MY DAY WITH MAX

Hey guys, so this post is a little out of order since it happened today, and I'm still working on a whole back log of posts, but I just wanted to get this one in before I went to bed today. Mainly to show you a pic of my adorable little cousin, Max. Look at those cheeks!

So Max is enjoying a free strawberry breakfast smoothie courtesy of Jamba Juice. I think you guys all know what Jamba Juice is, so I'm not going to explain it to you here, but they were doing a promo today for their new breakfast menu that included getting a free 12 oz. drink of your choice. I got Max a strawberry smoothie, which he enjoyed a lot. I got a mango, passion fruit, orange juice, which was pretty good, and I got Max's mom a blueberry smoothie with granola topper.

I spent most of my morning and afternoon of my one day off this week with Max. It's his spring break and since his mom's got a cold and is still recovering from surgery, I wanted to help her out a bit. In the morning, Max and I went to the Jamba to get our free drinks, then headed over to the farmer's market, where I bought fresh strawberries and where we shared a chicken sausage (which we both enjoyed).

After visiting the YMCA for kid's play time (like 20 kids in a room running around and playing on toys, swings, etc- man it was tiring) it was time for lunch. Cindy, Max's mom, plus Max and I all headed out to Vik's Chaat Corner, which I had suggested.

Now the SF Chronicle just came out with it's annual top 100 restaurants in the Bay Area list on Sunday and after looking at the restaurant in the East Bay, I realized that we'd already been to most of them (and I didn't think most of them deserved to be on the list, but whatever), but one we hadn't visited was Vik's Chaat Corner. Now, I knew that Vik's existed, but I had yet to make my way over there, and this was a great chance.

Now the review of this place was pretty spot on. It's a pretty nondescript building in a warehousey area (actually the wine.com warehouse was immediately across the street). Here's the view from the exterior. Other than this little sign on the right you'd never know if was there.

We got really lucky and snagged a parking space just outside, but when we entered, we found an enormous space with super high ceilings and there was already a lunch crowd there. As the review described, it was filled with a mix of people- we saw the construction worker, the Berkeley cops and lots of co-workers out for lunch. We perused the menu (which wasn't very long) and got in line. Every day, they have a different special- either veg or meat. I got the meat special (chicken korma) and Cindy got the veg special (veg curry). I also got an appetizer of Sev Puri- Crisp flat papdi topped with potatoes, onions, cilantro, mint, and tamarind and garlic chutnies.

This place was quick and efficient. You seat yourself and wait for your named to be called. And when you get your food, it's served in these specially designed plastic trays (which kinda reminds me of prison trays). You get all this stuff with your meal, too. Here's my chicken korma, which came with a side of daal, yogurt, rice, bread, a papadam and spicy pickles. It was actually pretty good. The chicken korma was a bit spicy and I really liked my papadam. And it was just $6.95. My cousin also enjoyed her curry and little Max liked the daal with rice (and he stole our bread and papadams- he's a carb monster).

And here's a pic of my Sev Puri. It ended up being good, but a bit spicier than I'd expected. I had about three before I gave up, but it certainly cleared my sinuses.

Overall this wasn't the best Indian food I've ever had, but it certainly was a great place for a quick, cheap meal. I can certainly see why it's so popular and on our way out, the line was almost to the door. I did some grocery shopping at their store next door and stocked up on some Indian cooking supplies and I do plan on taking Tom once he returns.