Nice! I think I will try it. I just want to get the t shirt lol. Iām sure it will be a brutal challenge
Yeah, I donāt know the two guys in the photo but its the only photo I saw listed under the challenge.
About time you stepped up!!
Justin surprised me with Indian food at Sandy Hook on Monday after work from Haldi Chowk (Neelam is closed on Mondays). He ordered us chicken tikka masala and asked for as spicy as possible. While it was delicious, it really wasnāt too spicy. I had a slight runny nose but nothing lethal. However, the flavor of the sauce and the quality of the samosas will cause me to give them another look for dinner one night. It was excellent.
Good stuff Greg. I really like their food. They will make it spicy! Trust me. If you say āgive me a 9 out of 10 on the Indian scale, not white guy scale,ā they will totally tune it up for you. Word it just like thatā¦seriously lol. Iām talking about nose running, face red, sweating, etc
The Tikka masala is very tasty there so Iām glad you enjoyed it.
Try the pepper chicken masala. That is some hot stuff with quite a few whole chilis in it (at least the heat level I order it at comes with those.)
Whats the filling on the samosa? Looks great.
It was a veggie samosa, so mashed potato, peas, and spices.
What I do when I want bring the heat at Indian restaurants is to ask for some chilis. Theyāll bring you those little thai chili things, they are spicy as all heck! Burns so goodā¦
Buuuuuuump!v
A friend asked if Iād ever been here, as she wanted to take me to dinner to celebrate my recent birthday. Iāve never been and it was a good midpoint for the 3 of us, and knowing how many of you have had great things to say, of course I was game! She made a reservation. Keep in mind that I donāt look at menus online before I go to a restaurant - the only time I do that is when a place is new or I know NOTHING about it - and even then, I donāt make choices ahead of time. Had I looked at the website, I probably would have suggested we go somewhere else, as HC has a new owner/exec chef as of 1.5 years ago, and there are a ton of FUSION offerings on the menu. I looked today - there are also traditional dishes for the purists, but I didnāt know any of this.
We were seated (1 other table occupied at 6:15 but it definitely filled up) and the server handed off two menus (for 3 of us). It wasnāt until I realized there was a third one standing up against the wall that I even had one to look at, and before I could do that, the chef was at our table. He asked if we had eaten Indian food before (yes) and what allergies we have and our spice tolerance (2 of us medium, 1 mild). He then proceeded to explain that he approaches this cuisine differently; no manufactured oils, no processed sugar. Okay, Iām in. They are making tallow from every protein they serve, so the lamb is cooked in lamb fat, chicken in its own, etc. Talk about time-consuming! They make their own naan. And paneer. They juice saag and add it to dishes. And although heās Indian, he likes to put a twist on his dishes. He could see we were engaged in the story and asked āDo you want me to just bring you dishes?ā And of course we said yes.
The dishes that arrived were mostly items I wouldnāt have ordered on my own, so I was truly grateful for them being put in front of us because they were fantastic across the board. I checked this morning, and most of them are on the site, so if you want to read detailed descriptions, you can look here. We had:
Truffle Mushroom Ravioli
Arancini
Lamb Chorizo Tacos with triple green chili guac (which was amazing and also served w the shrimp)
Devil Shrimp Guac Puffs
Chicken Tikka Masala Lasagna
Indian Cheesecake and Tiramisu
Assorted Kulfi
DARK chocolate cake w housemade pistachio butter in the center
The final dessert arrived a good 15 mins after the bill was paid, as we were still sitting there and chatting. He said there had to be cake for my birthday, so we didnāt argue. 
If you know me, you know that Iām not a chocolate girl. Iāll eat it, but I donāt care about it. I CARED ABOUT THIS CAKE. Not super sweet, very light (almond flour), and we polished it off very quickly despite having already declared we were full.
The big difference was that none of us were uncomfortably full, as we normally are after eating traditional Indian food. I chalk that up to much cleaner ingredients/prep and canāt wait to get back there to try some more of his dishes, including some of the traditional ones.
The ONLY thing we didnāt love about the place was the atmosphere; I donāt care that itās in a strip mall (hello, Lita!), but thereās no āvibeā - a dead Christmas tree, surgical lighting, blank walls, and everything from faded printed signs to a whiteboard in the window. From the outside, it looks like they took over a very meh takeout Chinese place. I say this knowing that it costs money to decorate, but there are some very inexpensive ways to bring the decor a little closer to the level of the food being served. My 2 cents!
If anyone is interested in a HOdown, Iād definitely be willing to organize one! Oh, and itās BYO if that matters to you.
I AM IN FOR A HO DOWN!
We usually go to Neelam (Middletown) or Bombay River (Red Bank). Would love to try this place!
I canāt speak for Mr Bean but Iām in. We had a not great experience at HC a little while back but I trust @CurlzNJās opinion and am definitely open to trying again.
Unfortunately for the time being I will not be able to attend any HO down any time soon
Diabetes type 2 has been resurrected again due to me being negligent about my nutrition Habits die hard hopefully I can get back to normal soon and see you all soon
Had fun at the last one Love and sugar free kisses to all 
Iām in, schedule permitting.
Feel better. We need our movie star here.
Health always comes first. Itās good that your are prioritizing you needs. Hopefully, weā'l see you soon.
Thanks brother 
Iām hopeful but I really screwed up this time thanks for your kind words
