Scowl, Nu?

As we reported earlier, there is pretty damned good Indian food in Cologne… but the first place we found, Tandoor Palace was a bit pricey for every day eating. Sure, I am not against paying 65€ for a good meal, but it’s not the sort of money I want to spend every day.

So, on New Year’s Day, after coming back from Antwerp, we were in search of sustinance. Falling on the logic taught to us by great moves such as “A Christmas Story” – look towards ethnic restaurants when you want food on the holidays. Unfortunately, United Kitchens, the major delivery company here in Cologne, was on the end-of-year break. Calls to an Indian restaurant well recommended by Douglas, our hair stylist, went to an answering machine. About a minute away from giving up and ordering a pizza, I stumbled upon a review of Clay Oven in the 2005 Prinz Guide for Cologne.

Ok, four stars, same as the highly recommended place from Douglas and the Tandoor Palace. Decent website. Wait… what is this… they deliver???

A quick call confirmed it, and 45 minutes later, we were sitting down (ok, squatting on the floor) to a nice Indian meal.

Quality wise, the food was very good. The Chicken Vindaloo was quite spicy, but didn’t sacrifice flavor for heat. Janet’s Chicken Tikka Masala was more flavorful than most… and the rice – flavored with cardamom pods – fantastic. The real killer was the price… Half of what we paid for Tandoor Palace.

Needless to say, we have a new regular delivery Indian Restaurant.

For New Year’s Eve, we decided to head west to Antwerp to visit with friends and to ring in the new year with a good conversation, many nice drinks and, of course, a gourmet meal.

Or, in particular, a meal called “Gourmet”.

Gourmet, according to our Belgian hosts, is a typical meal that you have with friends or family when time is not a factor. The centerpiece of a Gourmet, is a specialized grill. You put the grill in the center of the table, take the little pans and put in a little butter, then either grill pieces of meat or vegetables directly on the grill top, sautee the meat (or vegetables) in the pans on top of the grill or bake/broil in the pans in the space under the grill. It’s not fast, but it’s the perfect way to while away the evening.

We ate and drank and had a fabulous time, and then early in the morning, we headed back to the hotel for a few hours of sleep before taking the two hour drive back to Köln.