#four samosas (2022)

[ennaih]

Every Film I Watch In 2023:

82. Four Samosas (2022)

[welcome-to-the-cafe]

things i watched in 2022

asian film:

after life (dir. kore-eda)

爱情神话 (2021)

a brighter summer’s day (dir. edward yang)

asako i & ii (dir. hamaguchi)

inu-oh (2021) (dir. yuasa) (this was amazing, i wish i had done some kind of write-up for it while it was still fresh)

wheel of fortune and fantasy (2021) (dir. hamaguchi) (more hamaguchi bc we love hamaguchi)

days of being wild (1990) (dir. wong kar-wai)

three by naomi kawase: sweet bean (2015), still the water (2014), radiance (2017) (these were ok, kind of slow)

an autumn afternoon (dir. yasujiro ozu)

decision to leave (dir. park chan-wook) (tbh i want to see kevin write about this one)

asian-american film:

everything everywhere all at once (2022)

four samosas (dir. ravi kapoor) (another one i wish i’d done a write-up for while it was fresh)

not asian film but worth a mention:

solaris (dir. tarkovsky)

nightmare alley (2021) (dir. del toro)

mirror (dir. tarkovsky)

wonder boys (2000) (because pittsburgh)

a bunch of spider-man movies

crimes of the future (2022)

the before trilogy

black moon (1975) (weird, kind of bad; and ofc i liked it a lot)

moonage daydream (2022)

the menu (2022) & bones and all (2022) (these two go surprisingly well together as a double feature)

glass onion

remainder (2015)

also, at kevin: i see your unpublished drafts! i see them

[criticarter]

Films Watched in 2023 - (41/???)

Four Samosas (2022) -- Ravi Kapoor (3/5)

It's a little light on substance (and more than a little reminiscent of Anderson debut Bottle Rocket), but more than enough charm pulls through to make it worth 80 minutes, including credits and unexpected post-credit content.

[readdelicious]

from STAY TRUE by Hua Hsu

 ***

Hsu and his roommates debate pop culture and other things at Berkeley in the 1990s.

At night Paraag, Dave, and I lay in our bunks, arguing about inane, deeply important things, like whether Boyz II Men were better than the Beatles. Why our room, which was meant for three, was smaller than the doubles down the hall. Who had eaten the last of the samosas his father had dropped off at our dorm. If we would ever experience true love, and whether we would stay friends for the next four years. Tommy Boy versus Billy Madison. Was Ken Griffey Jr. the greatest ballplayer of our lifetime? Where did the weathered Bob Marley CD constantly playing in our room actually come from? Is X-Files actually going anywhere? Were video games a real sport? We spent so much of our time in this mode—sifting through culture as evidence, projecting different versions of ourselves based on our allegiances and enthusiasms. We weren’t in search of answers. These weren’t debates to be won: certainty was boring. We were in search of patterns that would bring the world into focus.

(2022)

[kiggundu]

*{Movie}* Four Samosas 2022 1080p BluRay Action Comedy Romance 5.5/10 IMDb.com 68% Rottentomatoes.com 58% Metacritic.com Synopsis... An unmotivated South Asian American rapper, along with three other first time thieves, plans a heist on a grocery store owned by his ex-girlfriend's father, in order to steal her wedding diamonds and disrupt her pending engagement. (at Kampala, Uganda, East Africa) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpCG-5cI4xl/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[mundo-misterio]

Reseña y resumen de la película Four Samosas (2022)

Reseña y resumen de la película Four Samosas (2022)

“Tal vez es una historia sobre encontrar tu voz de nuevo”, especula Vinny. “O tal vez es solo una historia sobre saris”, concluye. Más saris podrían haber ayudado, pero el verdadero problema con “Four Samosas” no es su efecto Anderson o su falta general de especificidad cultural. Más bien, hay más escenarios grandiosos que buenos remates en el tributo veloz pero inamovible del…

[hiheat]

Chef’s Table restaurant review - Edison NJ

Chef's Table Indian/Pan Asian Restaurant Edison, NJ https://www.ourchefstable.com/

We walked into Chef's Table in Edison on a Saturday evening in October 2022 at 7PM with no dinner reservations. Frankly, with the profusion of excellent Indian cuisine in north Edison, NJ, my expectations were set fairly low. Also, based on the online reviews, I was prepared for spotty service and uneven food, given the normal Saturday night rush. 

However, my personal takeaway: Everything was excellent and we'll definitely be going back hoping for a similar experience! Here are the details:

The restaurant was busy but we were seated promptly. Interior atmosphere was warm and inviting, although there was a definite draft from the door every time it was opened (perhaps the vestibule needs to be heated?). (No trace remained of the brick-oven pizzeria that used to occupy this building.)

Our server brought out chutneys (mint and tamarind), and tiny little cracker-shaped "papadum". I wasn't a fan of the crackers, tbh. They had neither the flavor or the texture of traditional lentil-based papad, but my partner did enjoy them. *shrug* from me. I liked both chutneys, however. (I later learned that the traditional papadum were on the menu and will explicitly order them next time.)

