Monday, July 27, 2009

Sangams


Sam: With us this week were the always entertaining Li and Peter. We've dined with Li a fair share this summer seeing as how he has been in Ithaca working. Peter, on the other hand, has been busy traveling around the world so we were lucky to catch him for the few days that he was in town.

I'd been to Sangams several times before, usually for takeout, and have never been that disappointed. It's one of the only two places to get Indian food in ithaca (the other being Diamons down on green st) and honestly they're pretty similar. One of the only differences that I know of is that Sangams has a bigger selection of appetizers including Onion Bhujias and more pakoras.

(A terrible photo of our order or onion bhujias)

This meal was definitely the biggest we've had. We started with an order of the above which were great as always and also an order of veggie samosas, also good. Then we all ordered separate entrees trying to hit on each basic type they had (beef, chicken, seafood). Tommy got some shrimp dish, I got chicken tikka masala and Peter and Li both ordered things that I don't remember and am not willing to ask them about. We also got three types of bread, poori (my favorite and obviously the best), nan and chapati.

(Chicken tikka masala and Li's thing)

Tom: An interesting thing about Sangam's is that it is usually somewhat deserted, even for its pretty good lunch buffet (my Mom thinks it is a front for some kind of illicit organization). That being said, it's been in Collegetown for many years and people seem to generally like it. They probably make a lot of money from takeout or something. Its counterpart, Diamond's, is actually similarly quiet but persistent, so it must be an Ithaca Indian thing.

(Tommy's thing)

Sangam's is in the vein of Indian restaurants where you get an absurd amount of sauce compared to the meat you are given. I don't know if this is some kind of standard thing, but I have certainly had Indian meals where it was not an issue. This often leaves you scrambling around for bits of rice or scraps of bread at the end of a meal, because while the sauce to meat ratio is high, the sauce is usually completely delicious. Another hard thing at Indian restaurants can be ordering different types of bread. Some give you a lot more and are much easier to share than others, and some already have things in them that make them too filling to really use as pure sauce vessels. Luckily, all of us are hearty Indian takeout eaters and managed to keep it pretty basic.

(Peter's)

To help Sam out, I think Li got some kind of Lamb Curry and Peter got a vegetable based dish so as to not have everything be entirely meat. The standard Indian restaurant condiments were in the middle of the table, but I never use them even though I don't dislike them. To order as lavishly as we did at Sangam's isn't exactly cheap, though it obviously won't set you back that severely. A good bargain is possible, especially with the lunch buffet. But, you know what you are getting at Sangam's and the meal is always pretty solid all around, from the bread to the rice to the meats and veggies. It's really a great place to eat with friends as the food lends itself toward sharing and it is a nice calm environment. I'd heartily recommend Sangam's for anyone interested in Indian food, though most Ithacans have probably tried it out at some point. I will agree with Sam, however, that having any kind of serious preference between it and Diamond's is kind of silly.

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