Falafel's Drive-In, San Jose

The best Falafels I've ever had!! Period. This roadside eatery in a rundown neighborhood seems like an unlikely place for good mediterranean food but there it is and it absolutely rocks!! Apart from their Falafels which are best sampled in their juicy and messy pita wrap, they make really good gyro and kabab wraps. Their hummus and babaganoush are both very fresh and tasty and I would enjoy them more if they served them with fresh pita bread instead of a store pita right out of a plastic bag. They also serve fruit shakes but I've never tried as I'm not that big a fan of fruit shakes. I do not feel really comfortable going to this place at night because of the neighborhood which incidentally happens to be just about a mile from the very upscale Santana Row. However, this is a fabulous place to have a quick, cheap and satisfying lunch.

Amber India Restaurant, San Jose

Amber India is one of the fanciest Indian restaurants in the Bay Area. Located in the upscale Santana Row in San Jose, it caters to folks looking for some good Indian food in a comfortable and elegant atmosphere. Amber has a very good wine selection and an excellent bar. I went here about a month back with some marketing folks from work and we had one of the most enjoyable meals. We started off with some cocktail samosas and the Tandoori platter (Kakori Kabab, Peshawari Tikka and Zafrani Jheenga) for appetizers alongwith a 2003 Iron Horse Winery Cabernet Sauvignon. The Tandoori platter was absolutely fabulous and went along very well with the wine. For the main course, we had the Peshawari chicken and the Achari Ghost both of which were very good but the best dish of the evening was the Chicken Dum Biryani cooked in the Hyderabadi Dum style. I can say without hesitation that the Dum Biryani in Amber is the best I've had outside of Hyderabad in India. So if you do visit Amber, do not forget to sample the Dum Biryani. Amber also has a wonderful Lunch Buffet where they serve Phirni fr dessert which is my favourite. Amber has two branches in the Bay Area - Mountain View adnd Santana Row and I prefer the Santana Row one. Amber however does not serve very spicy Indian food as they cater more towards the American palate. If you want some real spicy food, you should be heading to the Tenderloin neighborhood in San Francisco...

Rose Market, Mountain View

Rose Market is a Persian Grocery store that serves some of the best Persian Kababs I've ever had !! Conveniently located at the intersection of Castro Street and El Camino Real in Mountain View, this place is packed at lunch time. The ordering process here is a bit confusing and unorganized. You go into the store and wait in line to order at the checkout counters. You're given a ticket and you have to go out to the other end of the building to collect your order and the worst part of it all is that they do not tell you that at the counter!!! So the first time you go here, you'd be confused as to where all the food is coming from, but the key here is to move in the direction that everyone is moving and you'll figure out the process :)... Their Koobideh is awesome and on my last visit, I tried their Barg Kabab which has become my new favorite. All the kababs are served with Cilantro on a Lavash bread and you could order a side of saffron rice that goes very well with the kababs. You also get some good Zoolbiah which is the same as the Indian Jalebi. The Baklava that you get in the store is also pretty good and one of my friends discovered that its awesome with Ice cream...

Kennedy's Irish Pub and Curry House, San Francisco

Kennedy's Irish Pub and Curry House is my favorite watering hole in San Francisco. They had the most amazing collection of beer on tap. The surprising thing about this place is that it serves Indian food and in my opinion, a place like Kannedy's can survive only in San Francisco. Where else would you find a sports bar, Irish pub and Indian restaurant bundled together ??!!! The pitchers here are priced at a very reasonable $ 15 and I get some of my favorite European beers on tap - Boddingtons, Guiness, Smithwicks, Fattire, Warsteiner etc. On my last visit, I was there with 8 other people and ended up ordering 6 pitchers of all the above mentioned :). And for the first time, I also found out that if you buy 5 pitchers, you get the 6th one free !! A couple of my friends who don't drink beer weren't very happy that we'd dragged them to an Irish pub but the bartender made them an awesome drink from Soju and Sprite which got them in a mood to enjoy the evening. Soju is the Korean equivalent of Sake. We'd also ordered some appetizers - Curry fries, Onion pakoras and Sambar Vada which were all pretty decent. I used to come here more often a few years back because they had really good Indian food too but over the years, the quality of their Indian food has deteriorated and I wouldn't recommend eating dinner here. Kennedy's also has a couple of pool tables and a foosball table and a few of my friends decided to play pool with a couple of other guys hanging out at Kennedy's. Although both teams sucked, my friends were the ones who ultimately lost.

