Bollywood Theatre
2039 NE Alberta, Portland OR.
For me, Indian food is only sold in two ways: dirt cheap, the kind of indian food that's generous of sauce and stingy with the mystery meat, and then there's Vij's - ambriosa from the gods, at the expected diety price.
Bollywood Theatre surprised me with flavourful, memorable food at a reasonable price. Bollywood posters and antiques from India complete the shabby chic vibe of the space. It's casual, so casual in fact you line-up to order your food, then grab your table while you wait for it to arrive, then bus your table after. Like most Portland hotspots, there's a line-up even during off hours (do Portlanders do anything other than eat and ride bikes?) but the wait is bearable and absolutely worth it because you can watch bollywood movies, or soak in all the eye candy while you wait.
At the recommendation of the host, we ordered the Samosa Cholle ($6.50). While delicious, it was hard to justify paying $6.50 for something we could get for $1 on Little India at home. If you are particularly into samosas, go ahead and get it, but if not, save the stomach space! You'll thank me later!
First up was the Goan Style Shrimp ($10.50): shrimp with curry leaves, chile, coconut milk, and lime served with saffron rice. One of my favourites, and not too spicy. We also ordered the lime BBQed Corn (I overheared a regular rave about it in the line. She was right!), Portuguese influenced Pork Vindaloo (fork tender) and deep fried Okra with Raita (it made vegi hater, John decide that okra isn't that bad, woot!) . There wasn't a single dish that wasn't absolutely delicious. Although, the Pork Vindaloo did make us sweat a little. ;)
I felt like it gave me the flavour adventure that I'd get at Vij's but at less than half the price. Solid.