Mango -- Peruvian food in the Lou

Author: Dave

What comes to mind when you think of Peruvian food?

I assumed spicy. I guess, living in the U.S., I assume any food south of the border brings the heat. After dining at Mango Restaurant, which boasts the only Peruvian restaurant in the St. Louis area, I would say that the stars of this South American country's cuisine are fresh, vibrant and colorful, but not at all spicy.

From Mango's website at www.mangoperu.com:

"Peruvian cuisine, in addition to its Inca origins, combines Spanish, Asian, and African influences to make an eclectic fusion of indigenous crops, spices, meats and seafood. Fresh ingredients and imaginative sauces are a hallmark of Peruvian cuisine, as is the popular Aji Amarillo pepper."

Aji amarillo is a fruity flavored and aromatic pepper, and its incorporated into many of Mango's dishes to add mild spice and a pleasant yellow color. The restaurant also mixes the pepper with oil as a condiment or dipping sauce.

The food was all good. Kirsten loved the empanada, which is spiced differently than the Argentinian empanadas we've enjoyed in the past. I ordered a an ensalada exicotica salad, which is made from an "exotic" mix of field greens, roasted red peppers, fresh mango and cilantro with a light citrus and olive oil dressing. I liked it. Wasn't knocked out, but then again I am not a big fan of fruit in a salad. I figure it's Mango's -- let's get something with mango. Trying the other salads, I would say that part of the meal was fine, but not my favorite.

The freshness and mild spice really came out in two salsas, one resembling chili verde and one that resembled pico de gallo. A plate of fried plantains came free to the table with these salsas. Fried yuca, similar to potato, also tasted great in a fresh dipping sauce.

Kirsten and I each ordered a "small plate" -- mine a skewer of beef kabobs and Kirsten an oven-baked shrimp dish with olive oil and shaved garlic. Each was delicious. Other members of our large dinner party also enjoyed their meals, and we heard few complaints. Mostly, people wished they had more food. In fact, we were a little hungry that evening after eating. But, we did have the "small plates" after all.

The restaurant has a pleasant atmosphere with hues of mango and scarlet. But, whereas I feel like I've received a nice introduction to the flavors of Peru, I didn't learn much about Peru itself. As the only St. Louis area restaurant boasting Peruvian cuisine, I thought it would be cool to see a map of Peru and photos of the ever-important aji amarillo pepper plant, along with some education about the culture and its food. The website does a good job of filling in some blanks, but from a selfish perspective, I would have loved to have known a little more about the food I was ordering and the culture that produced this food.

I emailed Mango Restaurant asking:

Have you thought about doing more to educate diners about Peruvian culture. Perhaps have photos of Peru, a map of Peru, some history of Peru ... just enough to give people a "flavor" of your homeland? I think as the only Peruvian restaurant in our area, you have a great opportunity to teach people more about your homeland's culture?

I think I phrased this sloppily, possibly insinuating that the owners do nothing to promote their culture. Sandra Calvo, restaurant Manager, was nice enough to answer:

Thanks for your interest in our restaurant. In regard to your question, the answer is yes, we have thought about the possibility of doing brief description of Peru and its culture. We are in the process of opening a new location and the idea of having a small map of Peru on the menu has come up as well. On the other hand we also offer teachers and their students an opportunity to come to the restaurant and have lunch or dinner and we have had requests for presentations and demonstrations about Peruvian culture. I have personally given the small little lectures to grade school (and this year) kindergarten students. We show them typical instruments, maps and we tell them about popular places to visit.

Mango Restaurant is located at 7307 Watson Road in the Mackenzie Point Plaza in Shrewsbury, South St. Louis County.

OVERALL: Mango Restaurant has fresh, vibrant food, and is a wonderful introduction to Peruvian food. The portions are small, although well-prepared.

3 out of 5 spoons

SCALE:

5 spoons -- a divine, out-of-body culinary experience

4 spoons -- top-notch establishment

3 spoons -- a good place to eat

2 spoons -- wouldn't recommend

1 spoon -- avoid at all costs

Try Bombay Grill for Authentic Indian Food

Author: Dave

Bombay Grill is one of those pleasant strip mall discoveries. Nestled in Crossroad Plaza along Highway K in O'Fallon, Mo, Bombay Grill offers quality Indian cuisine ... and if you're a newbie, they take time to help you choose a dish.