Schnitzelhaus, San Francisco

I wouldn't call myself sober when I ended up at Schnitzelhaus after the San Francisco Lovefest. I'd downed about 7 drinks and comeup with a new superhero "Meterman" who could walk thru parking meters :) !! But for once, I'd trusted my Austrian friend to pick the restaurant and he highly recommended Schnitzelhaus. This Austrian/German restaurant at the intersection of Folsom and 9th Street has a homely family restaurant feel. Not much in terms of decor but I still somehow liked the place, maybe because I was just too tired and got to sit after a few hours. We practically ordered everything on the menu and I don't really remember all that I ate. I do remember the Goulash being awesome and the I loved the Schnitzel served with spicy potatoes. There was another chicken dish which had a creamy spicy sauce. I always had the impression that German/Austrian food was bland and all potatoes but after eating at Schnitzelhaus, I got a feel for real good German food and I enjoyed it. By the time we finished our meal, I was getting sober and realizing that I had way too much to eat, so decided to skip on dessert. I got to know later that their Apple Strudel with vannila ice cream is supposed to be awesome and I might go there again just to try that ...

Pizzeria Delfina, San Francisco

I finally managed to go to Pizzeria Delfina after trying to go there twice in the last one month but it just wouldn't work out. The first time, we were looking for parking and found one right in front of Dosa, so ended up going there. And the next time I decided to go there, one of my friends wanted to try out Pizza Orgasmica which ended up being good but not at the same level as Delfina. This time, I was determined to go to Delfina, come what may !! The overall experience was awesome as always. We ended up sitting at the bar as the place was packed and would have taken atleast 30 minutes to get us a table. Since we had two veggies with us, we decided to go for all veggie appetizers - The marinated cannellini beans and the Ricotta cheese salad. I absolutely loved the Cannellini beans in their creamy sauce with just the right amount of spices and the ricotta cheese served with stuffed chillies and spinach was fabulous too. For the main course, we ended up ordering the Pizza Margherita (veggie) and the Pizza Salsiccia. The pizzas here are the authentic italian style thin crust pizzas which I like a lot better than the american style deep dish ones. Our Salsiccia was amazing with a well done thin crust, spicy italian saussage and 2 different cheeses. The veggies didn't quite enjoy their pizza all that much because it hardly had any veggies and ended up just being a cheese pizza with 3 different cheeses. Washed down all the food with Birra Peroni which is a light Italian beer. For dessert, we tried the Canoli which wasn't upto much. I've had better Canoli at Lunardi's Supermarket and ofcourse my favourite Italian dessert place - Caffe Greco. On the whole, a very good dining experience with a friendly wait staff.

New Tandoori Cafe, San Jose

New Tandoori Cafe is one of my favourite desi joint in the South Bay. I visit this place pretty often because it is conveniently located next to one of my friend's home on Stevens Creek Boulevard in San Jose. The chaats here are pretty decent although I do not eat chaat here quite often. I'm a fan of their Spicy Tandoori chicken wings and lamb biryani. Their lamb biryani is the punjabi style biryani and not the pakistani or hyderabadi style that you usually get in other Pakistani or Desi joints across the Bay Area. Their Tandoori wraps, especially the Seekh Kabab wrap is a good thing to have for lunch when a biryani would be too heavy. My cousin, who is a self proclaimed expert on Chicken Tikka Masala, rated it the best she's ever had and forced me to take her there twice on her 5 day visit to the Bay Area. There aren't many good desi restaurants in the South Bay, but this is one that has never disappointed me, be it chaats, biryanis or wraps. I often order food from here when I have guests at home and I always wonder what I would have done if I didn't have a good desi eatery close to my place ...

