Ashoka the Great: Indian Buffet in Artesia, CA

Ashoka the Great

18614 Pioneer Blvd  Artesia, CA 90701

Lunch buffet: 11 am to 3 pm

Indian cuisine is something that most people definitely need warming up to. I remember the first time I had Indian food, I thought it was FUNKY. Too many weird spices! My first experience with Indian food was...3-4 years ago? And up until this year, I never had a desire to try it again haha. But I was introduced to Ashoka the Great, an Indian restaurant in Artesia with a lunch buffet and it was SO DELICIOUS! I have eaten there twice this year and went there again today with my sister because they have these delicious pancake-y fried balls soaked in sweet syrup that are so addictive. I knew my sister wouldn't love the food, because she's never had Indian food before. But I was on a mission so I pulled her along.

I love how the tables are set with white linen tablecloths, napkins, and the appropriate silverware;  it makes you feel like your lunch cost a lot more than $9 :)

I got too excited to eat haha, so I didn't take a pic of the buffet line-up. 

But you can kinda see it in the background. Typical buffet set up against a wall of the restaurant. It looks small but it's filled with lots of yummyness!

If you ask, they bring out complimentary naan. Flaky yet soft flatbread. 

It's perfect for dipping into all the sauces.

This all looks like a big brown/green blur, but it's yummy! 

Going clockwise: At the top is zucchini and potatoes, then lentils, and then spinach with cheese cubes. I'm not even going to try and list the names lol. Most Indian food is in some sort of curry sauce, but each of these veggie dishes tasted different! I love vegetables and the zucchini was SO yummy! Very moist and fresh tasting, if that makes sense? I went back twice for more hehe. Oh, and the crispy things on the side are poppadom, a thin, roasted Indian cracker used for dipping in sauces/curries I believe. 

The brown thing is goat curry (a LOT of fat but tasty), the crispy triangular brown thing is 

a vegetable samosa with potato, peas, etc inside (good when drizzled with some sweet chutney), and the pink/red thing is tandoori chicken. Tandoori chicken is the beginner's dish to Indian food. It's chicken marinated with yogurt and spices, then traditionally is roasted in a clay oven called a tandoor. Usually it's more moist, today's chicken was a bit dry :(. 

I ate more things but was too much of a piggie and forgot to take pictures. The buffet has a lot of veggie dishes, as many Indians are vegetarian. The one other meat dish I can remember is chicken tikka masala, which is actually the most well-known Indian dish for beginners. It's chicken curry--roasted chicken in a creamy, tomato-y sauce (slightly spicy). I would definitely recommend trying chicken tikka masala if you're a person interested in trying Indian cusines; I LOVED it the first thing I had it. But since then, I have grown to appreciate the different Indian dishes .

To be honest, the main reason why I love Ashoka the Great is their desserts! SO MUCH FRESH FRUIT! Even when the fruits aren't in season, they have strawberries, papaya, pineapple, blueberries, cherries, mangoes. They have a variety of different fruit salads, and rice pudding too!! I love rice pudding, and theirs is super creamy. Indian food is kinda rich and dense, so I think finishing off with fruit is a good way to not feel super gross after. Okay well the rice pudding is creamy but..still.. somewhat good for you. Maybe. Possibly.

The piece de resistance!! Okay, I put in some effort and googled the name. This is Gulab Jamun. The balls consist of dough made from milk solids (aka cheese) and then deepfried. Afterwards, they are soaked in a sweet syrup that can have different flavors. At Ashoka the Great, I believe the syrup is not flavored, probably just straight up sugar and water.

I have had Gulab Jamun at other Indian places and they pale in comparison to these. The balls are light, not dense and super soaked in the syrup so as you bit into them, you get sweetness all in your mouth. 

Alright, I wouldn't call this a light way to end a buffet lunch but that's why you pair the Gulab Jamun with some fruit too hehe.

If you are interested in trying Indian food, or you simply love Indian cuisine but want to try a new place, I would definitely recommend Ashoka the Great.

