Taj Palace

So after passing this Indian restaurant numerous of times and having the scent of curry go up our noses every time, we finally got around to going! So let's get to the food...
(side note: the pictures didn't come out so great due to the very dim lighting in the restaurant)

DISH Garlic Naan; leavened bread lightly sprinkled with fresh garlic - $2.95

DANKNESS FACTOR 8/10

COMMENTS

     So cheap and such a good appetizer. Tasted like garlic bread but much better because of the different type of bread they used. It was seasoned perfectly, it was nice and warm, and its spices were just great. I loved the texture; it was light and thin but packed with so much flavor. It was like lightly oiled, garlic-ed up, spiced up pita bread. 

     They had a really nice doughy texture that added to the nice oily garlicness of the bread. It came with 4 pieces so we had 2 pieces each and didn't have to fuss over the last piece like usual. I thought it was a good appetizer.

DISH Lamb curry; lamb cooked in a mildly spiced gravy - $9.95

DANKNESS FACTOR 7.5/10
COMMENTS
     The curry was delicious, as expected. We had a hard time choosing between the chicken and lamb curry, but I personally wanted to try to lamb because I don't have it often and it's different. The curry was tasty, with many spices infused in it; it wasn't so spicy which I liked. I wasn't the biggest fan of the slight cilantro taste, but it was very minimal so it didn't bother me much. The lamb was very tender and cooked pretty much to perfection; I wished they added more pieces of lamb though.
     The lamb was nice and tender, but the curry wasn't very spicy at all and was more sweet than anything. I wasn't really sure how to eat it because it is very soup like and they gave us plates to eat it. I haven't had lamb in a really long time so that was a nice change. A little skimpy on the portion, but it was a good.

 

DISH Chicken Biriyani; basmatic rice cooked with chicken - $10.95

DANKNESS FACTOR 8/10

COMMENTS

     I really appreciated the portion that they gave us. We ended up dominating it all, but still wished for more. The rice had a mild curry taste to it, and it was just packed with flavor. The chicken pieces tasted and felt like they were slow cooked for hours; it was cooked so tenderly and each bite was just a burst of curry, Indian flavor. 

     This dish is right up my alley; rice and chicken. The chicken was cooked perfectly and was probably cooked for several hours to get the juicyness of it. Very easy to eat and I wish I was able to eat this plate to myself, but I guess i'll just do that next time. 

 

DISH rice pudding - $no idea

DANKNESS FACTOR 5.5/10

COMMENTS

     So we asked our server what their desserts were, and she replied in a very quiet, hard to understand voice with rice pudding and cheeseballs. We decided to keep it safe and go with rice pudding, though I kind of wished we tried the cheeseballs now. The rice pudding, which I thought would be like tapioca, had a subtle taste to it. Actually, it really had very minimal taste at all. I mean, it was sweet and sugary and all, but just didn't have a strong pudding taste which I was looking for. 

     I asked the lady what desserts they had, and when she was naming them off, I couldn't really understand her because of her accent, but I was able to pick up rice pudding so I ordered it. It was more of a traditional rice pudding I guess because it wasn't very sweet and had a strange underlying flavor that I couldn't put my finger on. But overall I think I would have preferred to end my meal without this. It left a bad taste in my mouth and kind of upset my stomach. Would not order again. 

     So our waitress comes back with our check and brought this with it, to which Brian asked, "What's this?!" She told us, once again in a very soft tone, that it was candy; it must be some sort of Indian candy. Brian went to try it, but I wasn't really feeling it. He said it was hard and crunchy and that it was just basically sugar. Ehh, not for me.
     So this came with the check after we started to eat the rice pudding. So I asked the lady what it was and she mumbled something and all i could pick up was candy. By no means was this candy. It felt like I was going to chip a tooth and it left a gross taste in your mouth afterward...so I didn't eat too many. If you know what this is, please let us know. A very odd way to end a meal.

As you can imagine, if we smelled the curry from outside the restaurant, then it must have been extremely potent inside. So when we walked out of the restaurant, we reaked of curry, which I guess is slightly good and bad.

Taj Palace
795 E Foothill Blvd.
San Luis Obispo, CA 93410
6.5/10

Goddamn Sushi

So part two of our fabulous Valentine's weekend brought us to Yanagi Sushi, the best sushi in town and our favorite place to eat; we have gone here at least 7 times. Sadly it's pricey, but honestly worth the money because you will leave the place 100% satisfied. Everytime we go, we have our usual Golden California Roll but we decided to switch things up this time around:

DISH Hungry Roll (fried spicy tuna roll with salmon served with mayonnaise and eel sauce) - $8.75

DANKNESS FACTOR 9/10

COMMENTS

     Perfect amount of spiciness, and it's fried and crunchy so of course it's going to be delicious. Plus, this was the first roll we were served, and the first bite into any roll is the best.

