Rasas - A Bit of India on FRIDAY, 21 August 2009

So it appears that we are continuing our travels around the world this month, in culinary terms at least. And this time, we are headed a little more west of South East Asia, over to India, to allegedly the most authentic Indian restaurant in Berlin. This is a place where they grind and mix their own garam masala, a secret concoction of 30 spices. This place even has an original tandoor, a special charcoal-fired clay oven which is used to baked breads and spiced meats. And this place has been around since 2005, so it seems to be able to survive in the tough dining scene in Berlin. From what I understand, this restaurant is done in a very contemporary manner, so it is not a greasy spoon sort of place, and hence it combines traditional cuisine with modern style.

All this, of course, means nothing if you cannot taste and enjoy the food, and have your own opinion of the place. So that is exactly what we will do on the evening of Friday 21 August 2009. Normally I would pick a Saturday but I have to attend some classes on Saturday which will probably render me incapable of having dinner, so we have to do it on a Friday again, I'm afraid.

The place is called Rasas (which means tastes or spices, I think), and the address is Bayernallee 42a, (Ecke Länderallee), 14052 Berlin (near Theodore-Heuss Platz). If you want to see their menus or check them out, their website is http://www.rasas-berlin.de  I don't think you would be disappointed!

As this is somewhat short notice, if you are interesting in trying an interesting Indian place, then please do let me know by Sunday 16 August latest. All those that make the list will be notified by Monday 17th August of our meeting point for the evening of Friday, 21 August.

See you soon!

Chris
 

How it went on the night...

The evening started with the wettest downpour I have ever experienced in Berlin - in the end, I had to swim to the meeting point and I was totally drenched. But the night picked up from that point. The restaurant was pretty interesting as you can see from the following pictures, and everyone liked their courses (or at least, I heard no complaints). My own dish was a little weird as it was supposed to be hot so I asked for it to be jazzed up but all they did was add more curry powder which kind of spoiled the dish a bit. On the other hand, the cocktails after 10 pm were only 5 Euro each and they were seriously good, especially the Long Island Iced Tea, as Ros can probably vouch for. :o)

On a little down note, several people forgot to pay their drinks and so a few people owe me a bill of 34 Euro...