I love to travel to far-away places and have always loved getting to know other cultures. In my 20s I had a scholarship to travel to India and Bali. At almost 30 and single, I traveled to Japan and Mexico on savings.
Now that I am older and I have a lot more bills and folks to be accountable to, I don’t travel. Instead, I live vicariously through our local international food scene.
When I was pregnant, I craved international food. I did not crave Mexican, Italian, or Japanese food–although I ate my fare share of those too–but rather more exotic foods. I wanted fragrant spices: curry, cardamom, coriander. My growing little fella and I had a sense of adventure.
If you are up for exploring the local food scene, Knoxville has good bites of international food to offer. Dining international is a great remedy to wintertime cabin-fever too! Dining out at international restaurants is a lot more fun if you grab a group of adventurous friends who don’t mind sharing. We usually each order something different from the menu and share around the table, family style. Date nights are also a great time to pack in some adventure. If you plan on going with kids, you might want to plan ahead and check out my previous post on “Dining Out with Children.” If dining out as a family isn’t in your budget, an alternative could be to grab an entrée to go to share with your honey after the kids are asleep.
Dining international can be daunting if you aren’t sure where to go or what is on the menu. Some of my favorite eats and recommendations are described below with links to menus.
Knoxville’s International Food Scene
Indian Food
Typically, a good place to start is with the lunch buffet offered daily at most Indian restaurants. The food is often rich in flavor and bold in spice. Another safe bet is bryiani (a rice dish with veggies and meat–not to be confused with fried rice), dosa (a potato crepe filled with potato and offered with a tomato stew), and thali (typically a small sampling of three dishes). Some of my favorites are the malai kofta (veggie dumplings in yogurt sauce), saag paneer (buttery creamed spinach with homemade cheese), and baingan bharta (spiced eggplant). Indian food is very vegetarian friendly. Most restaurants have a pepper spice rating of mild, medium, hot, and Indian hot. I love it when newbies go for Indian hot and I get to see sweat form at their temples!
Thai Food
Thai food also makes use of different types of curries, but the flavors are very different from those found in Indian cuisine. There are also amazing noodle dishes that kids might like. I have found that there is a lot more ginger, peanut and fish sauce used in Thai dishes. The flavors also blend a lot of sweet and spicy. Again, lunch is a good time to try because the prices are more affordable for a first try. There is also a similar pepper spice rating based on 1-5, with 5 being super hot. Some of my favorites include: yellow curry, panang curry, drunken noodle, and pad thai. The Thai iced tea (a deep black tea served with sweetened condensed milk) is also a treat!
Taste of Thai
Jai Dee
Lemon Grass
Korean Food
What I love about Korean food are the sides like the yummy brown sugar potatoes, kimchi (a spicy fermented cabbage), and bulgogi (korean style bbq). My favorite dish to order is dolsot bibimbap (a rice, meat, and veggie dish presented in a sizzling bowl and topped with a raw egg that cooks as you stir it in). Kaya offers Korean food locally.
Ethiopian Food
I love that we offer Ethiopian food in Knoxville. It is such a communal eating experience. Typically you are served injera which is a large piece of flat, spongy sourdough bread, that is topped with dollops of wat (greens, lentils, and meat stews). Portions of the bread are torn off throughout the meal and dipped in the dollop of choice. For this experience, Gosh (with a long “o”) is the spot to go.
Middle Eastern Food
Our local Middle Eastern restaurants are operated by friendly families who, in my experience, are great storytellers and have such a love for food. Specials are a delectable choice at Middle Eastern restaurants because the owners typically show off their unique culinary skills with lamb shank that falls off the bone! Hummus at a Middle Eastern restaurant is creamy and packed with subtle spices, which is not the gloppy overpowering kind that grocers offer. Other favorites include baba ganoush (roasted eggplant dip), dolmas (grape leaves stuffed with rice, veg/meat, and lemon), any and all of the salads offered, and of course baklava (honey, nuts, dates, and phyllo pastry).
Yassin’s Falafel House
Holy Land Market and Deli
I haven’t listed all of the local international restaurants but rather those I frequent. I plan to try a few others that folks are raving about, including:
Bida Siagon (Vietnamese)
Viet Taste (Vietnamese)
Restaurant Linderhoff (German)
Grujo’s German Fast Food (German)
Sabor Catracho Latin Cuisine (Honduran)
Grujo’s is incredible! It’s probably our favorite restaurant in all of Knoxville. The doner plate and schnitzel are outstanding and the jaeger sauce is to die for!
Where is it located? I want to try it!
http://www.grujos.com/ It is totally awesome…great lunch specials and dinner is good as well with German Beer on tap!
I know this is a few months old, but if you have not yet you have to try Grujo’s! That place is amazing! the people are so helpful and patient and the food is always good. I only wish the had spaetzle all the time.
My hubby and I would love to start a Supper Club. Any ideas on what has worked in Knox? We are into a things food and cooking. We have many years people come to our home aND never leave disappointed but would love to expand our group of friends that are interested in food and cooking .
Thanks!!