Dosa, San Francisco

Dosa, as the name suggests is a restaurant that serves South Indian cuisine and I must say it has the best dosas in the Bay Area!! And unlike most good Indian restaurants in the Mission and Tenderloin districts of San Francisco, this place is clean and has an excellent ambience. On a recent visit, we ordered their Paneer Dosa, Spring Onion Dosa and South Indian Moons (which was actually mini uttapams). The Paneer Dosa was absolutely fabulous. I've never had a better masala dosa although I spent 5 years of my life in South India. People who read my blog regularly will have guessed by now that I don't quite eat veggie food but Dosa is one restaurant where I always end up eating only veggie food and have never regretted it. The sambar and the chutneys here are always fresh and awesome. Their chole is also well balanced in spices and is an excellent complement to the uttapams. The only downside - a 1.5 hour wait :(. You can avoid the long wait by going on a Sunday or on a Friday or Saturday after 9:15pm. But long as the wait might be, the food that you get to eat more than compensates for your patience. Needless to say, Dosa has been rated as one of the top restaurants in San Francisco for the past several years. After I discovered Dosa last year, I've not eaten dosas or idlis at any other restaurant ...

Chutney, San Francisco

Chutney is by far the restaurant I've frequented the most in the last 6 years of my stay in the Bay Area. Whenever I long for some good desi food, I invariably end up at Chutney. Among the desi joints in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco, Chutney is the most hygenic, inexpensive and has a pretty decent ambience compared to Pakwan or Shalimaar. Their Seekh Kabab is simply the best! They have some special every day of the week and I've sampled their Nihari, Goat Curry and Aloo Keema specials which have all been fabulous. Among the dishes on the menu, I love the Chicken Tikka Masala and the Chicken Korma. There is also ample choice for veggies and this is one of the places where I really do not have a problem eating veggie dishes like Baingan Bharta, Aloo Gobi etc. No matter what you order from the menu, its turned out to be good. Their Chicken Biryani is also pretty awesome though not the same style that you would get in India. I don't know what style to call it but my guess is its some Pakistani style of cooking. They also serve free tea and although I'm not a tea drinker (infact I've never tasted tea), my friends tell me its the real desi chai and they end up having several cups of it on every visit. Another good thing about Chutney is that they allow you to get your own alcohol. So you can just walk across the road to the corner liquor store and get your choice of beer to go with the food. The guys at the counter are very friendly except one time when they got a new guy who was really obnoxious and rude but thankfully haven't seen him around since then. I rate Chutney as one of my top 10 favourite restaurants in the Bay Area and I do not mind going here any number of times.

Goood Frikin Chicken, San Francisco

Goood Frikin Chicken for a middle eastern restaurant ??!!! Gimme a break. The name is something that had made me very skeptical about eating at this joint although I'd come across some good reviews. But when I was in the mood to eat some middle eastern food recently, I decided to give this place a chance. GFC is a nondescript sort of hole in the wall eatery in the Mission district of San Francisco. The food here was pretty darn good although I ended up not really having a lot of chicken. For appetizers, we had Falafel and Hummus with Pita. Although I find the Falafel at Kan Zaman a lot better, the olive pita bread was out of this world. Simply the best pita I have ever had !! For the main course we had the Mansaf, Kefta Kabab and Chicken Kabab. I'm a big fan of Mansaf and the Mansaf here made me pretty happy. However, I like the Mansaf/Beriani at Dish Dash (Sunnyvale) better. The Kefta Kabab served with saffron rice and fried nuts was excellent but the chicken kabab was nothing spectacular. On the whole, not a spectacular meal but pretty decent for the price and I wouldn't mind visiting this place again after a couple of years...