I have eaten at a total of... four Indian places and my expertise puts Ashoka the Great at the top of my list. Most Indian buffets offer a few dishes but Ashoka the Great has 3-4 meat dishes and around 7 veggie dishes? A wide variety of food for your palate. Honestly, I would really suggest going to an Indian buffet as opposed to ordering a la carte. In my opinion, Indian food can be rich and dense and I personally get bored if I just eat one dish. A buffet allows you to try little bits of mainly Indian dishes and a ton of Indian people eat here, so it is indeed authentic food. AND DAT GULAB JAMUN! I swear, every time I go here I eat up to 5 of those delicious balls of heaven. So good <3

Mochi Paints

Due to the urging of my friends Alina and Cawo, 

I started painting again today :)

My first attempt at a flower. 

A lot more practice is needed hehe

One day, I hope I can paint something as beautiful as this. 

My favorite painting--Water Serpents II by Gustav Klimt. 

When I first saw a print of this hanging in a restaurant, 

I immediately fell in love with its sensuality and vibrancy. 

Such beautiful mix of colors!

Back from my hiatus! Pictures from the past week... or month!

Back. Everyone needs a vacation, even from food blogging!

The past month I've gone on road trips to Vegas and San Francisco with my friends, so my attention has been devoted on that.

...Okay, also I got tired cause damn Blogger only lets you upload one freaking photo at a time. I take a crap load of food pictures from a gazillion different angles; it takes sooo long for me to make one post.

I was actually going to abandon this blog completely, but I was browsing through my camera and thought "so much beautiful food porn, Someone must appreciate my pictures!" So I'm back for now :)

Tostada from the swapmeet!

Yum, greasy meat!

This was a long time ago. I think this is beef stomach. Or tongue?

Creepy dolls for sale. Who would buy these...

Kid for sale! The girl is interested hehe.

I went to Bowers Museum with an old friend. The museum has art from different parts of the world. 

I loved this! Made from ivory. It's amazing how a person can take stone and manipulate it into something with such fluidity and movement!

I loved this painting!! I forgot the name of it hehe. I may try to paint it someday :}

After the museum, we got frozen yogurt! 

Yum, I like to make my froyo as colorful as possible. Colorful food is tastier to eat!

Speaking of ice cream, girl scout ice cream! I looove this! 

Natural History Museum in LA with my sister!

This is me posing with a dinosaur. I thought it was cute but my sister said "....the dinosaur is behind the rope..." hahaha

Cool rocks and stones and stuff! I spent soo long looking at everything!

Dinosaur from Meet The Robinsons!!

Hmm, okay not really the same. But both are very cute haha

Spam Musubi from Honda Ya in Tustin, CA

(Review later when I'm not lazy)

This is a cute Japanese restaurant with a tatami room, 

where you take off your shoes and sit on mats on the floor!

My latest obsession! Green Juice! 

My uncle gave us his old juicer so I've been making yummy healthy drinks. 

I juice kale, spinach, apples, ginger, lemon, cucumber, celery. It actually tastes quite good. Atleast to me lol

Blurry picture from Vegas!

While in Vegas, I had to try Lotus of Siam. Supposedly the best Thai food in the country. 

A customer from my work recommended this to me. Garlic prawns. This single dish is like $22!! But soo freaking good. They separate the skin from the meat and deep fry it. and there's little bits of fried onion and garlic. SO DELICIOUS, why must it be so far away :'( Oh, also too expensive as well haha. But it's rich so 3-4 people can share this dish.

San Francisco! 

Here are my ridiculously adorable friends Sang and Lynn. 

Aren't they cute? They're engaged, I'm planning their wedding for next summer! 

They've been together since hs!! Awww. 

Jk, they aren't dating hahah. But I fooled you, didn't I? 

Sang's face says he isn't falling for it haha

My friend Carolyn and I! 

Caro looks very cute and I'm wearing my ugly windbreaker. 

I think this is the first time I've worn this windbreaker and I swear I've had it for... 8 years! 

I was too small in high school to wear it, plus it doesn't even get cold enough in the OC to wear such a thing. Yay I had to travel hundreds of miles to find a use for it!

