date: 11/17/10
location: minneapolis
grade: b

chindian is owned by the same people who own the rainbow chinese restaurant on eat street and follow the same local, organic, free-range ethic that they do. this one's more pan-asian, with chinese, indian, malayasian and vietnamese foods on the menu. it reminded me of apple valley's best restaurant, satay to go (see the bitedex list of restaurants to see how many times i've frequented that place). you'd think it'd remind me a bit more of curry 'n' noodles, another place with the influence of chinese and indian food, but that's mostly indian with a few chinese dishes thrown in, almost as an afterthought.

after feeling indecisive, which can be a problem with a menu with diverse influences, we decision-treed the vegetable samosa. on their online menu it says you get "6 pastries served with house-made mint sauce" for $6, we only got 5. the mint sauce was excellent, we could've used more of it. the samoas were also top-notch, as they had the usual crisp outside, but the veg inside was both tender and also individual. most i've had were kind of a mush of everything at once, this one you could tell what was the pea and what was the potato.

as i scanned the menu before i came in, i read the following- "indian fried noodles- wheat noodles, chicken, tofu, eggs, sprouts
and scallions, garnished with a lime wedge" ($11). to me this read much like the mee goreng at satay 2 go, "egg noodle stir fry with chicken, tofu cube, egg, and vegetables" (theirs is only $7.95).

same thing only different, no? i'd have to say i'm coming down strongly on the side of the satay 2 go one. the chindian one was good, but given the price, the lack of egg and the wheat noodles (i'd guess whole-wheat spaghetti) vs. egg and the more prominent veg in the satay 2 go version, chindian's version didn't read as strong, as tasty, or as comforting as the other. but it's mostly the noodles themselves i find less interesting. it wasn't bad, but i'd go for something else off their menu instead of this again.

it was another small restaurant club, there was only one other dish ordered, the nasi lemak, also off the malayasian part of the menu and also available at satay 2 go, the nasi lemak. the chindian online menu ingredients read "coconut rice, fried chicken, pan-fried egg, peanuts and anchovies sambal" and was $9. the satay 2 go reads "curried chicken over coconut flavor rice with potato, hard-boiled egg and cucumber" and is $7.95.

can't recall if i've tasted it at satay 2 go... but the chindian version was good, better than my dish. i'm guessing the fried egg had a lot to do with it, and also the sambal made the dish, i think.

as for the spice leve, go in there knowing that chindian does 'medium' as true medium, not minnesotan, so heads up on that. i found it head-clearingly nice.

it seemed to be a two person operation- the cook and the front of house etc. person, who was very personable. i did ask if there was any big difference between the mee goreng and the other dish (not really is what it comes down to, but there are many ways to do mee goreng and the indian fried noodles made more sense as a name for the dish) and they asked where i had it before.

i wonder if they do a big takeout business, the place wasn't too busy. they probably get more of a lunch crowd. and i will say chindian way more attractive (satay 2 go is mostly, obviously, 2 go so runs to plastic and bright interior)- maroon and wood dominates. they had jazz playing. it was relaxing and mellow. and it smelled really really good.