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five responses

  1. Kristijoy writes:

    hehe cute imperialism, that so, non sequitr. anyways I back J9 up on this one, ooh yeah, Chaat house all the way! ( and naan burritos are the best thing at the monterey market yup yup yup)

    10 December @ 2am
  2. David Rochester writes:

    Mmmmmmm. Thanks for the recommend . . . I've been a Bombay CC diner for years (and also a Cinemagic patron; I think it's related) but I'm always up for a change. The sort of Post-Raj mentality at Bombay CC always amuses me, I must admit. Plus, their naan is pretty good, especially when they burn it a little.

    Speaking of non sequiturs -- have you been to Nostrana yet? If you go, don't go for dinner. Lunch there can be a religious experience, but I don't know what the hell-all happens after 5 PM.

    11 December @ 1am
  3. Kari writes:

    I need to move to Portland.

    11 December @ 5pm
  4. J9 writes:

    Yeah, Baby, you do. & hurry. When you get here, I'll take you crazy kids out to lunch at this Italian place I just heard about.

    11 December @ 5pm
  5. David Rochester writes:

    Hey, where'd your name-dropping post about Carlyle get to? I was going to mention that they used to have a farooking fantastic happy hour from 4-6, when all the expensive stuff on the dinner menu is like half price. Maybe they came to their senses about that, because it was a ridiculously good deal. I bet they stil have the genius bartender, though . . . I had a watermelon mint martini there that I still remember with awe.

    15 December @ 6am

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  • 10
  • December
  • 2006

The Chaat House

A Disclaimer:
I don't know much about Indian food. I don't know, for example, what it's supposed to taste like. I am not from the subcontinent, nor have I ever visited. I knew an authentic Indian person once - a neighbor - who let me watch her baby while she napped and made me Lipton tea with cardamom and cream in it. But that's really it. Aside from being an enthusiastic consumer with a fairly well-tuned palate in general, I really have no authority to say what's good vindaloo and what is just a tawdry imitation.

My introduction to Indian food happened in Cali, at the weekly farmer's market in my hometown - India's Clay Oven has a booth there every week. Across the top is a banner that reads: When is a burrito not a burrito? When it's a Naan burrito! I made fun of this for years.
And then I had one - curried veggies, chicken, or lamb laid over basmati rice and wrapped in naan fresh from a tandoori oven they rolled down onto the street - and it was so, so wonderful. And portable. I still make fun of the sign, but no trip home is complete until I've had a naan burrito and a stroll down the wharf.

I've since cultivated a love for extra spicy lamb vindaloo, vegetable pakoras, and all manner of lentils. No two restaurants make any dish the same way, which is irksome - and attributable, I assume, to regional differences. Here in P-town, I have found a handful of very pleasing Indian restaurants. Swagat is really great. India House is passable, but rice there is a la carte, which always rubs me the wrong way. The Bombay Cricket Club on SE Hawthorne adds that cute little edge of imperialism to the meal. There are numerous sidewalk purveyors of Indian-on-the-go as well - Taste of India, The Real Taste of India and the New Taste of India come immediately to mind. The real gem of the bunch, however, is theIndia Chaat House. It's a van permantently parked on the corner of SW 12th and Yamhill, across the street from Portland Clinic parking structure. It is not the most gracious dining to be had, but they've gone to the trouble to erecting a plywood enclosure around a couple of picnic tables and anyway, you're not going there to take in the atmosphere. What you'll be going there for - and you are going - is the super-yummy, shockingly inexpensive Indian food prepared just for you by real, live, super-friendly Indian people.

Here's where I start to gush:

- Everything that comes out the Chaat House is vegetarian and they'll vegan-ize just about anything if you ask.
- It's inexpensive. A big ol'clamshell of curry and rice ($5-$6) gets me three meals.
- It's nutritious* and delicious.
- In addition to their menu of 20+ curries and such, they have a chaat (snack) menu if you only want a taste.
- The mango lassi is worth the dairybelly if milk's not so kind to your insides.
- They offer a "big, big, lunch special" from 11am - 4pm that consists of three curries (their choice and selections change every day), rice and naan for a measly $5.

To sum up: Try it; you'll like it. And if you don't, I'll finish your leftovers.


*I can't back that up.