Little Saigon Noodle - Artesia

With the word “Mysterious” as part of the title of this blog entry is probably not as mysterious as it may seem, but it has made you look, isn’t it? Seriously, I'll tell you later about the secret, but before I go into it, let me tell you how I ended up in Little Dhaka, a Bangladesh restaurant and market in Artesia. It all started with an episode on Bizarre Foods where Andrew Zimmerman had a show on Indian cuisine. The part of the show that did my interest was when he tasted Bengali cuisine. Go that I once had a Bengali College roommate who, if I had the same culinary interests as now, can have opened my eyes and my palates to this kind of regional Indian cuisine. You can read about the show by clicking here. What particularly interested me in Bengali cuisine was the use of mustard oil as the main ingredient. I never had food where mustard oil was used, at least not that I know, so I was curious. In my search I decided to ask the opinion of Smita, owner of an Indian ice shop, Saffron Spot, in Artesia. I had made some ice tasting in her shop before, so I thought she'd steer me in the right direction. She directed me to Little Dhaka, who was also in Artesia. When I looked at it, I noticed that it was a Bangladesh restaurant that also served as a small market. Confusing, I thought maybe that she made a mistake, but after another investigation I found out that Bangladesh in Bengali means “Land of Bengal”. To find out how Bangladesh and Bengal are connected, click here. Finally it was time to check Little Dhaka and with Smitas help, the owner of Little Dhaka gave my dining group a nice meal deal where for $10 we got a salad, a choice of two ducks, Naan, Paratha bread, rice, a Rasmala dessert and a soft drink. Even without this special lunch price, large cheap dishes can still be had. Little Dhaka has steam tables and each of the entrees running around $3.00 to $4.00. Realistic, you can have a tasty meal between $10 to $20, depending on what you order and there is great variety as they turn off the dishes they serve every day. Fortunately, my group likes to dinate family style, so we broke up into smaller groups, sat at different tables and went on to share our bounty. First was a simple but fresh salad. Nothing to him as cucumbers, tomatoes, red onions and a slice of lemon. Interestingly, I used these vegetables almost as a palate cleaner (except the red onions) between the ducks. The thing about the ducks was that they were just so tasteful. However, since I was not familiar with the spices used for this kitchen, the “Mysterious” thing about these dishes was that I could not really describe what I tasted. I felt like I could taste the bang of mustard oil, but maybe I imagined it? Of course there were probably a variety of other seasonals in everything we tried. The strange thing was that I asked the owner about his use of mustard oil in his courts and he told me that Bangladeshi cuisine is actually all about the use of poppy oil. What? I was totally confused. In any case, regardless of which spices or spices were used, I really enjoyed the food in Little Dhaka. Unfortunately, I left the notes I made about the actual names of the dishes in the restaurant, but based on the photos and my general descriptions, you should be able to order them yourself. As for the only other vegetable dish we ordered, I simply refer to it as sewn potatoes cut into spears and cooked with chili. It had a nice kick to him and I appreciated the fact that the potatoes did not boil over and mushy. The Entree sampling began with the Beef Curry. The beef was tender and the sauce, which was cooked in tasteful large spoons on my rice, and the addition of green chilli under the sauce gave this dish some heat. Next, the fried fish that would have been better in retrospect if it came out of the frit directly, especially if you were someone who likes crispy fish skin like me. At least the fish meat was tenderly tender. My favorite dish was the mutton with lenses with a sauce that went well over my rice and I liked the fact that the mutton was not playful. Although her lamb curry was somewhat more oily than I would have wished, this bone-in tender lamb still had great taste. I think the only duck that did not do it for me was the roasted chicken with spices. The sauce was simply too thick for my taste and from all the ducks did not seem to be seasoned enough. What the Rasmalai Dessert, I didn't really know what it was until I believed it when I came home. It is basically hut or ricotta cheese dumplings seasoned in a sweet, thickened milk with cardamom. I liked the texture and taste of the cardamon, but the milk was just too sweet for me. Overall, I enjoyed my meal at Little Dhaka. In these days, if you find affordable restaurants where the food also tastes good, it is definitely a good thing and I think Little Dhaka offers both.

