I generally don’t like buffets, for all the obvious reasons: The food is kept at the wrong temperature, the good items go fast and what’s left is gross, etc. You know–you probably feel the same way I do.
Swagath, an Indian restaurant at 4205 Hacks Cross, is a different story, though. I was told, (incorrectly, it turned out) that I couldn’t order from the menu at lunch at a recent visit, so to the buffet table we went. I was surprised at the quality and the integrity of the food. It was hot (in heat and flavor–surprisingly spicy,probably too spicy for many people), items were frequently replenished and even the gulab jamun, those tasty little dough balls in a light syrup, weren’t reduced to mush like on most buffets.
More in an upcoming review, but if you’re in the area and you like Indian food, stop by. There were probably 75 people there for lunch when I visited and I’m guessing 90 percent were Indian. That’s always a good sign.
First Bites
Responses to “First Bite at Swagath”
July 18th, 2007 at 1:02 pm
Have you tried Mayuri on Quince and Kirby? An excellent buffet and delicious dinner menu!
July 18th, 2007 at 1:06 pm
LOVE, LOVE Mayuri, but I always order from the menu there. I don’t think the buffet is as well maintained as the one at Swagath. I could DRINK Mayuri’s mint chutney!
July 18th, 2007 at 3:56 pm
Boy did you catch my attention with “probably too spicy for many people” - sounds just right for me. I usually go to Mayuri but will have to try Swagath.
I just returned from Los Angeles yesterday and had a chance to go to the L.A. Farmers Market and to Whole Foods. It can just make you weep to see the incredible variety and quality of ingredients that Angelenos have available and probably take for granted.
July 18th, 2007 at 4:09 pm
I can’t speak for the people of LA, but I’ll say this: I don’t take the variety of ingredients I have for granted here in the San Francisco Bay Area (and there’s SO much). Maybe that’s because I grew up in Memphis, though.
I love my Whole Foods, and you can have my Trader Joe’s when you pry it from my cold dead fingers. SF itself has a farmer’s market twice a week at the ferry building, and in Marin County - where I live - there seems to be a farmer’s market every day of the week in at least one town.
I miss Memphis BBQ, though.
July 18th, 2007 at 4:22 pm
The LA Farmers Market is one of the most interesting places I have ever been. You can spend hrs. there & not see everything. I remember buying a huge Granny Smith apple covered in fresh caramel that was messy but oh so good. The locals might take it for granted, but I sure didn’t.
July 19th, 2007 at 11:48 am
I’ve Been to the LA Farmers Market. It is a true adventure. You really don’t have to travel to LA or SF to find a great Farmer’s Market.
The one in downtown Memphis is a look back at the railroad world. Its on a platform on the Central Station.
The River Market District of Little Rock has shops, restaurants, and a Farmer’s Market. The whole area is a great walking around shopping area. It is just worth the trip to walk along the riverwalk at the Arkansas River.
The Nashville farmer’s Market is a great place. It has a large open-aired building with flea market type vendors, a middle air-conditioned building with restaurants in a vendor setting that includes Jamaican, American, Oriental, Cajun, & Greek to name a few. On the other end of the air conditioned eating area is a huge open covered area of food and produce sales. The trip is made even more eventful by looking up the hill from the Farmer’s Market at a picturesque view of the Tennessee State Capitol.
Historic Soulard in St Louis has a great Farmer’s Market with a lot of quaint shops and eateries surrounding the Farmer’s Market in the local old South St Louis neighborhood.
July 19th, 2007 at 7:48 pm
I’ve never been in a Trader Joe’s, but I’ve heard so much about it. Imagine my surprise to find out it’s owned by a trust set up by one of the Albrecht brothers from Germany aka the owners of Aldi — definitely not my idea of a nice grocery store; though, you can’t beat the price on a lot of things.
July 20th, 2007 at 11:21 am
It is true that the Albrecht brothers have owned Trader Joe’s since buying it in 1979. But the concepts that define TJs (low prices on gourmet foods, lots of private label products, laid-back atmosphere with employees in Hawaiian shirts) all come from founder Joe Coulombe who started TJs in 1967. The Albrecht brothers were very smart to keep the founder’s vision which is as different from Aldi as night and day.
I figure that I spend several hundred dollars per year at Trader Joe’s - not including transportation! I would love to keep those dollars in Memphis and free up all that suitcase space that I devote to food transport. (I am still picking little bits of dried Thai lime leaves out of the bottom of my roll-aboard after my visit to L.A.’s TJ last week.) But my guess is that TJs does not see a desirable demographic in Memphis so I don’t expect to see one here anytime soon.
July 21st, 2007 at 5:41 am
Who said it’s not desirable? I’m sure I could tear through some “Two Buck Chuck!”
July 21st, 2007 at 1:22 pm
I don’t think Trader Joe’s will come to Tennessee until the laws change to allow food stores to sell wine. one of TJ’s most profitable products.
The legislature voted it down again recently so who knows when or if it will ever happen.
July 23rd, 2007 at 10:41 am
We will never get grocery store wine sales in Tennessee. The retail and wholesale lobby is too powerful.
July 23rd, 2007 at 12:03 pm
I took a friend with me to Costco on Hacks Cross Saturday & she asked if the adjacent liquor store was part of Costco. I told her no, there is also a liquor store adjacent to the Costco at I-40 & Germantown Pkwy. I assume they are there for “one stop shopping” when people are planning a party with food from Costco. It’s not a bad marketing strategy if that’s what they have in mind. I do wish we could buy wine in the grocery store, or even at Walgreens. But you have to figure in a state that distills Jack Daniels in a dry county, the lobby Fredric mentioned is indeed too powerful to allow that to happen.
July 27th, 2007 at 4:31 pm
I asked a TJ corporate person about putting a store in Memphis, and the wine explanation is exactly right. They need to be able to sell wine to be profitable enough to justify a store.
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