Minar

I started a new block by block challenge today, choosing the block right next to my office. The block is going to be a little out of order since it was too cold for me to wait for the street carts and then at the Cuban place I tried to determine which day was best for the daily specials while dodging people in line and my brain shut off. So I went for Indian food at Minar and will just have to go back to the others another time.

I got the vegetable combo which came with 3 choices and either rice or naan. I got potatoes and peas, chickpeas, and yellow lentils over rice.


I thought the dishes were pretty good. My favorite was probably the yellow lentils, then the chickpeas, and then the potatoes and peas. The best thing about the way Minar does the combo is that they pile all the rice into the bottom of the tin, and then top it with the three different dishes so that the sauces soak into the rice. The dishes might look a little watery in the steam table but once you start eating it at your desk, it's nice and thick, and the rice has been soaking in the flavors of each dish. That made the yellow lentil part even better!

Somehow my go-to Indian place has been Indus, despite the fact that Minar is much closer to my office. (I think it's because I like to get a little bit of a walk in.) I do like that Indus gives you both rice and naan, while Minar makes you choose (but Minar's is slightly cheaper so maybe it ends up being the same). But Indus has a three-part dish so only one of the dishes really soaks into the rice, unlike the way Minar puts everything on top of rice. I like them both though, so it's hard to choose! I guess I'll just keep going to both!