Evvia Estiatorio, Palo Alto

I landed up at Evvia Estiatorio in Palo Alto in the strangest of circumstances. A couple of colleagues and I were visiting the Palo Alto Internet Exchange (PAIX) to debug a customer router (For those who haven't read my profile, I work for Cisco Systems). University Avenue, Palo Alto is a great place for upscale dining and since we were working so hard and all on the customer router, actually missing a company picnic on that day, I felt we deserved a good (read expensive) meal at the company's expense :). My colleague suggested Evvia and after a quick search on the internet, it seemed like a great place that satisfied all my requirements for lunch that day - good non Indian food, walking distance from PAIX and upscale. The decor and ambience at this place is very upscale and charming. I loved the way they had tried to mix the rustic with the modern in terms of decor. I would rate this the best greek I've had in the Bay Area (Thea on Santana Row comes pretty close). For starters, we ordered fried calamari and flatbread. The flatbread was awesome with caremellized onions, tomatoes and feta cheese as toppings. For the main course, I had the Mostaciolli which is braised lamb served with pasta and cheese. The lamb was very well done, exactly the way I like it an the cheese was an excellent complement. For dessert we had phyllo stuffed with warm custard. On the whole a very satisfying meal and the 3 hard hours of debugging all seemed worthwhile. They had an excellent wine selection but having wine when visiting a customer site to debug a problem would have been a little too much !!!! I'm definitely going back to Evvia in a more relaxed mood ...

Mi Lindo Yucatan, San Francisco

One of the first things you'll notice about this place is that its all green inside!! It has some Mayan figurines on the walls that seem like a welcome change from the excessively green interiors. Needless to say, the decor is quite unimpressive... The restaurant serves Yucatan food and its quite a bit different from the traditional Mexican that you get in Taquerias around California. We had the Falautas and Polcanes for appetizers and I started warming up to the place :). I enjoyed both the appetizers and the salsa with tortilla chips. For the main course we had Frijol Con Puerco (Pork and Black Beans stew) and Pollo a La Parrilla (Grilled chicken with Mexican rice and orange cilantro salsa). The Pork was really well done and the beans had a flavor which reminded me of Brazilian black beans. But the best dish of the evening was the grilled chicken. Very well done with a lot of spices and the orange cilantro salsa was a good compliment. I liked eating the mexican rice with the Pork stew more than the chicken. On the whole, a decent meal but not something I would call fabulous. I might visit this place again in 2 years but probably not before that ...

Kan Zaman, San Francisco

I'd been to Kan Zaman for a quick evening snack a few years back and never actually got back to it until very recently when I was hanging out with friends in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood and suddenly remembered this place. Went there for dinner and the place was packed. There was some Belly Dancing going on and no one seemed to want to leave. Finally managed to get a table after aout 40 minutes but the food here is absolutely fantastic and worth the long wait. The atmosphere here is very casual, there's Middle Eastern music playing and live Belly dancing every hour or so at night. The place is also has a hookah bar and you have a variety of flavored hookahs to choose from. Can't comment on the hookahs tough as I've never smoked. I found the warm spiced wine on the menu interesting and ordered half a bottle of that. Its a warm red wine with cinnamon and cardomom flavor served with a slice of orange. The flavor was something I'd never tasted earlier and I loved it!! Their Hummus and Baba ghanoush were both amazing with the warm pita bread. For the main course we had Kibbi, Falafel, a meat pie and Shish kabab. I was thrilled with the Kibbi and the Falafels were the best I've ever had. On the whole it was a fun evening at Kan Zaman although I'd have enjoyed it better if we weren't holed up in one small cramped up corner...

Maggiano's Little Italy, San Jose

I was suggesting Maggiano's Little Italy to a colleague for a team lunch a couple of days back. The same day a friend visiting from San Diego called me up and asked to meet at Santana Row for dinner and we ended up going to Maggiano's. This is one of the few chain Italian restaurants that I really like. They have a very good collection of wines and tap beers. On my last visit I ended up having the Jumbo Crab Cake for appetizer and Lobster Ravioli. On an earlier visit, I've had their Spagetti and Meatballs and although the food here is not spectacular, its pretty good by chain restaurant standards. Their Chocolate, Pistachio and Cherry Spumoni is one of the best I've had. Its a good place to go out with a large group or for a late dinner with friends after an evening of hanging out at Santana Row...

Caffe Greco, San Francisco

The quaint little Caffe Greco on Columbus Avenue in North Beach is my favourite evening snack and hangout place in San Francisco. It has the atmosphere of a classic Italian Caffe and a very friendly staff. I love their foccacia sandwiches and hot chocolate. I'm not a coffee drinker but I'd tried their Sambuca laced Espresso once and absolutely loved it. The Cannoli and Tiramisu here are absolutely the best I've ever had. So if you're in the North Beach area with some time on your hands, it would be worth spending at Caffe Greco !!

