DOSA

Mary:

DOSA

This was a more than pleasant experience, beginning with calling for reservations, which was done through an answering service, and done well—right through dessert and paying gladly for the mixture of cuisine and waiter and atmosphere. I felt very well taken care of.

The food was great. The first edibles on the table were papadoms, and they came just in time. We arrived hungry, and were joking about gnawing on each other’s shoulders but the thin tasty wafer bread, made from garbanzo bean flour and therefore edible by both Jesse and I, kept us from being inappropriate at the table. I ordered Paneer and Pea Dosa…toasted just right like a quesadilla so that the melted cheese and crisp dosa made a great crunchy texture as I bit into it. The taste was a thoughtful blend of flavors. The dipping sauces were good too…several different ones to choose from with differing degrees of heat. The side order of raita, besides being a good treat, helped to cool my mouth when it got heated up by the spices.

Our friend, Barbara, was with us, and she liked the taste of the lamb korma she ordered, but it proved too hot for her. So I traded one of my dosas for half of her korma, and enjoyed the high taste of blended spices (coconut, ginger, garlic and cardamom) in the traditional sauce covering well-cooked lamb cubes, (too often they are overcooked.) Excellent. And good with the raita.

I have spent time in Kovalam Beach in South India, and I am used to and enjoy their particular foods, which differ from the food I eat when I am in Bombay. I thought Dosa did an excellent job of bringing this ‘southern’ cooking to the American table.

Barbara and I were the only ones with any room when we finished our main courses, so I went off my minimal-sugar and carb diet (first time I have been tempted to do so at one of our blog dinners) and split a pot au crème with her. Good, creamy, probably should have done without it

.

The waiter was excellent and worked hard to make our meal memorable. Loved the hanging light

Taj Hotel in Bombay. I've had afternoon teas there.

shades and the way the décor was done: elegant street chic melting into the background. Nice photograph montage of the Taj hotel in Bombay on one wall. For some reason this was the easiest restaurant to hear ourselves talking at our table, even when the restaurant was full. I felt like everything possible was done to make the diners and their dinners the centerpiece; and to send them out the door feeling well taken care of. That’s how I felt when I left.

Dosa in the evening light when we left.

Shirley:

Even the water was good!

I have always had a great meal at Dosas. It is southern Indian food at it's best. Although there are the usual curry, lentils and rice found in an Indian restaurant, there are many unique and delightful additions to the menu.

Any time dinner starts with a bowl of crispy papadam, I am happy. And I was not kidding about the water - it's filtered through coconut husks and was noticeably good. I am usually just fine with tap water, kind of a "water is water" girl, and thoroughly enjoyed the drink.

I ordered the Paneer & Almond Kofta (veggie “meatballs” made of parsnip, squash, potato, mint  with a side of the recommended coconut rice. This was so good that I groaned a bit with every bite. The creamy sauce was plentiful and delicious and the balls  had a velvety, rich texture. It was all great.

My friend Barb tried the Lamb Korma (boneless, dried coconut, ginger, garlic, green cardamom) with lemon rice. The waiter was careful to ask everyone about their heat preferences and the kitchen was very careful to get it right. Still, Barb is an ex-Brit and even the mild heat was a bit too much for her. Too bad for her, really good for Mary and Me. Mary's Paneer & Peas (like an Indian quesadilla) was perfect for Barb, so we swapped some plates around and we were all very happy. And all the little dips that came along with Mary's plate were great.

So, the food was great, the water was great and that is just the beginning. I have never experienced the high level of care and knowledge that was brought to the table, not just from the waiter but from the entire staff. We had some challenges to get everyone exactly what they wanted, but everyone worked together that night to make everyone happy. In fact, they went out of their way to accommodate some tricky obstacles to a great meal.

It is a pleasant environment, the people taking care of you are considerate and smart, and the food is fantastic. Go try it and see if it isn't a great restaurant!


Jesse:

 As person with so many food allergies, I was impressed when the woman we talked to taking our reservation asked if anyone had any food allergies and asked for a list of them. Unfortunately the food allergy information did not reach my waiter so it wasn’t very useful but it turned out that the restaurant did take food allergies seriously. When I informed my waiter of my allergies, I was brought a separate menu that listed all Nut, Dairy and Gluten allergies. It looked very helpful but I found it a little overwhelming trying to order from a graph. Plus I am allergic to all those ingredients plus coconut and coconut is in all their Dosas,  Curries and  Uttapams, which comprise 85% of their menu. Coconut husk is also used to filter their water. I was told the water was delicious but their menu left little for me to eat and left me thinking maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.

 It seemed from my chart/menu that only a couple of vegetable dishes were ok for me. Our waiter turned out to be fantastic and really came through. He worked with the chef who made a non-coconut curry from scratch and cooked up a Kuttanadan lobster tail, rice and the Shikampuri Kebab lamb sliders, allergen-free as well. Our waiter’s name was David and we voted him best waiter of Valencia St. He even gave us an education of Southern Indian cuisine and the items on the menu.

      I was able to eat the Papadam. Yum. Delicious on the first bite and then a couple of seconds later comes another wave of great tastes.

My lobster, curry and rice dish was really good. Really, really good. I haven’t been able to relax around a curry for a long time and here, I am 100% sure I can eat it without problems, which meant a lot to me. The lamb sliders were two small disks of lamb and herbs that were screaming spicy hot. It came with a delicious sauce of red peppers and garlic, also very, hot. I had forgotten to ask for the spice/hot level to be adjusted. The sliders were overcooked but everything else was delicious.

We ordered a second bowl of Papadam to sop up all our leftover delightful sauces leaving nothing on our plates.

