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That's hot
There are two simple rules for deciding if a restaurant is awesome or not. First, the food should be delicious, and second, there should be a lot of it.
Sometimes a restaurant that breaks one of these rules can make it almost all the way back to awesome status. The food might be sub-par but really cheap. Or there might not be enough, but it’s so delicious that you (mostly) forget how much you paid for it. But you know you’re on to a good place when both rules hold true - the food is really good and there’s a ton of it. The Indian Oven on Main Street in downtown Columbus is one of these places.
While the word “oven” in the name might bring to mind images of a small, cramped, hot place, the opposite is true. It’s an open, well-lit, modern building, a place with white tablecloths where you won’t regret wearing at least business casual.
While you might want to dress up a little, you don’t have to worry about spending a lot. The prices are very reasonable, especially considering the quality of the food.
I really like Indian food. Curry is delicious, and the flavors in the food are intense. I also happen to like spicy food. At the Indian Oven, there are several options when it comes to spiciness. For those boring people who like to sit mildly through a meal, just enjoying the flavor and perhaps some good conversation, there’s Mild. For those who like spicy food but don’t want to commit to a truly intense experience, there’s Medium. And for those who like food hot enough to make them pass out, there’s Hot.
“I’d like Hot,” I said.
“Are you sure?” the waitress asked. “It’s really hot.”
But I’m not one to take subtle hints.
I had to wait on the food for quite awhile. But when it came, it was worth the wait. There was a dish of rice and a dish of steaming hot chunks of chicken marinated in a concoction of herbs, yogurt and seasonings. This combination was cooked with onions, tomatoes, peppers, and potatoes. It was called Tandoori Chicken Tikki Masala. And there was a lot of it. Unless you haven’t eaten for several days, this dish will fill you up. I also got some Tandoori Naan, which is an Indian bread that’s something like a tortilla, only thicker and less dense.
After a few bites, a searing heat spread through my mouth, and my face started to sweat. Then I began to sniffle. I did, however, manage to avoid passing out, which is something I don’t like to do in restaurants. It’s bad enough looking like you’re getting deeply emotional about your meal.
Overall, the spiciness was just about right, but I wouldn’t have wanted it much hotter. My stomach sent me a memo partway through the meal to the effect that maybe I thought I could get away with this kind of behavior but I was going to hear about it later.
Make your decision about spiciness carefully.
It’s not like the waitress didn’t warn me. She did her best. I was also impressed with the way the staff made me feel welcome, as if I were a regular customer even though I’d never been there in my life.
There was a lot of variety on the menu, and most of it looked good. It was hard to make up my mind. They have unique yogurt drinks, tea, interesting-looking desserts, and some soups.
Sometime, I’m going to go back and try some more of it. Hot, of course.
Andrew Sharp is a Messenger staff writer.
What's with the Bond film fascination?
Before “Quantum of Solace” became the 22nd installment in the James Bond movie franchise, I had watched maybe a total of 30 minutes worth of footage for all the previous ones combined. Honestly, I would have rather subjected myself to a marathon of Westerns over the Bond movies, and I would willingly choose a showdown with Wild Bill Hickok before either of those scenarios.
But a funny thing happened while watching the trailer for another movie; I actually wanted to see “Quantum of Solace.” I blame Daniel Craig, who plays the British secret agent. He’s just a bucket of yum.
Set an hour after the end of “Casino Royale,” we find Bond in a frantic car chase through the winding mountain roads of Italy with assassins on his stylish bumper. Despite the bullets flying, it’s unclear who they want dead; Bond himself or the person he has tied up in the trunk of the car. I’m going to go ahead and assume both, because why would they shoot at the driver if they wanted the trunk person protected.
Naturally, he eludes the danger and goes to a secret location where he can brief fellow operatives on MI6 on his hostage Mr. White (Jesper Christensen), a representative of the terrorist organization Quantum. In what was probably my favorite moment of the movie, Mr. White tells Bond, M (Judi Dench) and other MI6 operatives that they have people everywhere, and signals for an undercover Quantum spy posing as an MI6 agent to start shooting.
Like any great villain, he gets away while Bond is chasing people on rooftops and with him go the secrets of the organization as well as information pertaining to Bond’s beloved Vesper Lynd, who dies at the end of “Royale.”
One dead lead (literally) and numerous plane scenes later, Bond stumbles across Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), a businessman who runs a number of Quantum’s shell corporations. Greene is drawing up plans with the crooked Bolivian General Medrano (Joaquin Cosio) to make his Quantum supported company become the primary water and utilities provider of Bolivia.
The only thing that is putting a dent in his plans is his former mistress Camille (Olga Kurylenko), who wants to kill the General for murdering her family when she was younger. She is saved by Bond during her failed attempt and strikes up an uneasy alliance with him, but surprisingly doesn’t sleep with him. I thought that was a Bond girl prerequisite. Thank goodness they wrote in Strawberry Fields (Gemma Arterton), a brief ally who can’t resist those baby blues.
Forgive me while I scoff…but really? This whole movie they set Bond up to be heartbroken and avenging the death of Vesper, whom he supposedly loved, but he has to bed someone? That must be the prerequisite I was looking for.
Putting aside those minor annoyances and getting back on track, Camille and Bond team up to put an end to Greene’s plot and to get a little vengeance along the way.
While the film was mildly enjoyable, I often found myself wondering why the James Bond franchise has been successful enough to warrant 22 installments. Sure there are cool gadgets, shiny cars, explosives and British accents, but I still don’t get it. “Quantum of Solace” doesn’t make me want to rent a bunch of its predecessors, and maybe even its successors.
I gave this film a C-.
Dedra Cordle is a Messenger staff writer.