 I ate at SUPER delicious places in SF but my camera ran out of battery anddd I was too lazy to recharge it :( So sad, SF is too windy for me but oh the food. I want to visit again NOW! I must do a separate blog post about the places I ate it. Eventually... :}

Just some thoughts

I've recently picked up painting as a hobby. I started last week? And I've been painting every day. There's something about picking up a brush, dabbing in some paint, and swirling against canvas, seeing colors come to life. When I paint, I know what I'm doing. I can see the outcome of every action. I've gone through a lot of personal things this year. It's hard, to see your life change when you didn't plan it, when you didn't prepared and weren't ready for it. And even though you aren't ready for any of it, you suddenly have to grow up and face those problems and deal with them. Life can't just stop so you can take some time and think about how to do things. You have to do, do, do and rush, rush, rush. Even though I wasn't ready. Painting is my little sanctuary. I can get away from everything. Just close my door, sit at my desk, and just create for hours. I can be in control. And when something doesn't go right, I know just how to fix it. I just get some more paint and go over the mistake. Cover it up and everything is better.

North Shore Poke CO and Banzai Bowl in Huntington Beach, CA

A few weeks ago, I hung out with my sis in Huntington Beach. We were both hungry and looking for a place to eat. We actually were going to eat in Long Beach, but we couldn't find the sushi place, despite circling around for 20 minutes. -__-She suggested we try this poke place in HB so we drove over.

North Shore Poke Co. in Huntington Beach, CA. A casual order&eat place on Main St.

Cute kitschy interior

I walked in and was greeted by a very (read: overly) friendly and enthusiastic cashier named Tiffany, covered with those rainbow colored fabric leis. Some people are just super happy and upbeat naturally; but if I were like that all the time, I don't know how I could muster up enough energy for an hour lol. To each their own.

How you order: 1) Choose tuna, salmon, or albacore fish and regular or large size, 2) Choose white rice, brown rice, or cucumber salad, 3) Choose from four different poke sauces (you can split your bowl and order two different sauces), 4) Add optional toppings such as mango, avocado, smelt egg, or ogo (Hawaiian seaweed).

For those that may not know what poke is, poke (or also spelled poki) is raw fish usually dressed with Hawaiian seaweed, green onion, sesame oil, and soy sauce, typically found in Hawaiian cuisine but becoming increasingly popular in the US.

North Shore Poke Co. lets you choose from four different poke sauces

Pipeline: Classic preparation with soy sauce

Waimea: spicy mayo based sauce with smelt eggs

Sunset: Soy sauce-based with a spicy kick

Haleiwa: Coconut juice and wasabi added 

I like different textures so I wanted to order their poke nachos, but the girl said it's more like an appetizer with 2 oz of poke. The regular poke bowls come with 4 oz and the large bowls come with 6 oz, I believe. My sister and I were hungrryy so we split a large poke bowl with Haleiwa sauce ($ since the coconut juice sounded interesting. I added mango ($1 charge), the sweetness sounded like a good juxtaposition to the savory poke. I still wanted chips and the hyper cashier girl told me their chips are suuper good so I ordered some on the side for $2.

Haleiwa style poke, cucumber salad, Hawaiian Sun, chips

Our food! Okay first I have to say that since the girl raved about their chips, I was expecting them to be made in store and super fresh, especially since I paid $2 extra. Uh no, I watched the guy pour some chips from a big bag onto a paper plate. Hmm... okay... but to be honest even if they were from a bag, the chips were really good!

Looks boring but I love Japanese marinated cucumber salad. They have this at my work too and it's super addicting to me. My sister said it tastes funny but I think it's crisp and refreshing (better than at my work, shh :X)

Poke!

Piece de resistance. Not gonna lie, it looks better than it tastes haha. The mango was a really nice touch, but I was underwhelmed by the poke. The fish was fresh but the I couldn't taste any wasabi at all, even though it was supposed to be the main thing to set this poke apart from the others.

My adorable sister! Ain't she a cutie

We wanted dessert and this was just next door. Everyone has been raving about Banzai Bowls, 

so we stepped in. They have fruit smoothies that have cool ingredients like acai and goji berries.

Hmm, gee I wonder if Volcom owns this place... lol

My sister goes here often so she ordered for us. You walk into a small hallway to see a counter and cashier. You order and turn to the right into this area. Cute!

Me! :)

I tipped. Jk, I didn't hahaha

We got a Maui Sunrise, small $6.75 Huge portion for a small!
Inside is: coconut milk, pineapple juice, acai, bananas, strawberries, mango.

