India Palace

The amount of rain in the past month has put a damper on outdoor workouts and riding my bike around the island. So with all of the wet weather and gray skies, I have decided to have indoor workouts and eat instead. If you don't know what type of food you want, it makes it difficult choosing a restaurant in Alameda. One night I was too lazy to make dinner and could not pinpoint my hunger. I wasn't in the mood for Chinese or hamburgers, and ended up going to India Palace.

What is great about Indian food is the versatility. There are curries, meats, and vegetarian dishes. I ordered a small smorgasbord of food with the poppadom, naan, vegetable pakora, saffron rice, chicken vindaloo and lamb curry. At the end, there was a lot more food than what I expected. There was enough food to feed four. The pakora is always yummy because it is fried food. Poppadom can be a miss at times if there is too much oil, but the poppadom that night was crisp and delicious. The chicken vindaloo had a great sauce, with some heat to it, but the chicken was overcooked. It seemed the vindaloo was made ahead of time in a giant pot and scooped out when ordered. The lamb curry also had a great sauce. The meat was prepared well and the dish was cooked with potatoes. Saffron rice is always a wonderful side dish. I enjoy tasting saffron, such a great and unique spice.

So the next time you are asking yourself what food you are in the mood for, Indian food makes sense.