Powered by Google
Home
Listings
Editors' Picks
News
Music
Movies
Food
Life
Arts + Books
Rec Room
Moonsigns
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Personals
Adult Personals
Classifieds
Adult Classifieds
- - - - - - - - - - - -
stuff@night
FNX Radio
Band Guide
MassWeb Printing
- - - - - - - - - - - -
About Us
Contact Us
Advertise With Us
Work For Us
Newsletter
RSS Feeds
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Webmaster
Archives



sponsored links
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
PassionShop.com
Sex Toys - Adult  DVDs - Sexy  Lingerie


   
  E-Mail This Article to a Friend

Ali’s Roti Restaurant
Spicing things up
BY ADAM REILLY
Previous Columns

Grab a menu at Ali’s Roti Restaurant, and you’ll discover the ingredients of Ali’s curry, as well as their alleged health benefits. According to the owners, the food at Ali’s — which is seasoned with (deep breath here) garlic, fennel, fenugreek, turmeric, coriander, cilantro, thyme, ajowan, Congo peppers, and anise — will, among other things, fortify your spleen, liver, and kidney; dispel fatigue and nervousness; diminish throat and chest congestion; and tone the male reproductive organs.

Skepticism may be warranted. But there’s another, incontrovertible plus to Ali’s cuisine: it tastes good, and there’s plenty of it. Consider the large curry-goat dinner ($7.99), in which a dozen or so nuggets of goat are stewed, on separate shards of bone, and served with three side dishes. The on-bone preparation renders the goat pleasingly tender, and minimizes its gaminess while retaining plenty of flavor. Two of the side selections — potatoes and cabbage — are automatic: the potatoes are just short of mashed, and boast a subtle but lingering heat, while the cabbage (prepared with pigeon peas and carrots) possesses an almost Eastern-European mildness. As a third side, I chose the kidney beans and rice, which had a deep, almost buttery richness.

Every animal protein at Ali’s (including kingfish steak, curry shrimp, stewed chicken thighs, and stewed oxtail, to name a few) can be ordered as a roti wrap (the West Indian equivalent of a burrito) or as a stand-alone dinner. This includes the specialty of the house, Ali’s Pelau ($7.99/large dinner), in which slow-cooked rice is teamed with stewed chicken thighs and pigeon peas. Whatever you get, make sure to request a side of pepper sauce, which resembles a vinegary, garlicky Tabasco, and use it liberally. It’s hot stuff, but very tasty.

Ali’s Roti Restaurant, located at 1188 Blue Hill Avenue, in Mattapan, is open Monday through Thursday, from 11 am to 9 pm, and Friday and Saturday, until 10 pm. Call 617.298.9850. A second location, at 1035 Tremont Street, in Roxbury, is open Monday through Wednesday, from 11 am to 7 pm, and Thursday through Saturday, until 8 pm. Call 617.427.1079.


Issue Date: September 9 - 15, 2005
Back to the Food table of contents
Back to On the Cheap archive
  E-Mail This Article to a Friend
 









about the phoenix |  advertising info |  Webmaster |  work for us
Copyright © 2005 Phoenix Media/Communications Group