Mulligatawny Soup Appetizer from Panna II

Item Purchased: Mulligatawny Soup Appetizer
Location Purchased: Panna II Garden Indian Restaurant / 93 1st Ave Ste 5 / New York, NY
Price: $1.25 + tax

Purchased on: 02/01/07

Review: "Pepper Water."

That's what mulligatawny translates as, but this soup wasn't very peppery or watery. Panna II's mulligatawny is more like a tomato curry soup with little bits of rice and parsley in it. Appropriately, the soup is slightly spicy, which fits the massive amount of chili pepper lights hanging from the ceiling in this fantastic Indian restaurant. The right price and size for a soup appetizer, this small, but amazing East Village Curry Row stop serves up a fantastic mulligatawny. Though it may not be a traditional recipe, this mulligatawny introduces the base taste of Indian cuisine to your palate and prepares you for the amazing tastes that are sure to come.

Rating: 3.75 / 5

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Spinach Salad from Lula Cafe

Item Purchased: Spinach Salad from Lula Cafe
Location Purchased: Lula Cafe / 2537 N. Kedzie Blvd. / Chicago, IL
Price: $8.00 + tax

Review: Lula does everything right. On a crowded Saturday night, the hostess told my girlfriend and I that we would have to wait nearly 45 minutes for a table (we only waited about 20) and mere minutes after we placed our order, the appetizer arrived. Of course, it doesn't take much to throw together a spinach salad, but Lula did it again by keeping expectations low and the outcome high.

This simple salad is comprised of baby spinach greens tossed with dried cherries, string thin red onions (that neither my girlfriend or I ate, but appreciated for the flavor they added to the dish) and the creamiest chevre cheese that made me want to get down on my knees and beg for goat milk. All this is topped with a perfectly balanced drizzle of balsamic vinaigrette that dances and twists with the already strong flavor provided by the chewy cherries. At eight dollars, this is an adequately sized salad to turn your hunger into a somewhat comfortable salivating anticipation while you wait for the rest of the magic to emerge from Lula's kitchen.

Rating: 4 / 5

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