Vietnamese or Indian.... suggestions needed

Hello All,

Mum is coming over tonight to take me out to dinner. I really really really want to stay on cal since I just ate 4 days of maintenance calories while on vacation for my b-day.

Anyways I can suggest the restaurant, so I could go to the local vegan bar, but I don't think mum would feel all that comfortable there (she's vegetarian, but it's really posh and mum is not so much into posh).

So the easiest places to go are either Indian or Vietanmese places. I have never successfully ate at an Indian restaurant and not seen a pound or two of gain the next day (I know it's water weight, but still discouraging)

Vietnamese I was thinking a noodle bowl may be the safest way to go, but I need to be careful with how many noodles.... and I have no idea of the broth they typically use is good or bad, high-cal or low-cal.

Any suggestions would be really appreciated.

Thx

Personally I would go with Indian, but that may be a slightly biased choice as I really love Indian food.

I am vegetarian and usually find the options rather limited, and sometimes none at all, at Vietnamese restaurants.  On the other hand there are always numerous veggie options with Indian food.  Additionally, Indian food tends to be very well balanced for getting all the proteins vegetarians require.

My guess - and its totally a guess - is that the Vietnamese broth is quite low cal, but high in salts.

Yes, Indian would be my vote, but mostly I would recommend going for the one you will enjoy most as they are both relatively healthy.

Happy Birthday :)

rowan 

I'd say that if you stick to veggies and don't overload on the fried foods/rice/potatoes, indian is fine. Oh...and be careful of Naan...that flat bread thing.  It's so good, but one is like..300 cals or so.

I would choose vietnamese for low calories, but I'd WANT to go to the indian place.  maybe you can eat half your order and bring the rest home with you?

I had the most lovely wraps at a Vietnamese restaurant.  They were wrapped in lettuce leaves instead of spring roll wrappers and had shrimp, noodles and crispy vegetables inside.  The dipping sauce was also very light.  Also, their soups tend to be light and delicious. If the broth is clear then it's low cal.  Watch out for soups that have coconut milk.

definetly indian and not becuase I AM one. :)

the curry powder that they use is pretty healty and good. BUt stay away from the fried dishes...to me theree is 2 kinds of indian food. the one from indian and the one from the caribbean...do you know which kind you're going ot?

well i'm indian (:D) and it usually depends on what you eat there and what kind of portions you eat. the best stuff to eat is the beans and vegetables and sometimes the breads (some restaurants put oil or this ghee stuff on it that' s EXTREMELY fattening).

if you're going to a south indian restaurant, definately eat the idli things (they're boiled) and avoid the dosas or vadah's or however you spell em.

haha its probably too late, but there's my advice for you. x]

Thanks nikki, I was wondering how to differentiate between fried and not fried.... I think most of the indian restaurants around here are south India... a few feature some norther indian dishes which seem to be not as fried (I could be wrong).... definately not caribbean.... we have a huge caribbean population here and they have thier own numerous restaurants.... and I've found good roti that doesn't totally kill me (i.e. not stuffed with potato)....

Well looks like I'm in the same boat as everyone else I'd like to go Indian... but Vietnamese (which does have lots of veggie options in this neighbourhood) may be healthier.

being the GF of a vietnamese, I can vouch for Pho- which is the noodle soup you ar talking about.  The noodles that they use for it are really low in calories and carbs actually-  And the broth is just made from Ox tail meat- which they remove the fat from.  So i would go with the Pho- but stay away from the kind with the meatball like things in it-pure fat- instead go with the kind that they put slices of thin beef on top!  yum so filling, it is making me hungry

depends on what u get at the restaurants. Like if u get curry at an indian restaurants, thats choc full of calories, there are lots of saucy things at indian restaurants. But the food is awesome and spicy. when i used to eat whatever i wanted, i'd always make curry chicken or chicken tikka masala, but too saucy for me now. but u could probably find something not too high in cals or something fit for u at any restaurant. I dont know what vietnamese food is like so i cant comment on that.

Thanks for the help everyone.

I ended up going with the veggie Pho, and some rice paper cold spring rolls. I'm sure I would have been under-cal with just that, but I indulged in some organic popcorn.... oh, and a vodka cooler.... should have known better for the vodka cooler.

In any case it's great to know I can have that lovely noodle soup and stay on calorie in the future.

BTW - does anyone have any nutritional info on Hosin sauce?

Here ya go http://www.calorie-count.com/calories/item/61 75.html

You were spelling it wrong

My friend who's Indian (on her father's side) says that the food in restaurants around here is both fattier and spicier than what her family would cook. Restaurants here are typically Punjabi, or at least northern.

I guess I'll have to get ambitious and cook for myself if I want Indian-style food that's lower in fat. It's so healthy otherwise.

Thank you so much Claire for that link!!!

Flamel, I've heard the same thing here.... well I don't know about spicer, I've heard that food is less spicy in the restaurants because most westerners can't take it.... but a lot more ghee is used in indian cooking in the restaurants here than a normal family would use.