Annapurna Indian restaurant in Mira Mesa

[Russ in Mira Mesa]

My wife and I decided to give this new place a try on Saturday
evening. They're in the strip mall next to Target, right off Camino
Ruiz. The menu on their website (www.myannapurna.com) was intriguing
-- an unusual mix of southern and northern Indian dishes.

We started with a Mysore Masala Dosa. We've had masala dosa many
times (I even went to the trouble of making it -- ONCE), after having
tried it for the first time in Singapore, many years ago. This
version looked interesting because the menu describes it as being
"spread with spicy chutney" before being stuffed with the usual potato/
pea filling. (According to Wikipedia, this is the way it's served in
Bangalore.) The dosa arrived, and it was very nicely crisp, with a
spicy red coating on the inside, along with the customary chutneys for
dipping, and sambar spicy vegetable stew. ($8)

We then had an Andhra Chicken Curry ($11) and Guthi Vankaya Koora
($11, eggplant in peanut gravy). Both were very good. The eggplant
was unusual (for me, anyway). These are the really small eggplants,
smaller than hen's eggs. The eggplant was really flavorful, although
I would have liked more eggplant and less sauce. I'm now kicking
myself for not having taken the sauce home to put on rice. The waiter
DID offer a takeaway box for it...

And then I felt a hankering for something sweet, so we shared an order
of Gulab Jamun ($3). Dense and intense.

It's clear that this place is targeted at the H-1B crowd from India,
serving very authentic food from regions that aren't represented in
most other Indian restaurants in town -- not even the ones in "Little
India" at Black Mountain Road and Miramar.

Annapurna is a little bit on the expensive side, and their location is
probably working against them -- though they seemed to be doing
reasonable business on a Saturday night. It doesn't hurt that they
are on the American Airlines "iDine" program.

I'm going to have to go back there with friends. I'd like to try some
of the goat dishes, and my wife can't stand "gamey" meats. And there
are lots of other dishes I want to try.

[Hank]

That's a fine review - thanks!

My wife and I were just talking about an Indian dinner,
but we usually go to the same places (Ashoka, etc.).
This will be nice, and we both love picking at the meat
of dead goats.

Post by Russ in Mira Mesa
My wife and I decided to give this new place a try on Saturday
evening. They're in the strip mall next to Target, right off Camino
Ruiz. The menu on their website (www.myannapurna.com) was intriguing
-- an unusual mix of southern and northern Indian dishes.

[Russ in Mira Mesa]

Post by Hank
That's a fine review - thanks!
My wife and I were just talking about an Indian dinner,
but we usually go to the same places (Ashoka, etc.).
This will be nice, and we both love picking at the meat
of dead goats.

Gosh, when you put it that way, I'm salivating already! 8-)

Ashoka's ok, but if you want something different (and pretty
inexpensive), try almost any of the other Indian places in that same
"Little India" mall. Even the grocery superstore at the north end of
the mall has some very inexpensive, but decent food. Most of the
restaurants there (other than Ashoka, which seems slightly more
westernized than the rest) are vegetarian. I generally only go to
Ashoka when somebody else is choosing the venue...

[David Thuleen]

In article

Post by Russ in Mira Mesa
My wife and I decided to give this new place a try on Saturday
evening. They're in the strip mall next to Target, right off Camino
Ruiz. The menu on their website (www.myannapurna.com) was intriguing
-- an unusual mix of southern and northern Indian dishes.
We started with a Mysore Masala Dosa. We've had masala dosa many
times (I even went to the trouble of making it -- ONCE), after having
tried it for the first time in Singapore, many years ago. This
version looked interesting because the menu describes it as being
"spread with spicy chutney" before being stuffed with the usual potato/
pea filling. (According to Wikipedia, this is the way it's served in
Bangalore.) The dosa arrived, and it was very nicely crisp, with a
spicy red coating on the inside, along with the customary chutneys for
dipping, and sambar spicy vegetable stew. ($8)
We then had an Andhra Chicken Curry ($11) and Guthi Vankaya Koora
($11, eggplant in peanut gravy). Both were very good. The eggplant
was unusual (for me, anyway). These are the really small eggplants,
smaller than hen's eggs. The eggplant was really flavorful, although
I would have liked more eggplant and less sauce. I'm now kicking
myself for not having taken the sauce home to put on rice. The waiter
DID offer a takeaway box for it...
And then I felt a hankering for something sweet, so we shared an order
of Gulab Jamun ($3). Dense and intense.
It's clear that this place is targeted at the H-1B crowd from India,
serving very authentic food from regions that aren't represented in
most other Indian restaurants in town -- not even the ones in "Little
India" at Black Mountain Road and Miramar.
Annapurna is a little bit on the expensive side, and their location is
probably working against them -- though they seemed to be doing
reasonable business on a Saturday night. It doesn't hurt that they
are on the American Airlines "iDine" program.
I'm going to have to go back there with friends. I'd like to try some
of the goat dishes, and my wife can't stand "gamey" meats. And there
are lots of other dishes I want to try.

Thanks for the review. I look forward to trying it soon.