Borobudur, San Francisco

For several years, I've passed by Borobudur on my way to Chutney or Union Square always wanting to try out the food. This eatery at the intersection of Jones and Post in the Tenderloin neighborhood looks pretty charming from the outside in contrast to its rundown surroundings and I finally made it here recently with a bunch of friends. Like all good restaurants on a Saturday, the place was packed and we had to wait for about 20 minutes to get a table for 9. I was pleasantly surprised with the classy decor considering that most of the restaurants in the Tenderloin are the no frills, hole in the wall kind of joints. Their beer and wine collection wasn't all that great, so I decided to stick to water. We ordered the Martabak Goreng, Chicken Satay, Roti Prata and Veggie sampler for appetizers. I hate Tofu and so avoided the Veggie sampler like the plague but the other 3 appetizers were fabulous, especially the Martabak. The Roti Prata was also well done and had a very flavorful and spicy sauce to go with it. For the main course, we ended up ordering the Rendang Beef, Ayam Panggang Bambu Rujak (BBQ Chicken) and Squid in spicy Indonesian sauce. I believe that the best test for a South East Asian restaurant is their Rendang curry and I have to admit the Rendang Beef here is the best Rendang curry I have eaten till date. The BBQ chicken was also a treat and I could taste a subtle flavor of coconut milk over the well balanced spices. Although I did not get to try the fried trout since it was at the other end of the table, one of my friends who's pretty picky about his food, vouches for it. The coconut flavored rice was an excellent complement to the spicy entrees. Although the dessert menu appeared quite exquisite, we did not order any dessert as we had plans to go to Ghirardelli square for ice cream. On the whole it was a wonderful experience and I would definitely visit this place again in the near future...

Lahore Karahi, San Francisco

A friend of mine visiting from Austin recommended this place saying it was the best Indian food he'd eaten in a long time!! I was actually ashamed that an outsider had to tell me about this place when its been there all along in the Tenderloin neighborhood close to my favourite Indian-Pakistani restaurant - Chutney. So I took the first opportunity to have dinner at Lahore Karahi this Friday (07/27/2007) after watching the just released Simpsons movie. My initial impression was good, they actually have menus and come to the table to take your order. And this is also the first Indian-Pakistani joint in the Tenderloin with carpetted floors!! The waiter suggested that we go for their speciality Tandoori Fish instead of the Sheek Kabab. So we ended up ordering Tandoori Fish, Karahi Chicken, Lahori Chikkar Chole, Saag Paneer and some Garlic Naans. The restaurant started getting crowded and since they have only one chef/cook, it took about 30 minutes for our food to arrive. 30 minutes can be an excruciatingly long wait when you're as hungry as I was that day !! They also had only 2 waiters and the service was also very slow. The water and onions that we ordered never actually arrived. As for the food, the Tandoori fish was truly delicious, infact the best Tandoori fish I've had in a long time. The Karahi chicken and the Chikkar Chole were also very good and had the right balance of spices. The Saag Paneer was a little too spicy for my taste and I wasn't too impressed with the Garlic Naans which weren't soft enough and too oily. I'd still recommend Chutney over Lahore Karahi but I'm glad there is another good alternative to Chutney just round the corner.

Long Island Iced Tea

Here's how I make Long Island Iced Tea:

1 part Grey Goose Vodka
1 part Bombay Sapphire Dry Gin
1 part Bacardi Gold Rum
1 part Don Julio Anejo Tequila
1 part Triple Sec
1 1/2 parts Lime juice
1 1/2 parts Coca Cola Classic

Wonderfully potent !!

Assab Eritrean, San Francisco

I'd read several positive reviews about Assab over the years but managed to land up there only recently. And I'm sure glad I did. They have simply the best Injera I've ever had - thin, soft and melts in your mouth. We ordered one veggie and one non-vegetarian combination and although I'm a carnivore, I must admit that the veggie combo was just as good if not better than the non-veg combo. Compared to Zeni, the food here is slightly less spicier and caters to more of non-Ethiopian/Eritrean clientele. The ethiopian Harar beer goes along superbly with the combos. My friends ordered the ethiopian honey wine which was also a great drink to accompany the food. The owner is a very friendly guy and since we were the last people in the restaurant, he had enough time to joke around with us. Cheap and good food, definitely worth going a few times if you enjoy Ethiopian/Eritrean food.