For appetizers, we ordered Cauliflower in Sweet chili sauce (Chilli Garlic Gobhi Dry), Tandoori Chicken thighs (Nawabi Tandoori Murgh), and Samosas. Both the chicken and cauliflower came out quickly, but the samosas required a bit of a wait.

The cauliflower was coated in a delightfully crispy coating in a sticky sweet sauce with really good flavor all around. Good balance of acid and sweet, with a hint of chili. They could have used a pinch of additional salt and heat, but that might just be personal preference. That didn’t stop us from scraping the dish clean after the cauliflower was gone.

The tandoori chicken was a double portion of the chicken thigh and the first wing section (drumettes) both on the bone. They were cooked well, and the traditional yogurt coating was flavorful. Meat was falling off the bone but still had a good resilience to it.

Despite the wait for the three samosas, we were really happy with what we eventually received. The Samosa pastry and filling were definitely house-made, not frozen. Filling was finely ground, with fresh herbs and peas mixed into the potato mash, and the pastry was light and tender.

After our apps were cleared, we received a tray of fresh veggies with plastic wrap still on it. While we appreciated the COVID precautions with uncooked food that was obviously prepared and stored in a chiller, the plastic wrap served at the table was a little unclassy for my taste. Despite the fact that this was obviously prepared well in advance (the beets had stained the red onion, for example) everything still tasted fresh and crispy, so only a minor complaint here, and a reasonable accommodation to keep the food moving along with limited staff.

As this was our first time visiting, Mrs. Heat and I ordered four entreés, with full intent to take quite a bit home and share with the Embers.

Vegetable Manchurian - good texture and flavor, generous portion. Really liked the texture of the "veggie balls", and the sauce was really deep and intense.

Butter chicken - very tender meat with a mild sauce, could have used a bit more protein, as you may be able to tell from the photo. Chicken is the least expensive protein commercially available today – there's no excuse to skimp on this. Other than that, a good dish overall. Would order again, especially with more chicken!

Stuffed paneer (Khumani Bhare Kofte) - exactly as described and very tasty. This was a new dish for us, and we were surprised that there was literally dried fruits and plums stuffed inside the paneer. No idea how they did that, but it made for an extremely flavorful bite. A winner indeed!

Lamb (Gosht Rismisa) - falling apart boneless meat. Good gravy - one of the dishes you want to soak up in naan or rice well after the protein was gone. And the protein in this dish was plentiful, in contrast to the scant butter chicken protein (and inexplicable, given their relative wholesale prices!)

We were so pleased with the meal that we stayed for dessert - ditching our plans to bug off to Mithaas and its panoply of indian desserts.

We saw other patrons order the Kulfi, served in a smoking ceramic bowl and couldn't help but order it, along with traditional Rasmalai. 

The Rasmalai had a delicious strong flavor, and was both creamy and  tasty. I literally licked the bowl - hopefully when no one was looking.

The Kulfi Falooda (served with noodles), although somewhat bland, was served in a unique ceramic vessel with smoking dry ice. Worth the experience, once. 

As we were waiting for the check, we saw a number of other dishes served to other patrons that looked spectacular. Looking on their website, (https://www.ourchefstable.com/online-ordering/) I've identified possible items to order next time, based mainly on how dramatic they appear! :

Gol Gappe

Mini Veg Spring Rolls

Shrimp Tempura

Chadni Seekh

Great photos and presentations on the site, btw. You should look at this page even if you're going to eat so you know in advance what to expect.

The service was – while not exceptional – fairly typical of Indian restaurants not in Manhattan, and really quite good for post-COVID staffing challenges. Obviously, they're suffering from the same foodservice shortages that we're seeing industry-wide, but Chef's Table is handling it gracefully. Our server was cordial and helpful throughout, and responded from across the floor to eye contact and a smile. We saw additional servers and bussers as necessary, mostly to deliver food and take away dirties. Timing could have been tighter, but again, at primetime on a Saturday night, I was happy with how well they kept up with the rush. I would suggest at least one more main server and one more busser for the Friday/Saturday night 5-9 shift.

My summary here was that this was a very good experience for an Indian/PanAsian restaurant, and a standout even in North Edison, NJ. Several dishes were surprising, and all were at least "very good" in my opinion. My few tweaks could easily be incorporated by an attentive manager and head chef; I hope they take them to heart.

I'm excited to visit again, and may add Chef's Table into our regular Indian food rotation. Incidentally, almost none of the food made it home to the little Heatlings. We returned home with two small takeaway containers and very full belles. Next time, they'll have to come along. 🙂

Remember to check out my HiHeat blog on Tumblr for more Restaurant Reviews and home recipes.

Thanks for reading and Happy Eating!

[tomorrowedblog]

First look at Four Samosas

A new trailer has been released for Four Samosas, which is set to release December 2, 2022.

Determined to disrupt the wedding of his ex-girlfriend by stealing her dowry, underachieving, wanna-be rapper Vinny and his neighborhood pals concoct a plan to take her family jewels from a supermarket safe.