Kirbie's Cravings

Madras Cafe

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Madras Cafe
9484 Black Mountain Rd
San Diego, CA 92126
(858) 695-6229

After I visited Ashoka the Great, a few people recommended that I try out Madras Cafe, which features Southern Indian vegetarian food, and is in the same plaza as Ashoka.  As a result, Madras Cafe has been on my list of places to try for quite a while.  You can read a great post on Madras from Kirk at mmm-yoso.  Getting Boyfriend to go try it with me was a bit tricky.  Boyfriend is very big on meat and is not a fan of vegetables. 

I waited for a day he was in a pretty good mood and was distracted to casually announce that I wanted to try out Madras Cafe, a vegetarian Indian place that had gotten good recommendations from quite a few people.  I don't know if he was actually listening, but he didn't protest.  So off we went to Madras Cafe.

We opted to try the buffet so we could sample a bunch of different dishes.  The buffet has these metal trays and little individual bowls you can put in your trays, so that the dishes don't mix.

I don't know the name of many of the dishes, so I'll just show pictures.  (I forgot my camera unfortunately so I had to rely on my camera phone)

A lot of the dishes were spicy, which I liked.  I particularly liked the rice and the potato dishes. There was also a good eggplant curry.

Shortly after we were seated, we were given fresh hot dosas.  Dosas are
like a crepe.  The inside was filled with a potato curry.  I liked the
dosa.  It was crispy on the outside and I liked the curry filling.

We
also got hot Idlis, a type of rice cake. I didn't really like this.

There were two desserts.  One was this orange colored dish.  The waiter said it was cream of wheat.  I didn't really like the texture of it.  There was also this tapioca pudding with coconut flakes.  I enjoyed this one more.

All in all, I thought it was a pretty good vegetarian place.  But I did leave kind of missing meat.  Also, I thought it was slightly pricey for a vegetarian buffet.  I believe it was around $9 a person.

Madras Cafe on Urbanspoon

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    7 comments on โ€œMadras Cafeโ€

    1. You should try Surti Farsan, its in the same complex as this place on Black Mountain Road. It was the best Indian restaurant (in my opinion) in San Diego when I lived there!

    2. 9 dollars bloody cheapโ€ฆbut I know you are working shitloads over there โ€“ for crap money โ€“ be happy to have Obama for health insuriance and all.
      donโ€™t know wotz up w yer country. GUNS and POOR vs RICH.
      And all this from a potato curry โ€“ sorry.
      Great Dane

    3. Now I need to find a Southern Indian friendโ€ฆI like cardamom too!

    4. Itโ€™s nice that it changes a lot, so you can keep going back and not get sick of it.

    5. I have come to understand that the best way to go here is to hook up with a Southern Indian friend and have him/her order stuff from the kitchen.
      Though, when I went, I enjoyed the buffet I donโ€™t think it is the best representation of what this restaurant can offer.
      There are a number of biryani-like rice dishes and special curries that they make if you know what to ask for, apparently. According to some other blogs and things Iโ€™ve read, when ordered this way, this place makes a very authentic representation of Southern Indian Cuisine.
      Its too bad that the wheat pudding they make looks dried out in your photo. I had it a bit fresher and its very tastyโ€ฆbut I am partial to Cardamom which is the primary spice used in its preparation.

    6. Hey Kirbie โ€“ The offerings change so often, that Iโ€™m not even sure what Iโ€™m eating there half the time as well!