Cha Cha Cha, San Francisco

Named after a Spanish dance, Cha Cha Cha is one of my favourite Tapas places in San Francisco. They have two branches, one in the Haight-Ashbury district and another one in the Mission district. The Haight-Ashbury one is a lot fancier but I usually end up going to the Mission one because of the convenient location. I've sampled their entire menu now, that's the beauty of Tapas, it allows you to try several different dishes in one sitting! My favourite dishes here are Fried New Potatoes, Cajun Shrimp, Pork Enchiladas and Jamaican Jerk chicken. They have an excellent veggie choice as well. The portions are pretty big for Tapas and if you compare it with Cascal, its twice the portion size at half the price. They also have a well stocked bar and their Caipirinha and Mojitos are absolutely amazing. They also have very good Sangria, although Charanga's Sangria is slightly better. Be prepared to wait in line for about an hour on a weekend. There are two other wonderful restaurants on the same block as Cha Cha Cha - Bissap Baobab and Charanga. I end up entering the one where the wait is the least...

Ratatouille

Now I know this is a blog about food, but one can scarcely ignore a movie that revolves around food!! Pixar has done it again with Ratatouille and I'm not here to write a review about the movie. For that, visit http://www.rottentomatoes.com/. But to see how all the food in the movie was animated, watch the video below.

Cooking Up CG Food

Mangoes

The King of fruits unfortunately does not reign in the United States of America :(. I hadn't eaten a decent mango in the last 6 years until the US government in its infinite wisdom finally saw it fit to import mangoes from India in exchange for India allowing the import of Harley Davidson motorcycles. Not a bad trade agreement at all especially for the millions of desis yearning for some good Indian mangoes. Coming from Gujarat, I've had the good fortune to have enjoyed the two best varieties of mangoes - Alphonso and Kesar. Having an Alphonso mango last week after 6 years was a thrilling experience!! Recently, I've discovered another reasonably edible variety of mango - the Manila Mango which is available in Chinese stores like Lion Market or Ranch 99. These mangoes are of the Ataulfo type grown in Mexico but not all Ataulfo mangoes are the same. The Ataulfo mangoes that you find in Trader Joe's or Costco are similar to the Langda mango while the Manila Mango is somewhere between Dasheri and Banganapalli varieties available in India. I prefer the Manila Mango as I've never really been a fan of Langda. Nonetheless, I'm satisfied with the mangoes I've been able to eat this year :).

Aki's Bakery, San Jose

I first read about Aki's Bakery in the San Jose Mercury News back in 2003 when it was run by a Japanese family. Never actually went there until they were back in the news recently because the bakery had changed hands and locals were upset that it wouldn't stay the same. I decided to try it out before the predictions of going downhill came true, and ordered their signature Guava Delight cake and found it to be absolutely phenomenal and unique. Not a big fan of Guava, but this was one cake where I had no problems with Guava!! I ended up going to Aki's once again last month and I decided to try the next cake on their menu which happened to be the Mango Delight. Nice moist and light cake iced with mango flavored mousse with small pieces of mango in it. The mango seemed to be one of the Mexican varieties you get in California but in a cake it didn't taste too bad. (I'll rant about mangoes in another post!!). I hope Aki's manages to maintain the quality of their cakes under new management. If you want to sample an Aki's cake, make sure you order atleast a day in advance. They usually do not have cakes for walk-in customers...

The Boilermaker cocktail

Boilermaker is a cocktail made from Whiskey, Vodka and Beer. A friend of mine and I ended up making one today with Weihenstephaner Korbinian beer, and half a shot each of Grey Goose Vodka and Glenlivet Single Malt Whiskey. The mixture turned out to be a lot more potent than we had imagined and after a couple of more beers, we were soon on the floor drunk and listening to some old Amitabh Bachchan movie songs. So, if you want to get drunk on 1 beer, just drop the depth charge of whiskey and vodka in it....