     One of my favorite rolls by far. I love the spicy tuna and the friedness of the roll; it gives it a good crunch. I love this roll, definitely a winner.

DISH Tiger Eyes Roll (baked squid and salmon with avocado, gobo, and crabmeat served with eel sauce) - $11.50

DANKNESS FACTOR 6/10
COMMENTS
     The roll was much smaller than we expected, but still tasty. It kind of had two or three simple flavors rather than the 50 different flavors the rolls we usually like have, but we wanted to try out the squid which turned out to be pretty good. It was definitely unique and unlike anything I've seen before. Not really worth the price though.
     Not the best roll; it was very chewy and I like my squid to be tender. It was also the most expensive roll we bought and my least favorite one. The picture on the menu was also deceiving. Will not be ordering again. 

 

DISH Baked Dynamite Roll (California roll with scallops, mushrooms, and onions on top, baked with house mayo and gobo) - $9.75

DANKNESS FACTOR 11/10

COMMENTS

     Hands down our favorite roll in this restaurant. There are 100 different flavors, the scallops are tasty, the mushrooms and sauce are absolutely delicious, it has a nice crunch to it, and it's just perfection. It has replaced our old time favorite Golden California Roll.

     ONE OF THE BEST THINGS IVE EVER EATEN!!! God definitely had a role in the making of this roll. 

DISH Tofu Cheesecake (it wasn't on their menu but they had a little ad for it on the table, and it looked good and sounded different so why not.
DANKNESS FACTOR 7.5/10
COMMENTS
     We thought it'd be really light and thin considering it was tofu based, but it turned out to be pretty thick and dense. It was served cold, and it had a unique texture different from most cheesecakes. SO GOOD.
We didn't try the free dessert technique because 1) they blast bass bumping, fist pumping music for your birthday and clap and sing for you and 2) we had just celebrated and had that done for my birthday about a week ago.
     I was hoping for a really light, airy cheesecake when we ordered it, but it was kind of a let down. Don't get me wrong, I love my sweets, but it wasn't worth it in my opinion.

Yanagi Sushi
1203 Marsh Street
San Luis Obispo, CA
8/10

We need to start learning about food presentation because our dishes look sad next to these restaurant dishes. All in time.

Creekside Dining

Occasionally we'll go out and eat, so on these days we'll be posting up reviews and pictures of what we ordered. And since this week is Valentine's Weekend, we started off with lunch at Creekside Brewing Company in San Luis Obispo, CA. Great restaurant, average prices. We went here for the first time a week before and our experience was so good that we went back twice.

 

DISH Mojo Tomatoes with Crostini Bread (sweet tomatoes tossed with citrus olive oil, basil, and fresh mozzarella, served with crostini bread) - $7

DANKNESS FACTOR 10/10

COMMENTS

     It's the perfect appetizer, such a fresh and light way to start lunch. we ordered this the first time we went and it was just too good not to have it again. Except we were bummed that the bread was partially burnt and a little too soaked in oil this time around...what can you do. But seriously, orgasm in my mouth.

     Just a phenomenal appetizer, nice and oily. The bread is toasted to perfection, the tomatoes are really sweet. Really nothing to complain about except I wish I had some right now.

DISH California Bird (grilled chicken breast, melted swiss cheese, and smoked bacon on grilled sourdough; with a side of their house salad topped with red peppers and croutons) - $8

DANKNESS FACTOR 6.5/10
COMMENTS
     Last time, Creekside made the most perfectly tender and juicy chicken I've ever had, you literally can bite right down into it. This time was a little different though.
     Meh, these were whatever. The last time we came here the chicken was really tender, but this chicken was a little charred and it hurt the texture of the dish. Probably wouldn't order this again. It would probably be a difference story if they cooked the chicken the same as before.

DISH Chicken Quesadilla - $9 (lunch special of the day) with a side of salsa and mayo based dip; along with chicken tortilla soup, their soup of the day.

DANKNESS FACTOR 7/10

COMMENTS

     The quesadillas were really good, but nothing special. It was kind of hard to eat because they kept falling apart.
     It was a good quesadilla, but I expect a little bit more cheese in my "quesa"dilla. It didn't really make an imprint on me, and the soup was also mediocre. 

 

DISH New York Cheesecake served with caramelized pears - $free

     Here's what you do to get free dessert: Wait till the waiter gives you your check and then have your significant other say "Would we be able to get a little dessert for the birthday girl?" and then you smile innocently at him or her and the waiter will be stoked and give you free cheesecake. Worked for us twice, but the first time was actually on my birthday.
DANKNESS FACTOR 10/10
COMMENTS
     The cold, dense cheesecake paired with warm caramelized pears was godly.
     Just great... enough said, and it was free.


Creekside Brewing Company
1040 Broad Street
San Luis Obispo, CA
7/10