New Indian Food Alert - Berkeley.

It's actually Cafe Raj, 1158 Solano (corner of Stannage), in Albany. Phone 510-524-5667.

Gareth wrote:
>
> ... It gives me great pleasure then, to say that the Raj cafe, that just
> opened on Solano Ave in Berekeley ...

We tried Cafe Raj in Albany Saturday night. Report:

Vegetable samosas: wonderful. Looking forward to trying the meat version.

Vegetable pakoras: bland, wouldn't order again. Probably would have liked them better if they'd served them immediately instead of waiting for all three appetizers to be ready.

Onion bajia (onion rings): same complaint as pakoras, only I don't think they'd have been that good even if hot.

Korma zafran (spiced beef meatball curry):  delicious. Very impressive.

Tandoori chicken: tasty, a little dry. Not exceptional. Wouldn't order again.

I found out *after* I ordered that the cook's Pakistani, so I think I'll stick to the more northern-style dishes in the future. I'm looking forward to trying some lamb.

NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 21:08:50 PDT
Organization: SBC Internet Services
Xref: alexander.INS.CWRU.Edu ba.food:36873

Based on your review we went there for lunch.

We had:

1.     Onion bajia:    5-6 small french fried onion rings, soggy, flavorless, with undistinguished attempt in  two condiments and riddled with red cabbage
2.    Tandoori:          two very dry overcooked thigh leg pieces with red cabbage profusely decorating the plate;
3.    Special of the day:    potatoe chicken curry?????; the overcooked breast remaining from the tandoori above; flavorless;
4.    None of the above remotely resembled Indian cooking. In fact nothing about the restaurant resembled Indian anything except the costumes and the background muzak.

Gareth, either you are:

1.    related to the people that own the restaurant, in which case you have a severe conflict of interest and you shouldn't be writing anything about the above glop.

2.    you don't know anything about Indian food.  To compare this to Vic's suggests you should see a neurologist about your sensory end organs, particularly taste and smell.  Vic's is an excellent place to eat. I was ripped off at this place.

3.    or like some Brits, you have been eating pablum through a straw your entire life.

Non Cheers,
KEH

Gareth wrote:

> As a British ex-pat living in the Bay Area, I've been consistently
> dissapointed with what passes for Indian food in the various watered
> down presentations that I've had here. Aprt from Vik's on Alston Way in
> Berekeley, there really isn't anywhere providing the truly authentic
> tases IMHO.
>
> It gives me great pleasure then, to say that the Raj cafe, that just
> opened on Solano Ave in Berekeley, comes very close to what I've been
> looking for. It's a new business, very small, in a hole-in-the-wall kind
> of way, and has a real Tandoor oven.
>
> I tried the Vindaloo, Kashmir Prawns, Nan, and Onion Bhajia. The
> Vindaloo is always a good test. Would they make it hot enough whilst
> still retaining true flavor, and a certain dryness to the sauce is
> usually the issue. They did. it was about the most satisfying attempt at
> this dish I've had in the US, and I've been looking for a long time too.
>
> The Kashmiri prawns were flavored with just the right amount of saffron,
> the nan was fluffy and tasty, the Bhajia hot crispy and non greasy.
>
> I've been tired of going back to Europe for my Indian food fix, so to
> finally have one this good open so near is very pleasant indeed. I'll be
> working my way through the menu ASAP, but I'd be happy to hear if others
> experiences at the place gel with mine.

NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 19 Mar 1999 16:19:24 PDT
Organization: SBC Internet Services
Xref: alexander.INS.CWRU.Edu ba.food:36901

Cafe Raj was  the worst Indian dining experience in memory, so bad that it was felt to be questionably Indian.  If it weren't for the costumes and the muzak you really would be hard pressed to tell. To compare a restaurant this bad to a restaurant as good as Vic's suggests something other than just taste bud naivety.  That the owner may be your brother in law or something comes to mind. This happens on dine.com all the time, and to say the least, it is maddening. Spamming at its most devious.

About pablum, we all start with it, and in the dénouement of life we end up on it, sometimes down a feeding tube. Some cuisines never get away from it. The British get accused of that more than most other cuisines. Having said that we like British food.

I apologize for any suggestion that my dialogue was insulting.  However, the thought of potential conflict of interest in your statement was maddening and I overreacted. Sorry for that.

Cheers,

Gareth wrote:

> Kent H. wrote:
> >
> > Based on your review we went there for lunch.
> >
> >
> > Gareth, either you are:
> >
> > 1.    related to the people that own the restaurant, in which case you have
> > a severe conflict of interest and you shouldn't be writing anything about
> > the above glop.
>
> Nope.
>
> >
> > 2.    you don't know anything about Indian food.  To compare this to Vic's
> > suggests you should see a neurologist about your sensory end organs,
> > particularly taste and smell.  Vic's is an excellent place to eat. I was
> > ripped off at this place.
>
> I'm sorry you didn't like it. I wasn't the only one who did though. Try
> somewhere else and review for me instead if you didn't like it.
>
> >
> > 3.    or like some Brits, you have been eating pablum through a straw your
> > entire life.
>
> I presume this racial epithet is meant to be amusing.
>
> You should be able to do better than this.

Someone wrote:

>Before you go insulting people, perhaps you should consider whether the
>kitchen might be erratic.
>
>As you can see from my earlier report, two of the five dishes I tried
>there were wonderful, every bit as good as the food at Vik's. At least
>one more might have been good if the cook had sent it right out instead
>of letting it sit around until the other appetizers were done.
>

Went there tonight. Onion Bajia and Vegetable Samosas were both bland. After a VERY long wait, the Chicken Tika Masala and Aloo Gobi came. Both were very good. The chicken was different from what I expected (more tomato, less creamy) but both  dishes were pleasant surprises after the appetizers. The paratha was good, but the garlic naan had raw garlic, which was overpowering (and I love garlic). Overall promising, but the service has to improve.

Another good Indian suggestion is Bombay Cuisine on 9th at University. Hole in the wall, with a quite limited menu, but the food is very good.

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Well, after such great endorsements we had to try the place!  We went tonight and we weren't disappointed.

We had keeman nam and spicy beefo somosas for appetisers.  I really liked the somosas, the shell was crispy and the beef inside well seasoned (though not really spicy).  Husband's was half cold, however - he thinks maybe they were cooked and microwaved before serving.  In any case they were good.

For dinner we pretty much ordered the same thing.  He had the previously discussed (on the thread) meatball curry, and I ordered a chicken dish of similar description.  I don't remember the names, sorry . As it was commented here, the meatball dish was great - the chicken less so.

I also had a very good, not too sweet rose water lassi - never had had one before and I enjoyed it.

What was probably the best was the effort put by the lone waitress and the cheff.  The waitress was very attentive, always making the extra effort. When the keema nam we ordered didn't come out well (it was sort of flat), they gave it to us to munch on while we waited for another much better version. They made a mistake on the order of the table next to ours, so they brought the right dish for free as well.

The mistakes, I think, were because they were much more busy than usual (perhaps too many people read this newsgroup!).

Anyway, it was all in all a very pleasant dining experience and we will go again!

Take care,

Marga

Margarita Lacabe - Derechos - [email removed] - http://www.derechos.org ____________________________________________________________________________

                "We are never so likely to settle a question
                   rightly as when we discuss it freely."
                           Thomas Babington, 1830