Rangoli restaurant in San Jose disappointing

V and I tried the new upscale Indian restaurant Rangoli yesterday since it was a special occassion. V booked the restaurant through opentable and mentioned that it must be rather high-end for it to be on opentable. We were thoroughly disappointed.
http://www.rangolica.com/

The ambience was pleasing and the restaurant was done up nicely with ethnic themes and scriptures drawn very artistically on the walls. The booth we got was comfortable and the silverware and plates were classy. This is where the admiration ends.

Our waiter seemed rather clueless about guiding us eventhough we told him that we were vegetarians, and V specifically asked him what the best/most popular vegetarian dish on the menu was.

Anyway, we ended up ordering samosas for the appetizer course. The samosa was just standard fare that one gets at an Indian store with the slightly stale-smelling potato-filling. Their drink menu is extremely limited. They do have an elaborate wine list, but as far as non-alcholic drinks go, they have sodas, and mango lassi. Not even regular lassi.

For the main course we ordered Paneer khraiwala and Baingan bhartha with Kabuli naan and Tandoori roti. The Paneer khraiwala was spicy and flavorful with chunks of paneer, but the baingan bhartha was very very average. We wouldn't have minded that so much if we weren't paying $13 for each item.

The total bill for the 2 of us with one appetizer and 2 main dishes came to $45 with tip.

For an upscale restaurant, we wish Rangoli would be more creative with its menu. We prefer Turmeric in Sunnyvale for it's creative menu and slightly cheaper prices. More in next blog about Turmeric.
http://www.turmericrestaurant.com/

Herbivore San Francisco

After a great day hiking in Angel Island, V and I started our drive out of the City, debating where to go for dinner in our grungy hiking clothes. We needed a down-to-earth place which served good vegetarian grub. Herbivore struck us to be the perfect choice. A cafe' type casual setting serving great food. (Right next door is the more upscale "Dosa", a South Indian restaurant, that was already getting crowded at 5:30 in the evening.)

http://www.herbivorerestaurant.com/valencia.html

Our wait for a table at Herbivore was around 10 minutes, and the time passed quickly because we met a charming couple. The wife had been to India several times to teach psycho-drama (need to look that one up!).

Now to the food. We ordered the green papaya salad to start with. V really loved it, it was tangy because of the shredded raw papaya and spicy because of the sauce.

For the main course, V ordered the Kung Pao which I ended up eating and I ordered the Wasabi Soba noodles which is another story.

The Kung Pao was unlike any other Kung Pao we had seen or tasted. It has char-grilled vegetables, like peppers, mushrooms, brocolli, tomatoes, etc. in a sauce, served over quinoa. I liked the taste, but V wasn't sure he liked the taste of the partially blackened veggies.

About the Wasabi Soba noodles, I think we got the Curry Coconut Udon noodles instead eventhough we didn't realize this until much later! However V liked it very much and gobbled it up. The coconut sauce with cilantro was very flavorful and the noodles were well-cooked.

All in all, a very good meal after a day of light hiking. The check came to around $25 for the two of us. Herbivore would be a great place to grab lunch or dinner if you are in the City.