My sister is very impatient and dug in before I could take a proper picture -_-
I like bananas, but hate when they are blended into something, like yogurt or smoothies. So we asked for no bananas blended in, but bananas on top would be fine. I think the guy that was making it messed up and forgot to exclude bananas. He hesitated, asked if any of us were allergic to bananas. We said no and he handed it to us.

On top: bananas, blueberries, strawberries, coconut flakes, granola, and honey.

I take a bite and yep, there is definitely banana in the smooth boo. The smoothie underwhelmed me too, I guess Huntington Beach doesn't like me :( I felt like the smoothie would have benefited a lot from some milk or some sort of creaminess. It was pretty tart and I couldn't really taste any acai at all. I only took a few bites and let my sister finish the rest. Bleh.

Time for real dessert--Dippin Dots!

Afterwards we stopped by the beach and I was definitely not satisfied by Banzai Bowl, 

so we stopped at a little beach hut and got Dippin Dots! 

Brought back memories from when I would go to Disneyland with my family and always eat Dippin Dots :)

Mandatory generic beach picture

Although North Shore Poke Co and Banzai Bowl were not that good and I probably won't be going back, Huntington Beach is always a nice place to hang out with friends and just chill.

Second birthday dinner: Kula Revolving Sushi in Irvine, CA

On the last day of school, after I was done with everythang, I met up with my friend Carolyn because she wanted to treat me out for my bday. She was craving revolving sushi, so off we went!

Kula Revolving Sushi, Irvine CA

I usually go at night and it's always crowded. We came at 5 PM? and there was no wait! Such a rarity.

Revolving sushi bars are a bit different than regular sushi restaurants. The sushi come pre-made on plates and rotate around the entire restaurant on little conveyer belts. So adorable! Even though the sushi is pre-made, the quality is not bad at all. At Kula, all the sushi plates are $2. Most rolls come with three pieces, regular nigri comes with two pieces, and specials like uni and toro come with one piece. 

Red bean mochi!

Say hi to Carolyn! I told her to pose for the camera.

Serious face. Something's wrong here...

Devious face, wait for it...

Hahah, cute silly Caro

Tiger Roll!

California roll with cooked shrimp on top, with spicy mayo and eel sauce. Topped with jalapeno. So fattening but delicious!

Kula Roll

California roll with salmon on top with lemon juice. Usually I don't like salmon that much but the lemon makes it yummy! Note the small amount of fish, hence the cheap prices

Salmon mayo sushi

Seared salmon with mayo. I didn't try this haha but Carolyn loved it

Carolyn's sweet shrimp. I loove shrimp head, so good

Beef sushi! Comes with two pieces. The beef has a sweet, sesame sauce on it. Pretty good, although it's such a thin slice of meat. I guess it's better that way so you aren't stuck chewing on a huge chunk of beef.

Spider handroll. 

In my opinion, Kula makes the best spider hand roll I've ever had! Deepfried soft shell crab, with gobo and lettuce inside. Perfect with some ponzu sauce.

Vegetable handroll. Lettuce, avocado, and gobo inside. 

I think things like cucumber rolls and and veggie rolls are a refreshing palate cleanser when you're eating sushi. Carolyn took a bite of my vegetable handroll and the look on her face told me she did not agree at all haha!

Spicy tuna crunchy roll. Inside is shrimp tempura, avocado. 

On top is raw tuna with mayo and eel sauce topped with fresh jalapenos.

I looove this! I  

Tuna Yukke. Chopped tuna with "bbq sauce," poached quail egg, and green onion

One of my other favorites! I always get this when I go to Kula. The sauce they put in is so yummy and the creaminess of the egg yolk goes so well against the seaweed and green onion.

Carolyn's tempura udon. Only $4?

I hate udon (I don't like the think noodles) but Carolyn said it's good. Udon broth with noodles, tempura flakes, and two shrimp tempuras.

Our finished plates stacked up. Carolyn still looks hungry ahaha. 

When you're full, you just call the server over and they count the plates, multiply by $2, and that's your total! We didn't eat too much, I think 12 plates between us? That would be $24 dollars plus the udon. Not bad! The plus is that you get to sample a lot of different sushi items. I like small plates. In normal sushi restaurants, each roll comes with 8-10 pieces. All the rice fills you up so it's hard to order a lot of rolls. I'd recommend Kula as an alternative to that. No, it's not authentic sushi, it's not top quality, but it is very good for the concept!