Owner Hema Patel helped our table decide what we might want to order, and made it clear that her food isn't all heat. She says that Bombay Grill features north Indian fare, and that the food isn't necessarily about the heat ... although, yes, you can find some spicy hot offerings. She explained that dishes can be altered to suit your comfort with spice.

Our party passed around plates so that we could sample each other's food. And, after one Saturday evening at Bombay Grill, here's my suggestion: Order the meals that come with an Indian-style sauce. I've had chicken curry several times before, and I'd rate Bombay Grill's up there with all of them. (Again, you can alter the level of heat. I had the spicy curry.) Two members of our party had a lamb vindaloo, a hot dish ... one had medium heat and the other took the hottest dish. Both were quite good (and the hotter dish made my forehead sweat a little ... a good thing).

If you haven't had Indian fare, here's the great thing about the Bombay Grill -- the restaurant offers a lunch buffet. We plan to come back for lunch to sample more choices.

We did encounter some disappointments. The Tandoori Mixed Grill was a "mixed bag." Kirsten ordered this dish so she could sample a good variety of food, but some items were overcooked. Part of the problem may be that the food remains on a hot cast-iron plate. Bombay Grill's style is to bring all the entrees out on a hot plate, and rice on a separate serving plate in the middle of the table. You then combine your entree with rice as you wish on your dinner plate. Some of Kirsten's chicken and the shrimp got too dry, possibly by continuing to cook on the cast-iron plate after coming out of the oven. The grilled proteins also were calling out loudly for some type of sauce to go with them. Kirsten used some of the sauces from other dishes on the table to combine with elements of the mixed grill.

The best Tandoori specialty was the Tandoori Chicken. This dish has dark meat, which may be why it retained its juices and flavor better. One of our guests ordered just the Tandoori Chicken and seemed pleased.

We also loved the nan bread, a flat leavaned Indian bread. Heck, I'd go back to Bombay Grill just for the garlic nan itself.

OVERALL: Bombay Grill serves flavorful, authentic north Indian cuisine. Maybe try them out for buffet first one day ... and see if they hook you like they hooked us

3-1/2 out of 5 spoons.

SCALE:

5 spoons -- a divine, out-of-body culinary experience

4 spoons -- top-notch establishment

3 spoons -- a good place to eat

2 spoons -- wouldn't recommend

1 spoon -- avoid at all costs

RESTAURANT WEBSITE

Moe's Pasta Bowl Gives You Italian for Less Dinero

Author: Dave

Close your eyes. Now, imagine real Italian pasta dishes for $8 an entree. OK. Open your eyes, get in the car and head to Moe's Pasta Bowl Italian Mix. Order the pasta. Wish granted.

On recommendations from friends, we brought the family of four (me, wife Kirsten, The Girl, 8, and The Boy, 4) to Moe's Pasta Bowl on a recent Friday evening. At Moe's, you do the ordering at the counter kinda like fast food ... but your service is more in line with a full-service restaurant. Friendly servers brought out our orders quickly (which wasn't surprising as the the dining area was lightly populated). The food tasted fresh. The atmosphere was pleasant. We liked the warm decor, dominated with hues of gold, but also liked that the dining area is well lit. We could see much of the kitchen, which we always like because you feel like there's nothing to hide. A cute, interesting touch: A large flat-screen TV in the main dining area was tuned to The Food Network, on mute with subtitles. My wife liked that ... she believes it shows that the owner really cares about food. (On this night, in between bites, you could soak up some inspiration courtesy of the Chef Jeff Project.)

Some people might wonder if the restaurant compares with Fazoli's, the fast-food "Italian" chain. We don't see much comparison. Fazoli's is food that anybody can make, given a pulse and a kitchen. Moe's food is closer to what you'd find in a classic Italian restaurant.

If Moe's Pasta Bowl were a rock band, Sauce would be the star lead singer. The pasta was nicely prepared, and so was the protein in our entrees. But, the sauces made the difference.

