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Thursday, September 30, 2010

Worth Smelling Like Curry For Two Days - Cumin

Since my other world travelling BFF is back for only short periods of time, I make sure I get some quality time penciled in.  This time we chose to try out Cumin in Bucktown/Wicker Park.  It’s a modern Nepalese/Indian restaurant that I heard about through Daily Candy.  We were a little overwhelmed with the curry smell upon entering, but despite still smelling like curry the next day, we loved everything about it.  It was bustling at 7:30 on a Thursday night, but we made a reservation and had no problems with seating. 

The menu was a bit lengthy and overwhelming, but our waiter gave us plenty of recommendations to work with.  Before our food came out, we got a basket of crispy things to start, accompanied by three dipping sauces.  No idea what any of it was, but it was good (equivalent to chips and salsa at a Mexican restaurant).  We tried some Indian beer, Chakra, which was good.  I’m not a beer connoisseur by any means, so can’t really go into depth about what it was like.  We wanted to try some goat meat but were a little skeptical.  We decided to go for it anyways and started with Goat Chhoela (diced boneless goat meat marinated in nepalese spices and herbs cooked in tandoor served with cumin signature beaten rice [chewra]).  Next we had vegetable samosas followed by chicken tikka masala (spice-marinated diced boneless white meat chicken cooked to perfection in tandoor simmered in rich creamy tomato sauce, a quintessential Indian classic) and lamb vindaalu (lamb and potato cubes cooked in indian spices and hot-tangy curry sauce, a delightfully sizzling fare) and naan.  The chicken dish was a little bland but the lamb vindaalu was so tasty that we ordered another even though we were so stuffed! 

Love a night out with good company (thanks to my understanding husband that lets me leave him and baby to catch up with friends), good food and a warm and cozy ambience. J

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