, especially in light of using chorizo.
Parillada a Los Andes – ‘grilled’ meats – rib eye, beef short rib, chicken thigh, sausage, served with yucca, cheesy rice and ensalada rusa (potato salad) – diced potatoes, vegetables (peas and carrots), and red onion. This dish was brought out with a side table and a portable burner to keep warm. I’d be willing to bet that this could have fed a family of four! The meats were simply grilled and perfectly spiced.
The Pescado a lo macho (fried tilapia, shrimp, squid, mussels and clams in a beer based broth with tomato and a side of rice) was a clear favorite. The fish was fresh and flawlessly prepared. Regardless of where you dine, the freshness of the fish and the attention paid to properly cooking it should 
Repeat after me “salteñas”!! I know it sounds like a Spanish term for a soup cracker, but it is something special and Los Andes restaurant is the purveyor of these gems. A salteña is a Bolivian version of a chicken pot pie, but with a twist. The dough is a cross between a corn muffin and a pie crust resulting in a sweetness that is a wonderful contrast to the spicy chicken filling. They were the first thing we tried and for $2 it took all my power not to order 6 of them for my meal and nothing else. They only thing that kept me from following through was my desire to try other ethnic dishes and the fact that we ordered a tremendous amount of food.
This soup contains slow cooked pork butt in a spicy broth with hominy. It was delicious. I was not in a seafood mood initially, but the Ceviche’ Martini quickly changed my thought process. An exotic combination of seafood, citrus and cilantro, this refreshing appetizer and traditional South American staple was well represented here. Following my sudden change of heart and newfound seafood craving, the entrée that I enjoyed the most was a dish called “Pescado a lo macho”. This was a potpourri of seafood including fried tilapia, squid, mussels, and clam in a spiced beer and tomato broth was outstanding. All I can say is don’t be intimidated by the location. Broaden your horizons and palate by venturing out to Los Andes.
Fork in the Rhode 