Restaurant Review: Msala India

On New Year’s Day, Scott, his friend Chris, and I were trying to decide what to have for dinner when Chris found out neither of us had ever eaten Indian food. Chris offered to take me and Scott out to dinner and suggested a restaurant that he visited when he was in town for our wedding – Msala India in High Point, N.C. I was so excited to try something new so we took Chris up on his offer.

Msala India in located in Oak Hollow Square on Skeet Club Road in High Point. It is a small restaurant wedged into the corner of the shopping center and is actually hard to see unless you know it is there. Once inside, we found a cozy and welcoming atmosphere, a small amount of tables around the perimeter of the room, and a buffet set up in the center of the room.

The owner took care us of over the course of the evening, and he was extremely friendly and accommodating. He talked us through the courses and told us a little about how they make the dishes – it was quite interesting and informative for a first-timer like me! He also explained that their lunch buffet is open 11:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m., seven days a week.

We looked to Chris to help us make decisions from the menu. We started with meat samosas, a pastry filled with ground chicken, peas and spices:

I tried all three of their sauces with my samosa. From the top: the red sauce is a spicy onion chutney, the green is a mint chutney, and the brown is a sweet tamarind sauce. Scott and I both commented that while we thought the onion chutney was the best originally, it turned out each sauce was better than the last. All three were delicious and are house-made daily.

We decided to split three dishes between us for the main meal:

Clockwise from the top right: garlic naan, lamb curry (lamb chunks in a tomato based curry sauce), dall makhani (lentils and kidney beans simmered in a spicy sauce), rice, and sag paneer (spinach and paneer cheese). We ordered these all medium on the spice level scale.

I tried all three dishes and thoroughly enjoyed them all. The lamb was tender and flavorful, the sag paneer had a really pure spinach taste (and I love spinach), and the dall was hearty and spiced perfectly. Of the three, the dall was my favorite and I would definitely order it again.

After dinner, Chris and I shared an unphotographed mango lassi that was creamy and refreshing after all of the spices from the meal.

While I had no previous experience with Indian food, Chris told us that he found the food at Msala India more traditional than other Indian restaurants he normally goes to. He commented that most make their dishes creamier and more “Americanized” that the food at Msala, and I was glad that I was able to experience a more traditional meal as my first Indian experience.

If you are looking for good, authentic Indian food in the Triad area, I highly suggest Msala India!

Restaurant Review: Dolce Aroma Coffee Bar

Last week, I was downtown running some errands and I remembered a recent review in the local GoTriad newspaper insert about a new coffee shop. After a short search on my phone navigation, I had the name and address of the shop and was on my way.

Dolce Aroma European Coffee Bar is located on N. Elm Street in downtown Greensboro at the base of the Bellemeade parking deck. I found street parking a couple blocks away, but as I approached the shop I saw this sign that advertises one hour free parking in the deck. I didn’t think about it while actually parking, but that is one of the perks of downtown Greensboro – several parking decks offer “First Hour Free” parking.

The menu board, which I forgot to photograph, offered pretty standard coffee shop fare. There was also a small food case with a variety of bars, muffins, and some very tasty looking baklava, but I resisted and ordered a small frozen mocha with no whipped cream. After ordering, however, I saw the “Nutticino” on the menu, which I will definitely try next time – a cappuccino with almond and hazelnut flavoring.

While I waited on my drink, I looked around the small but comfortable dining area. I was happy to see that there was both indoor and outdoor seating, as well as local art for sale on the walls:

After I got my drink, I went outside to enjoy the nice weather and downtown scenes. I have to say, I enjoyed the frozen mocha very much – it seemed to have a small amount of ice in proportion to the other ingredients, and it was very creamy. The espresso was rich and the chocolate actually tasted like real cocoa rather than a sugary, fake taste like some other mocha drinks I have had in the past. I was curious to find out if they used real cocoa or syrup, and I went back inside to discover that they use 1883 Philibert Routin Gourmet Syrups, which do not appear to be for sale directly through the official website.

Overall, I enjoyed my Dolce Aroma experience very much and hope to have another trip downtown soon. The only downside is that they are only open until 5:00 p.m. on weekdays and not at all on the weekends. If you are in the Greensboro area on a weekday, definitely give Dolce Aroma a visit!

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River Twist Kitchen

My boyfriend's sister is visiting this weekend, so I was looking for a new restaurant to try. There is a restaurant review in the entertainment insert of the local newspaper every Thursday, and this week it reviewed the River Twist Kitchen. It is a renovated Esso station located in Jamestown, NC that is also a garden and gift shop. The menu consists of several salads and sandwiches and a couple burgers, and they also offer catering.

Note: This is the first time I took pictures with my phone instead of my camera - I think they turned out well!




Since it is such a nice day and there was limited seating inside, we (boyfriend, his sister, and I) decided to eat outside. I took some pictures while we waited on the food:

The owner was extremely nice and helpful when we mentioned that we had never been there before. He said they had been slammed since the newspaper article and they were actually out of today's special. He did offer us a sample of their most popular item, the Sugar Breast Turkey Salad, which my boyfriend's sister and I both ended up ordering (she ordered it on a croissant, I got it on salad greens). It is so good - turkey, celery, dried cranberries, sugared walnuts, and mayo dressing. My boyfriend got the the owner's personal favorite, the Honey Onion Turkey sandwich.

My plate:

I ate the entire salad, but didn't use any of the dressing. The dressing in the turkey salad was enough, especially with the other flavors of mandarin orange and additional walnuts.

I also had one bite of the boyfriend's sandwich:

It was a little pricey, and the drive was longer than we would normally do for a meal, but well worth it. The scenery was beautiful, and the food was excellent. We will definitely go back!