Namaste Shangri La

I tried to go to a talk on Global Climate Change today at lunch – but apparently I had the location down wrong. I showed up, but no one else did.

I was rather bummed about that – I had been looking forward to meeting the speaker, Jackie Poston from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. I had heard she was very interesting, and had thought to volunteer some of my time to the cause – since I have so much time on my hands lately.

I hung around till noon, hoping to run into somebody that might know what was going on – but finally hunger drove me off.

I decided to treat myself to lunch at a relatively new place called Namaste Shangri La (www.namasteshangrila.blogspot.com) and boy, am I glad I did.

It’s a small place tucked into a strip mall off of Tudor near Lake Otis: not the easiest place to get to, but well worth the effort. Inside, it’s painted an interesting shade of celery (?) greed and decorated with photos from Tibet and/or Nepal.

It was rather chilly, so the waitress seated me towards the back of the room so I wouldn’t get cold up front by the door. Unfortunately, I was seated directly underneath a light that reflected off the glass tabletop right into my eye, exacerbating the migraine that was just starting to form. That was no fault of the waitress, though, and I really should have moved over to another chair at that same table.

While I read thru the menu, I sipped a cup of Chiya: imported Indian tea brewed with aromatic spices. Mmmmm… that was almost better than my choice of meal – but not quite.

What I chose was the Canoe Potato – an Alaskan potato stuffed with mixed vegetables and paneer (home made cottage cheese) served in a rich sauce with nuts for garnish.

I highly recommend you try this place! But – it’s small, so go early to ensure you get a good table. And if you’re prone to migraines, don’t be embarrassed to switch seats, dummy!