http://www.rangolica.com/
I just got back from Rangoli, an Indian restaurant in San Jose. We made a 6:30pm reservation and when we got there it was maybe only 1/4 full on a Friday night. By the time we left at 7:30 they had filled up a bit. Lately Indian food is becoming my favorite style of cuisine. I think the fact that most the spices used for food grow native to the subcontinent of India means the dishes of the region have a depth of flavor that can't be matched by western cuisines. They have been cooking with the spices long before Marco Polo introduced spices to Europe. Anyway, for the starters:
Potli Samosa: This was a really good vegetable fritter, stuffed with mainly potatoes and some peas. The mixture was seasoned and spiced very well. The potatoes were cooked as good as they can get, just having some slight resistance when you bite down and then it is smooth sailing from there. This came with a trio of sauces for the fritter. A spicy plum (good), mint (good), and grape (too sweet).
Yellow Lentil Soup: This was disappointing. I prefer a lentil soup to have some more texture and density than this one displayed. It was thin and seemed to be too much broth and not enough lentil. It had some heat to it but not good depth of spice or flavor. Really pedestrian. We did order plain naan to dip in the soup and the naan is very good.
Dinner:
Muttar Paneer (farmers cheese and green pea curry): This was great, soft pieces of cheese and cooked peas in a remarkable curry. This curry had depth, warmth, and spice. I wouldn't change a thing about this dish and would recommend anyone to try it.
Chicken Ka Korma: Another excellent dish. Tender chicken that you can break apart with your fork in another rich, flavorful sauce. Alicia said the dish was good but one of her chicken pieces needed to be cut with a knife. I find it hard to complain about this dish. I thought I should mention that though. I would love to eat these two dishes again at sometime in the future. (Actually I probably will tomorrow, with the leftovers).
The dishes came with a side of well cooked rice. They actually gave us more rice to go with the leftover curry we were taking home. We had garlic naan with dinner and I much preferred the plain. The problem with the garlic naan was the garlic not being cooked through. The naan cooks too quickly to put raw garlic on it. They need to cook the garlic first and then put in on the naan. I do like raw garlic for some dishes but not for this. Plain naan would have been perfect for dipping in the curries, however I still enjoyed dipping the garlic naan.
Desert:
I had to get those milk ball type things. I believe here they call them Galum Jalab. I am probably wrong on the spelling. Two of them came out and they were very reminiscent of deserts I had in Cyprus. They were warm, soaked in a sweet syrup, and had chopped pistachios on top. There was a rose water infusion as well. I liked them but fair warning, if you don't like sweet stuff this will be a turn off for you.
Service:
My favorite thing about service was the constant filling of my water without me asking. It's a pet peeve when staff is nowhere to be seen and we have empty glasses at the table. We had two bussers and one waiter serving us and they were courteous and the food was on time. They were very professional for the price range of the restaurant. A nice trick was bringing out very warm empty plates so the curries stayed hot on our plates the whole time we ate.
I would recommend this place for anyone and would like to go back myself sometime. This would be the perfect place to eat on a cold rainy day. The food and atmosphere will warm you up for sure!