154. Bay Area - Tasty Indian Pizza and Wings (Bay Area: Sunnyvale)

Tasty Indian Pizza combines the best of Indian fare and arguably the most cherished American food to bring a unique Indian-American perspective on bar favorites like pizza, wings, and nachos.  I like that the name of the restaurant tells you exactly what you are getting.  But hey, if you don't like the insides of a samosa on top of your pizza, then there is good ol' pepperoni for you too.

My friends and I hit up Tasty Indian Pizza not for the pepperoni but for, well, the tasty Indian pizza.  We ordered half of the 3 Idiots and half the Saagar.  The 3 Idiots half of our pizza was adorned with Indian butter chicken, which is really just the dark meat portion of chicken tikka masala, and garnished with chilies and jalapeños, making for a spicy taste that can be easily washed down with cold beer.  The 3 Idiots, as I have since learned, is a major Indian blockbuster that was the highest grossing Bollywood film when it was released.

The Saagar half of the pizza was mainly a creamy spinach pizza with pineapple, jalapeño, red onion, and cilantro.  The pineapple sounds absolutely bizarre in that mix of ingredients, but once that spiciness creeps up onto your taste buds, you'll be glad that the sweetness of the pineapple is there to put out the fire. 

We also order the spicy tandoori wings.  The outside resembles the glowing red chicken fired up in the tandoori oven, but the inside is even more tender than the traditional version.  The skin is just slightly crisp, not enough to produce a real crunch, but one bite into it, and the meat oozes with juiciness.  It is now one of my favorite ways to have chicken wings.  A fair warning though... the chicken is hot in both temperature and spice.  Be prepared to sweat.


What is cool about Tasty Indian Pizza is that not only does it have seriously delicious food, it is also an ideal spot to gather your friends for football and beer.  Sounds like a perfect spot for Sunday, doesn't it? We have already declared we would return for the other pizzas on the menu.

When football season is over, let's get Tasty Indian Pizza take-out and stream 3 Idiots, yeah? I'll take your silence as consent.  Until next time, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

Tasty Indian Pizza (AKA Tasty Subs and Pizza)
528 Lawrence Expressway
Sunnyvale, CA 94085

ML - 20130906

Post 115: Portland - Finally Made it to Pok Pok Thai (Portland: Southeast/Richmond/Clinton)

I finally made it to Pok Pok in Portland.  I have heard about this place from many, many friends for a long, long time.  Anyone who lives in Portland, has been to Portland, or is about to make a trip to Portland knows about this place.  Is this the best Thai restaurant in Portland? Possibly.  Is there even a large ethnic Thai population in Portland? Hardly.  So why have people have said that this is the most authentic, non-authentic Thai food they have ever eaten outside of Thailand? What the hell does that even mean?

Well, the creator and head chef of Pok Pok is Andy Ricker, and he is a white man.  The common culinary conception is that a white man cannot make good Asian food.  But if that is the rule, then there are always exceptions to the rule.  Chef Andy Ricker is the exception.  He presents what he calls Northern Thai peasant food to the people of Portland (and now Brooklyn) with recipes and ideas that he picked up from his travels to the Land of a Thousand Smiles.  But let's not get it twisted.  No one comes here to eat pad thai.  It isn't even on the menu.

What the people of Portland come to eat on the patios of Pok Pok is pure and unpretentious peasant food.  It is the people's food... dishes that Northern Thai people make at home on a daily basis.  It is not the food that can be found at restaurants or at the typical street stall down some soi in Bangkok.  It is food like muu paa kham waan, a charcoal grilled boar collar dish.  It is rubbed down with garlic, coriander root, black pepper before cooking and glazed with sugar and soy.  Sliced and served with a sauce of spicy chili, lime, and garlic, it is considered a great pairing with alcohol.  With its fatty succulence and the fiery spice, it is definitely something that should be eaten with beer.  Rather, it is something that must be eaten.

Ike's Vietnamese fish sauce wings are another must-eat on the Pok Pok menu.  It is not entirely Thai as it actually originates from the Vietnamese home of the restaurant's daytime cook, but it still has a bit of Thai flair with its spiciness.  It is marinated in fish sauce and sugar, deep fried, and then tossed in more fish sauce and minced garlic.  These glorious and spicy chicken wings go great with beer too.  We ordered one spicy and one traditional plate each.

Other daily Northern Thai dishes include kaeng hung leh, a homey sweet pork belly and pork shoulder curry, khao soi, a curry noodle soup, and papaya pok pok, or what we commonly know as green papaya salad.  Since we were in a large group, we tried all of these dishes and more, and I know that I would be happy to eat these dishes at home... peasant or not.

Not knowing how these dishes actually taste in Northern Thailand, though, sparks my curiosity.  Perhaps it is time for a return visit to Thailand.  But for now there is much more food to be had in Portland... and a few drinks too.  Until next time, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

ML - 20120914