Tandoori Kitchen

Looking for great kababs and Chicken Biryani on the Eastside? Head to Tandoori Kitchen in Kirkland. Unassuming, authentic and good quality. Try the Reshmi kababs, which are as good as having them in a roadside "dhaba'' in South Asia. Chicken biryani, veggies, and dal - always reliable, if you like your veggies cooked Punjabi style.

Very friendly folks. The last time we went to get a take out, the owner reminisced on old Lahore, and the bygone days of South Asia.

(Didn't care for the lamb curry - full fat lamb .... uh oh.)

Central Cinema

We visited Central Cinema for the first time earlier this month, when we went for the Aaina film festival. We got there around 6:00pm for the 7:00pm show - way too early. Being early birds, however, meant that we got very easy parking on 21st street, only a few yards down from the cinema.

Central has table seating in the front hall, which is like a regular restaurant with friendly wait staff and a full, interesting menu. The cinema hall, which is like a cosy playhouse, has sofa-style booth seating with built-in tables, and they continue to take orders and serve you while you are watching the movie, so no pushing through hordes at the concession stands. The table reminded me somewhat of my grade school, and I almost expected to have my khaki schoolbag at my elbow. Happily, though, I stirred myself back to the lively Aaina crowd, and the food that the Central lady had just placed on our table!

The Bolivian coffee, served in small French presses, was fresh, aromatic, and full-bodied. The creme brulee was nice, but a bit too rich for our taste. We also had a tasty eggplant sandwich with fresh bread, and a side of crisp and strikingly fresh baby spinach leaves dressed in olive oil. They also serve beer and wine.

Central reminds us of our beloved Madstone Theater. We haven't had coffee like Madstone anywhere, and we watched some of the best movies ever at Madstone (except for Gerry - we are still waiting for our money back from Matt Damon, and comp for the 100 minutes we will never get back) . Madstone's demise left us with a hole in our heart, and we are happy to discover Central in the Seattle area, our new home. A look at their recent screenings gives us good reason to want to make repeated visits in the coming weeks.

A very nice place to have good food and drink, and watch eclectic and thoughtprovoking cinema that is hard to find in, say, Bellevue's Lincoln Square?

Cafe Bengodi

The Italian cuisine treasure of Pioneer Square. An unbelievably tiny restaurant, with scrappy tableware and silverware, that dishes out some of the most delectable pasta meals we've ever had. They have a varying menu, I think. We tried the bruschetta with chicken pate - crisp, yummy, and rich. The pesto tortelline in chicken broth was both mellow and luscious at the same time - the broth overwhelming the senses.

Windpocalypse Aftermath: Saturday

The day started with another round of wood-smoked tea, and a breakfast of bread and jam. (The fireplace has doubled as stove and room heater.)

We started calling around friends. Being new in the area, we don't know a lot of people yet. Those we do know were pretty much in the same boat. The news about the power outage and repairs was not too encouraging. PSE service area was hit pretty hard. The outages affecting more people were going get repaired first... which meant we were going to need more wood.

We set out to see what the scene was like and, of course, to find some lunch. The power was still out of work. So, no Internet. Internet withdrawl was adding to the power withdrawl ;-)

We decided to checkout Redmond Town Center. Matt's was open and packed with windstorm refugees. We finally found a seat at the bar. The bartender was extremely busy. Another guy was supposed to join him a while ago. He hadn't been able make it. You saw several staff members without uniform. Look's like the owner's family had come out. The owner was taking orders at the bar. Even on this busy day, when they were barely keeping the place running due to staff shortage, Matt's delivered, both on the food and the service.

We felt a little better equipped for the rest of the day ahead, although still fearful of the inevitable, impending cold night.

Sisters Cafe

This little Mediterranean sandwich shop is one of our regular destinations for a light lunch on a Saturday afternoon at Pike Place. Our favorite is the "Nasruddin", marinated grilled eggplant and hummus sandwich, with an awesome olive paste, on crisp fresh slices of focaccia bread. They have great sides in the form of healthy salads with olive oil dressings. Everything is made fresh. The folks are friendly and the place is quintessentially a local store at Pike Place. The focaccia bread is so good that we often take home a slab with us. Tastes great with our homemade marinara.

Definitely a "go-to" for vegetarians and vegans, but the food is tasty enough to tempt all.

Lo Priore Brothers Pasta Bar

We were wandering aimlessly around Pike Place on one of these delicious, lazy Saturday mornings in late summer. Walking on Post Alley, and looking at the lunch crowd, we realized we were hungry, and walked inside the building. Immediately indoors is this unassuming little place called simply "Pasta Bar".

Never shy, we scanned the plates of the other customers, and everything looked appetizing. We ordered a ravioli and a fettuccine in alfredo and pesto, and joined the hungry summer throngs in tucking away the pasta. The flavors were so earthy and satisfying. We walked away with a lovely, warm sensation inside our tummies. We know we will keep coming back here.