The London Grill

This past weekend Aimee and I went to one of my favorite Kalamazoo restaurants with our good friends P and J. We decided to go downtown and have dinner and drinks at The London Grill.

If you have never been there, we highly recommend it. Their unique menu brings you the flavors brought home from patriots returning from years of service in the British Empire. Their quality food is noticeably fresh and cooked right on a grill in sight of most of the diners. Their food is also complemented with British ales, ports and scotches. There are two locations, one in downtown Kalamazoo and one in Plainwell.

Papadum

When you first sit down you are brought out a plate of papadum with tomato chutney. In case you have never tried them, papadum is a thin and crispy Indian side dish which can be best described as a cracker of flatbread. Paired with the sweetness of the chutney makes for a tasty combination that is a perfect appetizer that is light and does not fill you up.

On the chalkboard you can find The London Grill specials of the day. I debated about ordering one of the delicious sounding specials, but instead opted for my favorite dish on their menu, the sautéed cod. Aimee and J ordered the whitefish Grenoble and P ordered the curried potatoes and peas. For drink, Aimee ordered a vodka and soda, J a glass of white wine, P a two hearted ale (one of my favorites), and I ordered the Boddingtons Pub Ale on draft.

Whitefish Grenoble

The food was amazing. Aimee and J’s whitefish Grenoble was perfectly cooked. It is a pan-seared Lake Superior whitefish coated with seasoned flour. It is garnished with lemon, tomatoes and capers and served with grilled veggies and jasmine rice. The fish was expertly seasoned and the grilled veggies with the rice made for a perfect dish.

P’s Indian dish was very good too. The thing about The London Grill is that it just may have the best Indian food in town even though their Indian menu is limited. The seasoning was excellent and P was very happy he ordered the special.

sautéed cod

My sautéed cod was amazing. The dish is two Atlantic cod fillets that are pan sautéed then topped with a spicy chili black bean sauce. On the side is a spicy and tangy shredded cabbage salad and rice. This cod is a dish that I could easily eat every time that I go there. When most people think cod, they think fish and chips. This is so much more, you have to try it.

The London Grill is a true gem of Kalamazoo. Everything is done right. The setting is quant yet classy. The bar reminds you of a true pub. The food has a story and the flavors are unmatched anywhere in town. I am looking forward to our next visit to The London Grill of Kalamazoo.

The London Grill
214 E Michigan Ave
Kalamazoo, MI. 49007

Curry Corner

This past Saturday, after doing our dreaded taxes, Jeff and I decided to try out a newly placed Indian Restaurant called The Curry Corner.  Indian is one of our favorite cuisines and we wanted to see how this small restaurant compared with its competitors-Indian Cuisine in Portage and Saffron on West Main Street.

Jeff previously visited The Curry Corner for their lunch buffet on one of his Friday lunch hours.  Then, On a separate occasion, Jeff brought home their carry out and surprised me with my favorite Indian dish of all time-Palak Paneer!   This dish consists of Indian homemade cheese with spicy creamed spinach, naturally served over simple rice.  The Palak Paneer at The Curry Corner was one of the best I have ever tasted.  Come to find out, Nira, the owner and recipe- inventor makes her Palak Paneer with mustard greens instead of spinach.  She says it gives the dish a stronger flavor.

Sambar

After tasting their carry-out, I was excited to dine in.  Nira greeted us at the door and sat us at a nice table for two.  They had several specialty drinks, but Jeff and I were content with water and tea, which were both included in the buffet price of $8.99.  The tea was a fragrant orange pekoe tea from India, steeped with hot water, and milk.  I especially took note of Nira’s high quality H20, she used in the tea, as well, as in our drinking water.  When it comes to water, I can be a bit of a snob.  I am not a fan of our well water or the city water of Kalamazoo or Portage, so filtering is key to clean cooking.  It’s all in the details.

The buffet had six courses, three of which were vegetarian.  We both started with the Sambar, which is described as a sweet and sour soup.  I normally don’t care for the combo of sweet and sour, I am more of a spicy, salty kind of girl, but the soup was just that-spicy and salty.  After the soup, I had a little bit of all three vegetarian dishes with fluffy rice with peas on the bottom.  The first dish, Dal Makhani, had lentils combined with spices.  I didn’t have seconds of this one because the others dishes were better.  The second dish was Kadhi and I was surprised to see it was made of pureed chickpeas with curry.  It was pretty spicy and had almost a lemon butter flavor that was one of a kind.  My favorite dish was the Bindi Masala, which was made from baby pumpkin.  I never would have guessed pumpkin was the main ingredient.  The sauce was super spicy and delicious.  Come to find out Nira invented that dish while sleeping one night and now it’s her husband’s favorite dish too.

Jeff's Plate

Jeff loved the vegetarian dishes, but his favorite of the meat dishes was the butter chicken. The sauce was a nice blend of cream and spice and he went back for seconds.  There was one goat dish, but Jeff opted out of trying that one.

We definitely recommend trying the Curry Corner if you like Indian Food, or even if you are just looking for something new to try. Take out is a great option to; just call ahead and pick up your order on the way home from work.  The food is made with care and love and it is really like a true Mom and Pop kitchen.

Curry Croner
7630 S Westnedge Ave
Portage, MI 49002
(269) 327-6325