Using the word “Mysterious” as part of the title of this blog entry is probably not as mysterious as it may seem, but heck, it made you look, didn’t it? Seriously, I’ll tell you about the mystery later, but before I go into that, let me tell you how I ended up at Little Dhaka, a Bangladesh restaurant and market in Artesia. It all started with an episode on Bizarre Foods where Andrew Zimmerman did a show on Indian cuisine. The part of the show that perked my interest was when he sampled Bengali cuisine. Go figure that I once had a Bengali college roommate, who if I had the same culinary interests as I did now, may have opened my eyes and my palate to this type of regional Indian cooking. You can read about the show by clicking here. What interested me in particular about Bengali cuisine was the utilization of mustard oil as a main ingredient. I’ve never had any food where mustard oil was used, at least not that I know of, so I was curious. In my quest, I decided to ask the opinion of Smita, owner of an Indian ice cream shop, Saffron Spot, in Artesia. I previously had done a couple of ice cream tastings at her shop, so I figured, she’d steer me in the right direction. She directed me to Little Dhaka, which was also in Artesia. When I looked it up, I noticed that it was a Bangladesh restaurant, which also served as a small market. Confused, I thought maybe she made a mistake, but after some more investigation, I found out that Bangladesh means “Country of Bengal” in Bengali. To find out how Bangladesh and Bengal are connected, click here. Finally, it was time to check out Little Dhaka and with Smita’s help, the owner of Little Dhaka gave my dining group a nice meal deal where for $10 we got a salad, a choice of two entrees, naan, paratha bread, rice, a rasmala dessert and a soft drink. Even without that special lunch price, great cheap eats can still be had. Little Dhaka has steam tables and each of the entrees run around $3.00 to $4.00. Realistically, you can have a tasty meal for between $10 to $20, depending on what you order and there’s great variety since they switch out the dishes they serve every day. Luckily, my group likes to dine family-style, so we broke up into smaller groups, sat at different tables and proceeded to share our bounty. First up was a simple, but fresh salad. Nothing to it but cucumbers, tomatoes, red onions and a slice of lemon. Interestingly enough, I used these veggies almost as a palate cleanser (except for the red onions) in between the entrees. The thing about the entrees was that they were just so flavorful. However, since I was unfamiliar with the spices being used for this cuisine, the “Mysterious” thing about these dishes was that I couldn’t really describe what I tasted. I felt like I could taste the tang of mustard oil, but maybe I was imagining it? Of course, there were probably a myriad of other seasonings included in everything we sampled. The strange thing was that I asked the owner briefly about his use of mustard oil in his dishes and he told me that Bangladesh cuisine is actually all about the usage of poppyseed oil. Huh? Now, I was totally confused. In any case, regardless of what spices or seasonings were used, I just really enjoyed the food at Little Dhaka. Unfortunately, I left the notes I made about the actual names of the dishes at the restaurant, but based on the photos and my general descriptions, you should be able to order them on your own. So as for the only other veggie dish we ordered, I’ll simply refer to it as sauteed potatoes that were cut in spears and cooked with chili. It had a nice kick to it and I appreciated the fact that the potatoes weren’t over cooked and mushy. The entree sampling started with the Beef Curry. The beef was tender and the sauce it was cooked in tasted great spooned on my rice and the addition of green chilis hiding under the sauce gave this dish some heat. Next was the fried fish, which in retrospect, would have been better if it came straight out of the fryer, especially if you’re someone who likes crispy fish skin, like me. At least, the fish meat was delicately tender. My favorite dish was the mutton with lentils with a sauce that also went well poured over my rice and I liked the fact that the mutton wasn’t gamey. Although their lamb curry was a little more oily than I would have liked, this bone-in tender lamb still had great flavor. I think the only entree that didn’t do it for me was the roasted chicken with spices. The sauce was just too thick for my taste and of all the entrees didn’t seem seasoned enough. As for the rasmalai dessert, I didn’t really know what it was until I Googled it when I got home. It’s basically cottage or ricotta cheese dumplings soaked in a sweet, thickened milk flavored with cardammon. I liked the texture and the flavor of the cardamon, but the milk was just way too sweet for me. Overall, I really enjoyed my meal at Little Dhaka. These days, whenever you can find affordable dining where the food also tastes good, it’s definitely a good thing and I think Little Dhaka offers both.