The Delicacy of India
I’m Currently in Malaysia
Bienvenidos, everyone. Before I get started with this weekend’s blog, I should tell you that this blog will be shorter than all my previous postings. The reason for the brevity is because I am currently in Malaysia and just arrived yesterday afternoon. I am super excited as I have already started recording videos to post on my YouTube channel. As previously mentioned, I will be using my experiences on this trip to start vlogging. Nevertheless, please be patient with me as I am new to vlogging and video editing. It will take me a bit of time to get my videos up and running on YouTube. I am also sure that my video editing skills will not be up to par, but please understand that it is a work in progress. I am blogging this weekend to be consistent in my content. I am hoping you all will support my new YouTube page by subscribing and spreading the news. Well, this weekend’s bog is about an eatery back in Saudi Arabia.
A Diamond in a Rough
While I blogged about a fantastic Indian bistro, Zafran, approximately a month ago, you should remember that Indian cuisine has a significant presence in the Middle East. This restaurant was recommended, to my wife, by a friend. The name of it is Almas Family Indian Restaurant. The term Almas is Arabic, which means Diamond. Now, this restaurant is not situated in a location that you would think would have a restaurant. It is located behind a major street on Umar Ibn Abdul Aziz Road, near the Care National Hospital. It is quite a big eatery with the family section on the second floor of the restaurant. This is not a fancy restaurant, by any means. At the same time, it is no hole in the wall. It is midway between an impressive looking establishment and a deprived, underprivileged venue. In terms of interior décor, it does not compare to other extravagant Indian eateries. However, this does not take away from the flavor of its food.
A Customary Dish
From the above pic, you can tell that the restaurant is, reasonably, decent in terms of atmosphere. While my wife and I arrived late, we were still able to order the Thali Indian customary dish. For those of you who may not know, Thai is the Indian name for a round platter used to serve food. It is also used to refer to an Indian meal made up of a selection of various dishes, which are served on this round platter. While most of the recipes contained in the Thali are vegan-friendly, there are usually one or two that are not. That is because this dish is mainly served to vegetarians. At any rate, whenever I order it, I usually asked them to replace the one or two non-vegan-friendly dishes with ones that are acceptable. This time around, I did exactly that even though I was too hungry and just wanted to place my order before there was no more food to go around. They were more than willing to accommodate my request.
The Food was Good, But the Price was Even Better
One of the best things about Almas was the quantity of food. Just look at the pic below, and you’ll understand what I mean precisely. The contents of the meal were spiced lentil preparation, vegetable curry, lentil stew with a thin consistency, spicy mango pickle, chutney, rice, and whole wheat chapatti. Chutney is a spicy condiment usually made from fruits or vegetables with vinegar, spices, and sometimes a bit of sugar. Now, the portion of rice was so enormous that we couldn’t finish it. Don’t despair, we asked them to wrap it up and make it to go. While the meal itself was not the best tasting Indian cuisine I have eaten in my life, it was by no means the worse tasting either. On a scale of 1-5, I would give it a 3.5. Finally, and probably the best part of this meal was the price. We ordered two Thalis and two bottles of water, and it was only twenty-seven riyals, which is equivalent to just under 8 U.S.D.
My apologies for the reflection of purple light on this pic.
Remember, eat to live a stronger, healthier life and never, ever live simply just to eat. Adios!