Ever have Sambar, Rasam, Upma Pulav, or Dum Aloo before?

You really get the feeling you visited India when you dine at Chennai Chettinaad Palace in Phoenix Arizona. Indian Television is playing on the large screen TVs above the bar. Unfamiliar but fragrant spices fill the air. The restaurant was packed with people and everyone except us were of Indian decent.

We were seated and I sort of expected someone to greet us at the table but after a while the person that sat us just said “it’s a buffet you help yourself.” As I approached the buffet I noticed a grade “A” Maricopa health inspection and that one side of the buffet was strictly vegetarian and five meats dishes were on the other side. Three dishes were chicken, one dish was fish and the last meat dish was goat.

The Buffet started with appetizer savory mini donuts and a few vegetable soups one of the soups was called rasam and is a tamarind based vegetable soup that was more flavorful than the sambar vegetable soup.

Some of the vegetable dishes had more heat to them than the meat dishes but it was a gentle heat that didn’t build.

Some of the vegetarian dishes were-

Upma- A porridge with vegetables

Pulav- Spicy long grain fluffy rice with vegetables

Dum Aloo- Baby potatoes curry

Channa Palgk- Spinach with Chickpeas

Baby Corn with Chilies

Dhal Tadka-Lentils

Mutteer Panger-Peas and Cheese

Most of what I tried was delicious. Very flavorful food. Only two things I didn’t care for that I tried was the Dahi Vada and the Upma due to that I wasn’t brought up eating them. People that are new to Indian Food might have a hard time with lentil dumplings in yogurt and vegetable porridge.

I tried small amounts of the chicken curry, chicken tikka masala, chicken bryani and the fish curry. I found them all to be fresh and well prepared for a buffet meaning not dried out.  The meat dishes were all delicious I think anybody would like them. They had interesting flavorful spices to them. They all differed but all were interesting. Nothing was too salty or oily.

Desserts looked very foreign to me.

Small fragrant soaked fritters were in one pan called Gulab Jamun. I skipped over the second pan and did try some of the carrot halwa that’s basically carrot pudding seasoned with cardamon and cashews.

It felt like a trip to India but with much better traffic and my trip only cost $13.99.

Forking Truth

Once you pass threw the entrance of the Boulders you take a fairy long but scenic tour.

You should plan your forking visit during daylight hours to view the beauty of this resort.

They even have a gorgeous duck pond.

Many quail live here too.

We were coming up on the big boulder, the really GIANT Big Forking Boulder.

I couldn’t photo the water feature but water was flowing down the crack. (looks a little like a forking butt doesn’t it? but it’s a pretty butt)

The most beautiful resort I’ve seen in the Metro Phoenix area.

Several Restaurants can be found at the Boulders. We decided to pop into The Grill at the Boulders. They do have a lovely dining room that overlooks the golf course but only one waitress was on and we didn’t want to make her forking run from the bar to the other end of the building so we sat in the bar area that has a view of the forking golf shop.

I saw New York Pastrami on the menu so I had to ask if it really was New York Pastrami or just New York Style. I was told New York Style and ordered it because it was house made.  After a little while I received it.

I liked that the meat wasn’t too fatty and also not too lean. It was very unique in flavor with an unusual spice in it that I think might have been cloves. The meat was delicious, flavorful, and moist. The sandwich was layered with a very small amount of fresh crispy but average coleslaw and was held together with some sort of grained pumpernickel bread. The fries were hot, fresh and lightly salted but slightly disappointing because they seemed like fast food kind of fries. I also thought house made pickle might come with this sandwich because it cost around $15.00.

My husband tried the BBQ Brisket grilled Cheese.

Both sandwiches came with an enormous amount of fries. The brisket inside was very moist and flavorful. The bread was grilled nicely and quality cheddar cheese was used but for some reason this sandwich seemed more like a brisket sandwich with cheese other than the grilled cheese with brisket that we thought it would be. Also priced at around $15.00.

We found the service to be friendly and efficient.

The Grill at the Boulders and the Palo Verde Restaurant at the Boulders in beautiful Cave Creek AZ both participate in the Scottsdale preferred savings card and if you have one you can get one meal for free.

Eat at the Boulders for some of the most Beautiful Views in the Metro Phoenix Area.

Forking Truth