Among the line-up of trendy ethnic restaurants in San Francisco’s Mission district is Dosa, which has been open for about nine months.
Dosa purports to offer up South Indian food, which only vaguely resembles the North Indian fare usually served at Indian restaurants. As Silicon Valley is bursting with excellent South Indian restaurants, but San Francisco was until now bereft of them, I was quite excited when Dosa opened, and wasted no time in paying it a visit.
I was disappointed by the indifferent service, and let down by the flavourless food. The soup I tried, a rasam, which should have been piquant and spicy, was inoffensive. The masala dosa that followed was texturally correct, with a pleasant crispy crepe, but had the texture of porridge, and no flavour to speak of. Triple damages from the prices (appropriate to a chic eatery) left me thoroughly demoralised.
If you live in the Bay Area and desire excellent South Indian food at a fraction of Dosa’s prices, I can think, off-hand, of two excellent places, Saravanaa Bhavan and Chaat Paradise. Alas, it’s a 30-mile trip to each from San Francisco.
Leave a Reply