Legend of India

The moment I broke the news that I'm out of house arrest, Carlos told me that he's going to bring me to his food club dinner at Legend of India. I just said "Ok" but really, I was quite nervous. I didn't know most of the foodies there, and I was the youngest!

When we got there, it was like.. a family reunion! The only thing that was missing was Chinese food. Richard, Irene, Chris, Jane, Rowena, and Peter greeted us when Carlos and I arrived. He introduced me to everyone, and we started picking out seats.

After a few minutes, Fran, Paul, and Candice arrived and the club was complete. Food started coming in and everyone got down to business- chitchats and photographs.

I was pretty much excited to try Indian cuisine since it's something that I don't encounter on a daily basis. First plate on our table was the Pani Puri. Its small flaky buns in mint water. Inside the small crispy buns are corn kernels and monggo sprouts. Akun, the owner of Legend of India, showed us how to eat Pani Puri- dunk it in the mint water! Irene and Peter got fascinated when the Pani Puri was brimming with mint water. I got amazed too! We were chowing it a pa-demure and wrong way!

The second dish that came was the Chicken Kathi Roll. Basically, it's chicken sauteed with onions and Indian spices, rolled in romali roti. This is my personal fave! The romali roti had the same texture as that of a soft tortilla. It gave this burrito feel to the mouth, but with a distinct Indian taste. This dish didn't last on the table! Everyone started grabbing their share after taking photos of this delish item.

We also got the chance to try Amritsar Fish- grilled boneless fish marinated in a special mix of Indian herbs and spices. This one tasted quite ordinary, more like normal grilled Cobbler fish that we cook at home.

Akun served three stew-type dishes to us: Paneer Kadai (left), Chicken Vindaloo (right), and Rogan Josh (not in photo). Paneer Kadai is cottage cheese cooked in kadai masala. It was tasty, and hard a right mix of hinted sour cheese with spicy sauce. Not a familiar taste to me, but still interesting. The Chicken Vindaloo and Rogan Josh had the same thing going on. Difference was that the Chicken Vindaloo, well, had chicken in it and the Rogan Josh had mutton (lamb). I enjoyed both dishes for its soft meat perfectly smothered with spices and hot spicy gravy.

Oh this one is my favorite! Their Vegetable Biryani is ultimate! It was waaaay better than Paella and Fried Rice! I'm a big fan of spices and vegetable, and this dish did deliver a good combination of the two. I helped myself with generous servings of this rice pilaf (of sorts). Really awesome!

This is Masala Papad. Too bad I wasn't able to try this, but Peter said it was good.

To cap off our meal, we had Kulfi. It's the ice cream of Indian cuisine. Now this dish needs some getting used to before you can really say that's it's worth the chew. At first bite, it would taste weird. No, odd! It had this wood-shaving impression in my mouth (I'm not kidding)! Richard only took two tries but failed to finish the whole dessert. Chris finished his though, saying that it was good. Well, it is. You only have to finish chewing it before you can appreciate its taste.

The food was absolutely great! The great company also added to what I dub a great night. To the food club: Thanks for having me! Hope to have more adventures like this with you! Adopt me as a member, please! :)

Legend of India

located at 114B Jupiter St., Bel-Air 2, Makati City

contact the restaurant at 836-4232