Pondicheri Cafe

Namaste!  

My husband and I love, Love, LOVE Indian food. So for Saint Patricks Day, what could be more fitting than Indian, right?  Okay, maybe not, but knowing that we were having curried potato leek soup for dinner, we thought Pondicheri would be a great start to the day.  

This industrial-chic cafe in Upper Kirby certainly makes for a great place to sit down with a cup of chai and a book.  To start, I tried a cup of masala chai, because when in Rome. . .  My husband got a cup of fusion drip coffee.  

Before we go any further, have I mentioned how much we love Indian food?  And to me, the best part of Indian food is paneer.  I have yet to try a paneer dish I don't like.  So naturally, I tried the paneer paratha.  Paratha is a type of flat bread, which can be plain or stuffed.  

It seems just about any ethnic food worth eating
has some form of flatbread. Pita, naan, tortilla, paratha, etc.

This one was stuffed with glorious, cheesy goodness known as paneer.  Paneer is an unaged cheese that, in itself, is rather tasteless.  However, it soaks up the delicious spices often used in Indian cooking.  It doesn't melt, so often times it is served cubed in a gravy.  

Here it was chopped up and stuffed into the paratha with raisins, cashews, and spices.  It was served with a cilantro chutney.  I found the dish spicy -- I am a wimp when it comes to spice level -- but the sweetness of the raisins and the paneer helped to balance it.  The chutney was okay, not great. I thought their "catsup" was better; however, a raita would have been better.  

Cheese! Glorious cheese!

My husband decided to try the hopper.  As described, it is "a Sri Lankan inspired, crisp coconut, chia seed and rice shell filled with masala eggs, kerala sauce, and peanut coconut salad."  

Masala simply means a spice mixture, from the Urdu word meaning "ingredients."  Each region has its own blend.  Masala eggs are a common dish in India.  This particular version was scrambled with the spices.  Andrew's take, "Delicious!  But not particularly hearty.  It had a nice nutty but still very spicy balance of flavors. A well conceived dish, and well executed.  I could have eaten two of them!" 

Over all thoughts: It was good and definitely worth a second take.  There were things we liked and things we thought could have been better.  Since we order at the counter, service was good for that kind of cafe.  The ambiance was nice.  The store upstairs makes the trip totally worth it!  

The Bake Shop and Spice Lab offer an array of pastries, teas, and of course, spices.   Many of the spices are not commonly found in US groceries.    Before we left, we bought got a pantry full of spices and more chai for the road. 

Food:  

Katherine's: B  (Compared to other Indian restaurants perhaps more like a B- or a C) 

Andrew: A- (Really good, but not sure if it is really my style for breakfast. ) 

Coffee / Tea:  

Katherine's:  A- (good tea, would definitely come back for it)

Andrew: B (coffee was good but not great)

Service: Order at the counter and delivered to your table. 

Ambiance:   

Katherine's:  B+  (I liked the industrial chic, but not the coziest place for breakfast.)

Andrew: B- (Too dark, too quiet, kind of soulless. I would have liked a brighter place.)

Good Mooooooooorning Houston!

Breakfast is by far my favorite meal of the day.  Mostly because I can drink my favorite drink without anyone looking at me sideways if I indulge in two. . . or three. . . or four.  I talking about coffee people!  

A few months ago my husband and I decided to set one day a week aside for "just us" time.  As busy parents of three young children, this becomes a time we cherish.  However, we also love our family time and didn't want to take away from what little time we already have when everyone is home from work and school (we also didn't want to hassle of finding and paying for a babysitter), so we picked Thursday mornings.  And since then, we have made it our mission to try a new breakfast spot each week.  

We make no pretense to be "foodies", we are just two parents who try to have a little fun and enjoy new foods.   We have made an effort to try popular places and some many haven't even heard of.  Some new hot spots and some old favorites.  We graded them on several categories: 

Food
Coffee (the most important category)
Service
Ambiance 

Anyway, if you have any recommendations, please let us know!  We are always up for something new!  

Love, 

Katerina and Andrew