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Recently I had the pleasure of being invited to eat at newly opened Blue Dream Curry House, located in downtown Asheville, to sample their international sampling of curries. Curry and I go way back, though perhaps not as far as those to whom the highly spiced dish is native. As a child, I attended many Thanksgiving dinners at a home belonging to friends of my parents, a nice Indian couple whose children were close in age to my brother, sister and me. We swapped a few Thanksgiving dinners, eating one year at our house with traditional American fare, and the next at their house, with their Indian twists on traditional dishes, plus some family favorites tossed in. I learned to eat Indian curry at a young age, but until I was an adult, I did not realize there was more than one type of curry.

Blue Dream Curries Favor with This Curry Fan

Recently I had the pleasure of being invited to eat at newly opened Blue Dream Curry House, located in downtown Asheville, to sample their international varieties of curry. Curry and I go way back, though perhaps not as far as those to whom the highly spiced dish is native. As a child, I attended many Thanksgiving dinners at a home belonging to friends of my parents, a nice Indian couple whose children were close in age to my brother, sister and me. We swapped a few Thanksgiving dinners, eating one year at our house with traditional American fare, and the next at their house, with their Indian twists on traditional dishes, plus some family favorites tossed in. I learned to eat Indian curry at a young age, but until I was an adult, I did not realize there was more than one type of curry.

Mural by Ian Wilkinson covers almost an entire wall in the restaurantI can remember waking up on Thanksgiving morning and being terribly excited that this year was our turn to eat at their place. Mary and Manuel would open the door to us, the warm scents of their cuisine starting to drift out the door the moment it opened, and I would be transported to a land far away that I’d only read about in books. The smell of Indian curry transports me to those days, and to days in my youth when I worked with a crew of Indian chemists, who prepared all manner of delicious Indian food, including their versions of curry, for parties for which I found any excuse to throw, so long as they brought a covered dish.

Kali KariThai curry quickly became my second favorite dish as I expanded my horizons, and now the Blue Dream Curry House offers us all the opportunity to sample curries from Portugal, Thailand, India, Britain, and points east.  They’ve also put a delicious spin on a well known favorite, the taco, by using warm naan bread in place of a tortilla, and curried meat or tempeh in place of taco meat. Their raita, traditionally made with plain yogurt and cucumber, sometimes also with cilantro (my favorite), is sour cream-based rather than yogurt based. Curious about this twist, I inquired about this change. The yogurt, the reasoning goes, is a little too thin to hang onto the filling in the naan taco, and so sour cream is substituted. I was a little disappointed, until I understood the reasoning and tried the thicker sour cream-based raita. I do prefer the flavor of the traditional yogurt based raita, but the texture of the sour cream.

Naan Taco at Blue Dream Curry House on Patton Ave in downtown Asheville will please your tastebuds
Naan Taco at Blue Dream Curry House on Patton Ave in downtown Asheville will please your tastebuds

I sampled Green Dream, the Kali Kari, Cosmic Korma and Vortex Vindaloo. All of the dishes in question can have heat adjusted by request, but some are naturally more spiced than the others. The Green Dream, a mild Thai curry, was creamy and bright. Instead of the traditional coconut milk mixed with green curry paste, Chef Sean Park (also co-owner) uses coconut cream, resulting in a thicker, creamier sauce than you might expect had you been eating your Thai curry at other local restaurants like Pon’s. So yummy was this texture change that I modified my personal recipe to reflect the substitution of coconut cream. The Kali Kari, a Japanese curry, was warm and savory, earthy and very mild. I tasted the crunch of fresh vegetables and the familiar diffused heat of turmeric. Cosmic Korma and the Vortex Vindaloo were replete with fresh vegetables and the familiar tastes of curry while being subtly different. All of the variations on the curry theme were well prepared.

Some of the local small businesses whose products are use in Blue Dream Curry House's business
Some of the local small businesses whose products are use in Blue Dream Curry House’s business

The Blue Dream Curry House holds favor for much more than just their naan tacos and curries, however. Bucking the nationwide restaurant trends to put most of the burden of paying their employees on the customers via tips, Blue Dream pays its employees a living wage. On top of that, they buy as much of their produce and meat locally, from such well established local names as Hickory Nut Gap Meats, No Evil Foods, Smiling Hara Tempeh, and other local farms. They rent a downtown space across from Pritchard Park and Thirsty Monk on Haywood Road, which is tastefully decorated and features a large, quite beautiful mural painted by Ian Wilkinson, the artist responsible for the chess board underpass downtown, along with several trompe l’oeil features around the restaurant. They offer local pottery for sale as well, along with a line of their own swag.

Vortex Vindaloo
Vortex Vindaloo

You might imagine their prices would reflect these increases in price, but they are very reasonable. First, you choose your curry (and if you know what’s good for you, a naan taco too), and then you add your meat or tempeh. You can easily eat under fifteen dollars per person, a real bargain downtown and an even bigger one with a socially responsible, and quite delicious, restaurant. If you add a beer, we recommend Highland Brewery’s Black Mocha Stout infused with chipotle and cinnamon.

I don’t know about you, but this curry fan plans to make this a frequent haunt. I hope to see them around for a long, long time to come.

Update: I had the distinct pleasure of arriving on the day the lumpia, a Phillipine-style egg roll, was added to the menu. I have a particular affinity for lumpia as my brother’s Filipina ex-wife taught me how to make them when i was a young cook in my mother’s kitchen. These egg rolls, wrapped in spring roll wrappers, are full of pork, vegetables, and served with a sweet/hot sauce that perfectly accents the savory roll. Don’t neglect those pickles either. Chef Sean is batting a thousand on inventiveness here. He’s on point with using the broccoli stems in a tangy pickle that complements the lumpia as well.

Lumpia, a Philippine dish based on an egg roll, is a new adddition to the Blue Dream Curry House menu worth trying.
Lumpia, a Philippine dish based on an egg roll, is a new adddition to the Blue Dream Curry House menu worth trying.

The Patton Avenue Pork Taco, modeled after the naan taco, is a spicy, savory and bursting with flavors.

Patton Ave Pork Taco
Patton Ave Pork Taco

The experience, the business sense, the food – especially the food – are reasons I can wholeheartdly give Blue Dream Curry house a rare full five stars. I have eaten there three times since opening, and I rarely visit restaurants more than twice. I am thrilled with the food and the community-oriented focus and I imagine I will be having curry pretty regularly.

www.bluedreamcurry.com

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