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...