i am extremely unfamiliar with indian food. there are a lot of indians in this area. i grew up around it but not involved with it. i never really got involved with other cultures. i was just friends with classmates and didn't penetrate into anyone's background. there's a section of artesia nicknamed "little india". they've been trying to get it officially named that for years but for some reason the city is against it. i know that many indians are vegetarian and there's several vegetarian restaurants in little india. i want to try the food but i just don't do spicy, at all. however, inspired by watching "bend it like beckham" last night (a superb film by the way) i went to have lunch at one of those indian vegetarian restaurants called udupi palace. upon entering i made a faux pas because i entered through the exit. no wonder the workers stared but i didn't realize it until much later. i tried the vegetable samosa and special sava dosa. the samosa was really good. i think the dosa had a bit too much spices for my taste but i enjoyed it. i don't think i'll go be going back there because i don't have much time left here and i want to check out the other indian vegetarian restaurants in the area. especially one whose window declares that it is "pure vegetarian food". i hope that means it is dairy free.

after eating at udupi palace, we went across the street to bombay sweets and snacks, hoping to find something vegan. the worker we talked to wasn't very helpful. some ladies waiting in line were very helpful. in total, we figured out that we better not risk it and walked out without trying anything. perhaps we should experience indian sweets for dessert at a vegetarian restaurant.