My Rigatoni and Sausage Classico had some kick, which I love. This dish contains rigatoni pasta, Italian sausage, onions, sweet peppers, basil and feta cheese in a spicy tomato sauce. Friends of mine had described the sauce as "zippy," and that about sums it up. The dish got better and better as I ate. I was left wanting more, which is always a good sign. Fact is, the portion was fine for me, but a little light on the meat ... if you want to beef it up, you might want to order the $2.29 side order of Italian sausage or Italian Meatballs.

Kirsten ordered the Farfalle Pollo, made with bowtie pasta, grilled chicken, sun-dried tomato, mushroom, pine nuts and parmesan cheese in a roasted Alfredo cream sauce. I was reading the other day in National Geographic that archaelogists found evidence of roasted pine nuts in Neanderthal caves 125,000 years ago ... and my wife found evidence during this meal that pine nuts can be just as delightful for modern-day humans. She also liked that the alfredo sauce was on the lighter side ... heavy, rich alfredo sauces tend to weigh you down, and Kirsten finds that heavier alfredo sauce doesn't taste as fresh. Her chief complaint was that a few of the mushroom stalks were "woodsy," and she had to spit them out. Otherwise, the mushrooms were tasty.

We also enjoyed the Caesar salad and its peppery dressing with fresh greens. In a word: Good.

DESSERT: Asked which dessert we'd like, my wife--drunk on her new-found power as a blogger--announced, "We'll take one of each." They cost about $4 each, but seriously ... we rarely do more than polish off one dessert between the four of us.

The canolis looked huge ... Kirsten commented: "I've been all over New York, and I've never seen a canoli that big." Our two canolis came home to our fridge, because we had plenty of cake to eat. The tiramasu was excellent, and the chocolate cake was a moist, satisfying treat that blended well with the scoop of ice cream and slathering of chocolate sauce.

When we got home and finally cut into one of the canolis ... it was extremely tasty and satisfying. This was a hearty filling, not as creamy as other canolis we've had. Kirsten said it has a cream cheese base with confectionary sugar ... and she was close. The norm is ricotta cheese, but owner/head chef Moe Alhussein says he uses marscapone, an Italian cheese similar to cream cheese, but higher-grade. (I will follow up with a special post about Moe and his compelling story.)


THE KIDS: One of the charms (?) of our 4-year-old son is that once you put a fork in his hand and put food under his nose ... he's absolutely unpredictable. There was a time that The Boy ate nothing but chicken ... and now he won't touch the bird, even deep-fried in McBatter. Not even macaroni and cheese is a safe bet for The Boy. He may like it at one place, and barely touch it at another. For the record, The Boy devoured Moe's Penne-Mac and Cheese. Almost ate it all. It's the small victories in life that are important. Mom tasted the mac-and-cheese, and she said it was good. Direct quote: "I'd eat it."

The Girl's palate is less discerning ... it's news when she doesn't like something at all. Did she like Moe's Stuffed Ravioli with Meat Sauce? Well, let me put it this way ... I was about one-fourth the way through my meal when I heard the girl mumble that she didn't get very much. She'd eaten all the ravioli and was begging for some more bread to soak up the sauce. I tasted the sauce ... it was good. (And her portion was fine, trust me. The Girl eats too fast ... a constant struggle.)

I'd give the place 4-1/2 out of 5 spoons in the family-friendly category. My only quibble is that the choices of side for kids are salad, soup or store-bought potato chips. Salad and soup, OK. But, instead of chips, some carrots and ranch dressing or a similar, simple health-conscious alternative would be nice. Many kids would not eat salad or soup.

OVERALL: Moe's Pasta Bowl Italian Mix is a good place for good Italian food at a reasonable price. Parents can find good food, and so can kids.

3-1/2 out of 5 spoons.

SCALE:
5 spoons -- a divine, out-of-body culinary experience
4 spoons -- top-notch establishment
3 spoons -- a good place to eat
2 spoons -- wouldn't recommend
1 spoon -- avoid at all costs

RESTAURANT WEBSITE