Punjab Cuisine spices up Fountain Valley

I could complain about Southern California all day, but there is something about this place that makes it magical. Where else in the world can you surf in the morning, take a two-hour drive and snowboard by noon? We've got it good here. When it comes to food, we've really got it good. You could visit three countries in three meals — Little Saigon for breakfast, Chinatown for lunch, and Little Tokyo for dinner. It's all here within a 30-minute drive.

On Saturday, a friend drove me to a little restaurant in Fountain Valley known as Punjab Cuisine of India. We walked into a dining area and found it filled with young college-aged people. It looked like the secret of Saturday Indian buffets wasn't so secret. In any case, we managed to make our way to the small buffet area to sample the sauces.

Having worked in an Indian restaurant a few years back, I was stoked on their selection of spicy Chutney for our garlic Nan. Nan is the key for filling up when you're low on cash.

But since we had a seemingly endless void of Indian cuisine, we took our time and worked our way into the Raita and Chicken Tanadori slowly.

The owner made her way over to chat and welcome us while we were grubbing down her recipes. I wanted to ask about the paintings that depicted a man and a woman in an intimate embrace, feeding one another, posted on the walls. I thought the paintings made the food taste better. They made for a great conversation piece as we predicted what would take place in the next few hours in the painting.

After we ate and spent half the afternoon talking, laughing and drinking mango laci we were ready to pay the bill. In fact, we didn't even touch the bill until we were about to leave.

We cracked it open to find the damage wasn't damage at all. It was $6.95 each for an all-you-can-eat lunch of Punjab cuisine! It doesn't get much better in Southern California and it's places like these that make me love living here.

Punjab Cuisine of India. 18687 Brookhurst St - (714) 963-6777.