Dosa – Fine Dining South Indian Cuisine in San Francisco
Location: Valencia St, SF & Filmore St, SF, www.sfdosa.com
Must try, in order of taste-bud memory: Raspberry Tamarind Cheese Cake @ Valencia location, Yogurt Rice, Paneer and Peas Dosa, Bhel puri, Tomato Chutney
Reservations: MUST during most weekends and evenings, recommended during weekday afternoons
Finally, an aesthetic South Indian restaurant, run by folks who I’m guessing aren’t South Indian, yet who get quite instinctively the dynamics and yearnings of a Sambar-eater’s tongue. I’ve been to both branches of Dosa, and have been extremely pleased with the quality of food and service. The menu has been cleverly designed to include a range of cultures, from Chennai Chicken to Maharashtrian Srikandh. And if you ever want to introduce white meat to a strict veggie-loathing, carb-eating vegetarian such as my roommate, the Chennai Chicken is the place to start: Fresh chicken breast breathing the volcanic aroma of Chettinadu spices while inheriting the textured crunch from a tandoor. Whatever qualifies the Chennai allusion. Well, it was crispy fried! But that was only the appetizer.
A couple of days earlier I had visited Chatpatta Corner in Fremont, where we had Mumbaikkar-certified Bay Area’s best Bhel Puri. Now the Bhel Puri here was quite comparable to the original, however without a teaspoon of finger-nail dirt and a pinch of forehead moisture of a roadside chaatwalla, it isn’t really apples to apples is it?
There are a few meat and sea food items on the menu. However the dosa and uthamppam spread clearly dominates the options- stuffing options range from Habenero to Guacamole to Paneeer and Egg. I’m guessing that federal law required statutory warnings before an order was placed for the Habenero Dosa, since the server was almost reluctant to take the order. I asked my must-have-been-born-in-Andhra-Pradesh friend what his spice tolerance was on a scale of 1 to 10. His response was always a confident 11. Now I asked what he would rate the Habenero Dosa. “12″, came the prompt reply. Nevertheless the spicing and flavoring of the Dosas, Sambar and the spectacular tomato chutney was genuine and stood up to the traditions that kept Indian civilization going for millenniums.
Alright, enough hyperbole. Now about the Cottage Cheese Dosa and Yogurt Rice (seasoned with black mustard seeds, red chilies and curry leaves- back home we call it Tallichha Tayir Saadham, a daily staple). Now the restaurant’s website talks about their use of “primarily organic, bio-dynamic, natural, free-range and sustainable” ingredients. I don’t know how true that is, but one thing I can tell- they keep a cow in the kitchen and every morning she delivers gallons of fresh milk. To better illustrate my reaction to their yogurt rice, I have included this video.
The Valencia branch has the best Cheese Cake I’ve had since Jello changed their recipe. It is sided with Raspberry and Tamarind Sauce, made from four types of fresh cheeses (not processed cream cheese from a Costco- remember they have a cow?). The sourness of tamarind neutralized the saccharine of fresh raspberry sauce, without bargaining with the flavor. But what is Cheese Cake doing in the menu of a South Indian restaurant? Well it does have tamarind as a token desi ingredient, and I was told they get it daily from an outside vendor (So the cow can take a lunch break and chew some grass on Haight Street!). All that said, my kudos to the owners for keeping that on the menu, for not giving into established protocols of what is in and out of a cuisine, for going with their gutt on serving what they love.
The décor was very nice too. Not saturated with any particular style. Both pamper my high-ceiling fetish; the Valencia branch more dimly light than the Filmore one. Catch the large steel motifs of vegetable dye woodblocks designs a la Fab India style and discrete Nataraja statuettes. Interesting incident at the Valencia branch- While they were playing pleasant fusion music of Hindustani and Lounge, we heard faint sounds of popular Tamil film songs in the background. When we asked our server to raise the volume a tad bit, we were told that the music was actually coming from an apartment upstairs. He didn’t realize it until we asked and now that he knows maybe they should make it regular.
Go there if you are in the city and want a nice place to eat.
Filed under: Food Reviews | 8 Comments
Tags: cheese cake, chennai, dosa, fine dining, food, san francisco, south indian food, tomato chutney
I have been there and had pretty much the same thoughts , though completely on the veggie parts of the menu
Great decor and super tasty food! If only the wait times are smaller. They are hideous. We in fact had a hour and a half wait time that we went and got some eithiopian appetizers and came back to Dosas for main course!
Talk about global village huh
Nivi,
I have been lucky so far with the wait times. Updated post based on your recommendation on wait times.
Ethiopian isn’t so different from dosa isn’t it
D
Good work, Divs! I like the design of the website. Esp the pop ups when you point at highlighted words. Wish Tax forms had that too, instead of asking you open up a million schedules
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I liked Dosa – totally not what I expected when I heard the name, though. I had the habanero dosa, but, even though I am an inveterate spice addict, I must confess that it hits the palate quite hard. Thorughly enjoyed it though – the initial kick abates later on.
you found the habanero spicy? wow. i asked them if they forgot to add the spice! may be it was on a mexican farmers strike day or something!
Cool, – wud u say the non veg is sooooo goood tht ur roomie liked the CChicken more or the bhelpuri more? and if its unclear, do u want to take her to dosa again to settle this once and for all ?
Rich- yes we should go next time. Only we can go to the valencia one with the cheese cake. that may end the bhel /cc debate