      

After dinner I made it a point to thank the chef who made sure I was able to enjoy my food without any health issues.

Well, on to my least favorite section of my review but nonetheless important to many. The bathrooms. There are two here and one has a diaper changing table. Yay! An important and helpful item. They also had kleenex dispensers which came in very handy. After eating the hot, spicy food, my sinuses were cleared out and watering. I do have to say that I was very surprised to find one bathroom dirty. The floor needed mopping and there was toilet paper strewn about. And this was at the beginning of the evening which does not bode well. They were modern, a bit boring but managed to have a bit of warmth.  I give the bathrooms a 2.5 out of 5 stars. 

   

Overall, tonight, my friends and I were excited when our food arrived and continued being excited and happy while eating. These are the best of dinners out with friends. A good restaurant with it's great food and lively, warm ambiance is like live theater, heartwarming and sensorially stimulating. Fulfilling in many ways.  

I give Dosa  4 out of 5 stars and happily recommend it.

Aslam's Rasoi

Jesse:

Tonight is the first of many Valencia St. restaurants that offer Pakastani and Indian food. Yum.

     We walk into a large main dining area with a full bar on the right. Warm colors everywhere. On the tables, walls and even the individual drop lights over each table. Straight back is a large window, which looks into a well lit kitchen. The individual drop lights give each table a lot of light without overwhelming the rest of the restaurant. The overall effect is a warm, moody, low lit atmosphere.

     We arrive at 5:30 pm and are seated by the window, looking out onto Valencia St. Nice.  There is one other table occupied in the somewhat large restaurant. Judging from all the to go bags lined up at the front counter, many people use this place for take out.

     The waiter is nice and I ask about which dishes would be ok for me with my plethora of food allergies. I always wince a little asking this question but this guy is great. He checks with the kitchen and tells me the chef would be happy to create a dish just for me called Seekh Kebob, with ground chicken and prawns for $20. I was delighted!

     The ground chicken was made into cylinders and put onto a skewer to grill with the prawns. They covered the whole dish with a medium hot, brown, curry sauce. We were all asked how spicy hot we wanted our food and it came back pretty accurate.

     My special dish was a disappointment. The brown sauce over everything didn’t make the prettiest dish I’ve seen but that was ok. What I didn’t like was that the ground chicken tasted like baloney. My friends all agreed, chicken that tastes like baloney is weird. The sauce was pretty bland too. I could taste the curry and the heat but that’s about it and I’ve had much better curry. Too bad, I was so happy they were making me a special dish I could eat. It turned out lousy and they charged me a few more dollars for it too. Rats. Really, that’s the best you can create for me?

     My baloney chicken came with white rice, which included tiny slivers of carrots. It was fine. Your basic white rice, nothing to write home about, it got the job done.

     The bathroom was ok. Clean and boring. I give the bathroom  2.5 stars.

      Aslam’s Rasoi gets 2 out of 5 stars from me. I will not return. They gave me no reason to.

Shirley:

I have worked in this neighborhood for about 15 years and am very familiar with the food choices. I have my favorites and I have my "this will work" and I have my "never again" categories. Aslam's is Indian/Pakistani food that is consistently better than okay, including the service and decor. It is not my first choice, but have no problem accompanying someone who wants to eat there. 

We were pretty much the first to be seated again. The place is huge but we picked a spot by the window, which gave us a more intimate ambience. The menu is fairly typical northern Indian fare, plenty of choices, moderately priced and the choice of heat is always queried by the waitperson.
I ordered an appetizing gobi pakora - seasoned cauliflower dipped in chickpea batter and deep fried. Hard to go wrong with deep fried. It was good but a little bland.
My my main course was Saag Gosht - boneless lamb with creamed spinach, garlic, and ginger, with a side of rice. I love good creamed spinach, from any culture. Don't know why, it never showed up at my childhood table, so it is not a comfort food. I was first introduced at a French restaurant in New York during the Columbia riots (the university, not the country). It had been sauted with minced leeks, in a ton of butter. So good. And the Russian Renaissance Restaurant has a great version, with just a hint of nutmeg. Yum!
So, the saag is a natural choice for me, either with the fried cheese or a meat. In this case, the lamb was tender and the spinach revealed a lovely coriander undertone. I asked for the heat to be "American", or mild. I like spicy food, but I do not want it to blast out the other flavors. Because I had found Aslam to be a little under-salted and spiced, I went for less heat. 

One of my favorite dishes was the papdam that I snitched from Mary's plate. The lentil wafers were perfectly deep-fried and tasty. Could have made a meal of them, with their tamarind and yogurt dips.
The entire experience was pleasant. Would go again with a little time lapsed.

Mary:

This is the first time I’ve been here; and was surprised at the size of the place. We were early, and got a window table (always my first choice). The service was attentive, informative, and not overbearing but friendly. Also my first choice. I barely noticed the interior because the street scene was active and drew my curiosity. When I looked at the design more attentively, it seemed that they had handled “cavernous” fairly well by creating lots of seating and lighting that was low enough to dispel the enormity of the place and high enough to read the menu well.

I ordered two appetizers. Gobi pakoras (cauliflower) for $6. These were good. And Papadum for $2, which I always relish and these were up to being very appreciated. For a main dish I had rasoi’s rogan josh, a classic lamb curry with ginger, garlic, onions and saffron for $14. This was classic curry, amped up a bit from average American palate as I requested. Nice bite. But the lamb was a little overcooked.

I would give the service the highest rating, the food a medium plus. Aslam’s Rasoi is a place I would return to to try out other things on the menu. Having spent a lot of time in India, I can compare the curry to many that I had in Bombay restaurants and it comes out authentic and good.

It would be a go-to, medium range restaurant to share with friends who like spicy food.