A few months ago I had a taste of Surati Farsan Mart’s menu. You can read about my first visit here. I’ve been wanting to revisit ever since to check out more dishes. Last week, I finally got a chance again, meeting up with CC of Pink Candles of Ridgemont High. You can read her recap here.
You order at the counter, where they have paper menus with English descriptions of all the items. After we ordered, we grabbed a table and waited for our number to be called. You can view the menu here and here.
I got a little lazy with the picture taking, which I tend to do when I’m eating with other people. I was more interested in chatting so sorry for some of the haphazard pictures.
Mysore Masala Dosa– Triangular crepe made of rice flour and lentils, stuffed with spicy vegetables and served with a vegetable soup. You’re supposed to pour the soup over the crepe, but I sort of just dipped mine.
I liked the texture of the crepes. Thin, crispy outside, a soft fluffy inside. I’m not sure why, but I do prefer the long rolled up crepes like the Masala Dosa I got last time.
Pani Puri– Small fried whole wheat pastry shells stuffed with beans, potatoes, sweet and spicy sauces, served with spicy mint flavored water.
These were surprisingly sweet, almost crossing into dessert territory. But they are also quite spicy. Probably the spiciest item we ordered. I would have liked a little less heat.
Chole Puri– Cooked garbanzo beans mixed with spices served with deep fried whole wheat bread
I was worried the bread would be oily, but it didn’t taste oily at all. I just pretended I didn’t see the “deep fried” in the description while eating it. We scooped some of the garbanzo beans mixture into the wheat bread. This was a much needed break from all the spice.
Khasta Kachori Large spicy whole wheat shells stuffed with beans, potatoes, sweet and spicy sauces, topped with yogurt and crunchy noodles
This was interesting. A mix of savory, sweet, spicy. There was definitely a lot of different things going on.
At the front of the restaurant are also a variety of Indian desserts which are sold by the pound. I’ve been wanting to try the desserts for a while now, so I was happy that CC wanted to try them as well. We really didn’t know what we were ordering so we chose ones we liked the looks of, and also got some recommendations from the man helping us.
Here’s our assortment, which we then divided up and then taste tested everything. Starting at the top:
Water-Melon Barfi Pistachios and cashews rolled to look like watermolon slices with raisins as seeds
Chocolate Badam Barfi Almond Squares layered with chocolate and almond chips
Chocolate Rose Coconut Balls Chocolate covered rolls with a rose flavored coconut filling. Here’s a look on the inside. Bright pink. It reminded me of an Almond Joy bar.
Sugar Free Date Rolls A natural sugar free sweet roll made from dates mixed with pieces of pistachio, almonds and cardimums sprinkled with fine shredded coconut
Rose Kaju Anjir Barfi Rose flavored kaju sweet with a fig, cashew and almond filling. It has silver on the outside, and the sticky fig nut mixture on the inside.
Kaju Badam Roll Small cashew rolls with an almond filling
Barfi Squares made of while milk and sugar
In addition to catching up, we also finally got a chance to exchange some Christmas presents. CC was so thoughtful and gave me quite a few things. She picked up these mini cupcakes for me at Pubcakes, a place I’ve been wanting to try. I loved all the ones she gave me.
She also gave me a coffee crisp bar from Canada. Yummy. Like a coffee flavored kit kat but with more wafers. And she got me this gourmet hazelnut chocolate spread. Tasted like Nutella but with a darker, more bitter chocolate. I love it.
She also got me this turtle plate because she remembers how much I love turtles. I can’t wait to use this, especially when I make turtle cookies.
She also gave me this beautiful white plate which she turned into a cake stand. This will definitely come in handy. You’ll be seeing it displaying some cakes on this blog soon.
I had a lot of fun trying out more dishes here and hanging out with CC and of course getting presents! Until our next eating adventure..
Surati Farsan Mart
9494 Black Mountain Rd.
San Diego, CA 92126
858-549-7280
www.suratifarsan.com
Hey, I’m up for where ever you guys want to go.
I can’t wait until we meet. It still seems so far away
omg, we should all go there instead of sultan!
I was wondering if we should do that. Though none of you have tried Sultan yet either and it’s also yummy. We could do Surati and do Sultan another time. Or do Sultan and then do Surati another time. I’m okay with either option.
Those desserts look really interesting! Fig and cashew filling sounds good!
I liked all the nutty ones and the fig. The only one I wasn’t too crazy about was the milk one.
Hey let me know next time when you guys are lunching nearby! I love the chole samosa here, and with the thali you get a little taste of everything. Haven’t been in a long time.
Sure! I didn’t know you liked this place too. We should all come back!
i’m so irritated that i didn’t bring my camera. bad foodblogger. i had to resort to using my husband’s smartphone to take pix. i have to transfer them. the sweets we got were diff’t. thanks for your gifts! 🙂 i love the measuring cups – they look so cute on my counter.functional and decorative! 🙂
I hate it when there’s pics I want to take and I don’t have my camera. Fh didn’t really love the sweets so I ate them all after he nibbled on them. Now I need more. Oh, looks like Dennis likes this place too. We need to all go together.
hi kirbie
i was just here again yesterday with my husband and daughter. we tried a few other items as well as some of the ones we had.
re: the desserts…i picked out 11 or 12 diff’t sweets and was charged $4, the same as our 7 pieces. i guess we were charged by the 1/4 pound even if the amount didn’t weigh 1/4 lb. so, the lesson is, we should have gotten MORE desserts! ha ha!
glad you liked the gifts! 🙂
I saw your text pic! I was like, Oh wow she went back already! Interesting on the sweets…damn we should have gotten more. =( Thanks again for the gifts. I want to come back for more sweets.