Shiva’s - Dinner with the Girls
Restaurant: Shiva’s Indian Restaurant & Bar
Address: 800 California Street #100, Mountain View, CA
Phone Number: (650) 960-3802
Cuisine: Indian
Dining Partners: Ate Di and BanYo
So I have this friend. And his name is BanYo. Long story. To make things short and sweet, we met in college. We were involved in a huge project and things started out in a business-basis, but even after the project (which just happened to be a stage show were directed and produced) we remained great friends. One reason why I think is because a whole bunch of people hated us after the show and we only had each other left in the end. HAHA.
It’s been about 5 years since I met him and you have probably read other posts where I gush about him. He’s so awesome. We added another friend, Ate Di, to the mix a couple years after we met and now we have our little dinner traditions. On this day, we decided to have dinner at BanYo’s former workplace because he couldn’t stop talking about it. We took the scenic route to Mountain View. It was a quite relaxing yet mentally-stimulating drive especially after spending the entire day secluded in a windowless office. Good call, BanYo.
I must admit that I don’t really venture too far south of Daly City, where I reside. I spend most of my time in San Francisco where I work, so I usually eat out there. However, I do appreciate BanYo taking me to new places on the Peninsula.
Aside from this restaurant, the only other Indian place I have eaten at is Naan ‘n’ curry which has dirt-cheap Indian food. Shiva’s is a bit on the pricier side, and they have a good-looking bar if you’re down to have Happy Hour here. They have a different drink or food special everyday, so be sure to call in and see what they have in store for you! I loved the ambiance of this place. It’s a bit more sophisticated than Naan ‘n’ Curry which was nice.
Mango Lassi is like a super thick milkshake without the ice. It’s creamy and sweet without giving you a toothache. They’re so think that our straws stand straight up! I love their mango lassi here because it does not taste artificial. You really taste mango and that‘s reassuring because most places really don’t care about quality anymore. Drinking this with your spicy meal is perfect because it cools your tongue down.
Crispy fried turnovers stuffed with mixed vegetables,
cashews, herbs, and spices
These were awesome. Nice crisp exterior with a flavorful filling. You can see the carrots and potato, but the addition of cashews was interesting. They provide some sauces which I unfortunately didn’t photograph, but they were delightful appetizers. They had a light curry flavor which was not too strong. Very nice.
Stir fried scallops flavored with fresh coconut,
lime, tomato, ginger, served with naan and papad
I love scallops so I was intrigued to try their’s here. I don’t find too many Indian places utilizing scallops so seeing this on the menu was surprising. The sauce was very gingery, as you can probably tell with the shards of ginger garnishing the plate. These are small diver scallops so don’t expect your humungous dayboat scallops. I was a bit disappointed because I felt that the curry masked the scallops’ sweetness a bit. Not sure if I would order this again because I’m not a ginger fan, but it was still pretty good.
Steamed basmati rice flavored with
whole spices and saffron
Because I have to have rice with everything, we got some basmati to go along with the curries we were ordering. I liked how the server spooned the rice for us. That’s pretty different when it comes to Indian places. Usually it’s casual and you serve yourself, but I guess since this was higher-end Indian, you get treated with the higher-end service. I also liked how we can actually see the saffron in the rice. Being the most expensive spice in the world, it was a pleasure to see it in our food. I could do without the peas though. I don’t like peas. =(
Sea bass and prawns simmered in a Madrasi curry sauce,
with fresh coconut milk and curry leaves
This is one of the chef’s specialties and I can tell why. I’m sorry for the awful picture, you can’t even see the chunks of sea bass and prawns, but I promise they were in there! The hunks of fish were actually very big and it was cooked perfectly. Good stuff!
Tandoor roasted chicken breast pieces cooked in rich
creamy tomato-onion gravy and flambéed with Brandy
Though the menu says “flambéed in Brandy,” we actually didn’t see that part. Boo! I thought we were in for a tableside show, but I guess that would have been too dangerous. Chicken Tikka Masala is my favorite curry. I get it every time I am out for Indian food. Their version is awesome. Such a delicious and creamy tomato sauce with generous portions of chicken. I can eat the sauce alone with the basmati and I would be happy. Who doesn’t like Chicken Tikka Masala?
Cauliflower florets and peas cooked with
dried fruits, fresh tomato and onion sauce
We ordered this for our vegetable because Ate Di’s favorite veggie is the cauliflower. I found this dish to be very interesting because of the many flavors and texture contrasts. You got your tender cauliflower, but then you have dried fruit, golden raisins, in this case. It’s a curry with very aromatic spices, and then you get a hit of sweetness from the dried fruit. It was very good and very new to me. Overall, I think everything was balanced in this dish.
Tandoor-roasted chicken with sour cream,
yogurt, ginger, garlic, and frontier spices
I just had to have the Tandoori Chicken. I heard it coming before I saw it. It is served on a sizzling hot plate, so hot steam clouded our table. I actually burned my fingers trying to nab myself a piece before anyone else could. I love how they included lemon wedges. You know me and my chicken with lemons. The lemons almost seemed to cook in the steam, so they gave a lot of juice.
Whipped yogurt with chopped onion, cucumber, potato,
tomato & mint, dressed with roasted cumin & black salt
This was actually the first time that I had the raita with my meal. As we all know now, I love it, so thank you to Ate Di for introducing it to me. I don’t eat Indian food without it. It’s a perfect way to cool off after eating all that spice-laden food.
Special, air flipped paper thin bread
baked on an inverted Indian wok
This was a thin bread used to scoop up curry or dip in raita. Indian roti is different from the Malaysian kind that I have tried at Banana Island or Straits, but I can see how the Indian culture has influenced that country’s food.
Indian leavened white flour bread
smeared with garlic, cilantro, and butter
and under that was the
Stuffed Kulcha
Whole wheat bread stuffed with paneer
It was fun to try the different types of breads. Ate Di’s favorite is the garlic naan, so of course she ordered that. I loved the buttery naan essence of pungent garlic on it. So good. I chose the bread that was stuffed with paneer, or Indian cheese. What is cool about paneer is that doesn’t melt. So with every bite, there would be little pieces of cheese that hold up their shape and taste great. It actually reminds me of a mozzarella cheese. Loved it.
We had so much food that we had to bring most of it home. We always order too much food. =) BUT! We seemed to have an extra stomach for DESSERT!
I think it’s just me, but I don’t like New York Cheesecake. It’s too dense for me. I’d rather have a cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. Also not quite sure why the oranges were there. I didn’t know cheesecake (dairy) goes with citrus. I thought acids and bases don’t mix? Not thrilled at all.
Don’t want to go into this dessert too much. Tasted like cheesecake you can buy at Costco. Nothing special.
Saffron Infused Reduced Milk with
Pistachio and Cardamom, Served Frozen
I was afraid to order this because I didn’t know anything at all about Indian desserts. BanYo ordered it and it was my favorite dessert of the three. The kulfi, which is a frozen dessert made with milk and sugar and spiced with cardamom, was garnished with a sweet syrup, topped with pistachios, and a sweet cream. Very good and very new to me. Pleasantly surprised.
It really was a meal fit for Aladdin and Jasmine. Ha! No seriously, it was an enormous meal for just the three of us and we were so satisfied. I wish I knew of restaurants in the City that have a similar menu to Shiva’s. While we were eating our own meal, we watched the table next to us receive a steaming hot rack of lamb. Looked fantastic. Overall, a successful dinner with my girls, but a little bit out of the way. Other than that, DELICIOUS!
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