Espetus Churrascaria, San Francisco

Espetus Churrascaria is San Francisco's only Brazilain Rodizio style restaurant. The concept is simple, you pay a fixed price and waiters dressed as Gauchos bring the meat straight from the fire to your table. You can eat to your fill, take a breather and start all over again!! If you're a vegetarian or do not eat beef, don't think of going here because this place serves hardly anything else but meat. They do have a large salad bar and some traditional Brazilian side dishes. I love their garlic seasoned Sirloin and Parmesean Porkloin. Once you've stuffed yourself with the steaks, its time for dessert. They have an extensive dessert menu with some unique desserts like Creme de Papaya. I discovered Creme de Papaya by accident when I ordered a Tiramisu but was served something that did not remotely resemble one :). I decided to try it out anyway and I'm sure glad I did!! If you love steaks, this is one place you simply cannot miss...

Zeni Ethiopian Restaurant, San Jose

Zeni is simply the best Ethiopian food I've had. If you're visiting for the first time, order the Non-Vegetarian or the Vegetarian Combo. This is one place where I do not mind eating veggie food at all !! They have an extensive menu of traditional Ethiopian dishes and some good Ethiopian Honey wine as well. Ye Doro Tibs, Ye Doro Tibs and Alitcha Fitfit are the dishes I love the most. Their Injera is outstanding and they frequently run out of it. So If you don't want to be disappointed, try going here for lunch or an early dinner. Food is spicy and the servers are prompt, friendly and always willing to answer questions from curious guests. To top it all, they have a 10% discount coupon on their website and you really have to try hard to cross 10$ a person. Try going in a big group so that you can sample more of their exotic cuisine!!

Cascal, Mountain View

Cascal is the best Tapas place south of San Francisco!! I've been here on several occasions and each time has been a better experience. Cascal has an excellent decor, good wait staff and awesome food. They have some live music on Friday and Saturday evening and there usually is a 20 - 30 minute wait. I took my parents here last month to sample some tapas and they simply loved it. We sampled some Albondigas (Mexican meat balls), Wild Mushroom Empanadas, Sizzling Shrimp and Banana Leaf chicken and all these were cooked to perfection. On earlier occasions, I've had their Quail in raisin sauce which had become my favourite but unfortunately, they've discontinued it now :(. Their Paella Rustica is one of the best Paellas I've had. And not to mention they have an excellent bar. Their Premium Mojito and Caipirinha are among the best I've had. If you live in the South Bay Area, this is one place you cannot miss. The portions are pretty small though, so if you've got plans to hog, you might end up running a huge tab.

Mitchell's Ice Cream, San Francisco

For true, straightforward and fresh fruit flavored ice creams, there is no better place than Mitchell's in San Francisco. I've found myself driving all the way from San Jose to San Francisco at 10 in the night just to have an ice cream here. Apart from the standard flavors like Mango, New York Cherry, Rum 'n' Raisin, Lichee, etc. they have a bunch of unique tropical fruit flavors some of which you might never have heard of - Ube, Langka, Makapuno, Buko, Avocado, Halo Halo etc. My favorites are New York Cherry and Rum 'n' Raisin. If you like Cinnamon in your Chocolate ice cream, Mexican Chocolate is the flavor you want. Anytime during the day or night, be prepared to pick a number and wait anywhere from 10 - 40 minutes to grab your ice cream. Ice creams are astonishingly cheap and you can pay by cash only.

House of Nanking, San Francisco

After struggling for 20 minutes to find parking near Cha Cha Cha (Tapas joint) on Haight street on May 20th 2007, I finally gave up and landed up at one of my favourite restaurants in San Francisco - House of Nanking. This Zagat rated, hole-in-the-wall joint has several awards posted on its walls in terms of decor. If you google this place, you'll find several mixed reviews and some people call it "House of same sauce" but whenever I've gone here, I've always loved the unique taste of the food. Do not make the mistake of ordering yourself as the menu is too confusing and irrelevant. The owner-chef, Peter Fang is more than happy to order for you, all you do is tell him your choice of meats. Three dishes I can vouch for are Onion cakes, Sesame chicken and Spicy catfish. The wait is usually long at lunch and dinner hours especially on weekends. Don't get influenced by the negative reviews you see online, go there and try it out for yourself.

