We went to Desi Food Galaxy on Route 27 in NJ on Sunday afternoon. The experience was one of its kind.
Desi Food Galaxy is like a food court. For those who have seen food courts in the US, here is a view of Desi Food Galaxy for you. Imagine the typical food court in the US, then imagine a smaller version of it..now imagine a much smaller version of it..now imagine a micro version of it – but do not reduce the number of restaurants available there – that is Desi Food Galaxy. They have seven restaurants on one side and three or four on the other, with a fruit stall in the middle. No one can maximize the space used more than what Desi Food Galaxy has done. I wonder what the food authorities will have to say on this when they see it!!
In any case, three of us went and got our food from six different sections:
– Hyderabadi Dum Briyani and payasam from a South Indian section – I think it is called some Adda.
– Afghani Kabab and Hariyali kabab from the Afghani food section
– Sweet Corn Chicken soup and cauliflower manchurian from the Indo-Chinese section
– Grape Juice from the fruit stall
– Rasamalai from the Gujarati sweet stall
– Bottled water from the stall near the entrance 🙂
I have not got a chance to try such varied combinations in a single meal before. It was a good experience.
I heard the Briyani was quite good, but the payasam was ok. My buying experience in that store is something requires a blog post by itself and I will write about it soon.
The Indo-Chinese section food was looking tasty, but I heard the sweet corn chicken soup was just average. We loved the cauliflower manchurian – this is one dish that has been my favourite for many years now.
In the Afghani section, they warned that Hariyali Kabab might be too spicy for my son, so we got the Afghani Kabab also along with it. In the end, the Afghani Kabab was too bland and my son loved the Hariyali Kabab and ended up eating it fully. They give a rice, so called Afghan rice with their food. If you have never been to an Afghan restaurant before, you might end up thinking this is how Afghan rice might be. Luckily for the few of us who have been to Afghan restaurants before, we could figure out that this was their attempt, but it was not tasty at all. I think they forgot all the nice spices that go with the Afghan rice, which add to the flavour in it.
Rasamalai was very different. Normally I have tasted it in a syrup that is quite consistent all these years. This time they gave a syrup that tasted like sweetened lassi. Not sure if that is their style or if it was bad!!! In any case, I wont be trying Rasamalai from that store ever again.
Grape juice was freshly made and it gave the feeling of Fresh Fruits Stalls in India. As long as you are not too particular about hygene, etc, grape juice is wonderful. If you are very particular about hygene, etc, you should not even be stepping inside Desi Food Galaxy.
In any case, it was a nice experience and we came out laughing about the whole thing. If you are in the Brunswick area, do try it out if you are adventerous, but if you are very particular about the way things are cooked, please forget this place.