Bay to Breakers + Legion of Honor + no parking :( + House of Nanking + Golden Gate Bridge + Hagiwara Japanese Tea Garden + Mitchell's Ice Cream = A great day in San Francisco !!

Parsi Cuisine

Over the years, several people have asked me what Parsi cuisine is like and I've never had a very good answer. I recently came across this Parsi Cuisine page on Wikipedia that gives an overview of the cuisine - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsi_cuisine

Birthday Clebration & Mi Pueblo Taqueria, San Jose

I end up celebrating two birthday's every year - one is based on the Parsi Calendar and the other one, the Gregorian. While I think the Gregorian is a more accurate calendar, there is no harm in having two birthday celebrations ;-). The real point behind this blog entry however, is to talk about the cake we got for my first birthday celebration this year which happened to fall on 6th May. Thanks to my friend Prashant's colleagues at HP, we were introduced to Mi Pueblo Taqueria in San Jose in 2003 and since then, we've been going to this place for fulfilling our birthday cake needs. Mi Pueblo is a grocery store and Taqueria and they have a good variety of cakes in their store. The "Tres Leches" cakes are to die for !! They have a good collection of breads, cakes and their Flan is absolutely amazing. And the prices out here are unbelievable - the chocolate cake you see in this blog costs $8 and serves about 15 people. We'd also got a full sheet of Tres Leches for a party at work which cost about $75 and got over within minutes with people taking 3 - 4 helpings. If you're throwing a party, this is one place you want to get your cakes from. I also happen to have tasted their Burritos and Tacos and it was a revelation ! I did not know a Burrito could taste that good after having tried the burritos at Baja Fresh and Chipotle. The Mi Pueblo I frequent is located at the intersection of Julian and 5th Street in San Jose.

I would be doing an injustice to another very good bakery if I don't mention it here. Aki's Bakery in San Jose is another wonderful place to get your cakes. This bakery was run by a Japanese family for a few decades and has very recently changed management. I've had their fruit cakes - Mango Delight, Guava Delight and Strawberry Delight. Their Guava Delight has a very unique flavor and although I'm not a big fan of Guavas, I loved it.

So try these Bakeries out and post your comments here...

Koh Samui and the Monkey, San Francisco

My parents are visiting me for a month and so the next few weeks are going to be pretty hectic when it comes to eating out. We have a long list of restaurants that we weren't able to visit the last time they were in the Bay Area in 2005. So we started off with going to "Koh Samui and the Monkey" (http://www.kohsamuiandthemonkey.com) in San Francisco. I've been going to this place every few months and have found their food to be exceptional every single time. Their Thai cuisine has some unique flavors that I haven't found in other Thai restaurants. The decor of this place is very nice, good and friendly service and to top that off, they have an extensive Sake menu!! There is street parking available, but make sure that there is no game at AT&T park.

My rating: ****1/2
Highly recommended dishes:
- Bags of gold
- Satay Chicken
- Choo Chee prawns
- Steamed Salmon in Penang Curry sauce
- Green Curry chicken

If you're a veggie, there's no need to despair, they have a good veggie menu as well.

Couple of other Thai places I rate the same as Koh Samui and the Monkey:
- Bangkok 16 (http://www.bangkok16sf.com)
- Blue Mango (http://www.bluemangocuisine.com)

Kickoff !!!

Welcome to my blog. As my first foray into the blogging arena, I decided to start a blog on the eating out scene in the San Francisco Bay Area. For the last few years I've been maintaining a list of good Bay Area restaurants in my home directory at work. It has become customary (or so I've been told,) for people in my Business Unit at Cisco Systems to look for recommendations on restaurants in my home directory. But for the benefit of the few unfortunate ones who no longer have access to this list (one of whom suggested I publish it on the net), I decided to start this blog and publish my list here. I intend to write about my experiences at different restaurants and from time to time provide recommendations on restaurants, pubs , wine and beer.

Standard disclaimers apply... :)