Roti
Tonight, we went to Roti. Again. We've been there together (though we couldn't agree on how many times) and The Food Gal has taken several of our friends there without me (they always bring me a goodie bag, so I'm not mad). Outside of Chenery Park (no, I haven't written about it yet, which is rather unforgivable really, as often as we eat there) its the only mid-range restaurant that has landed on our regular rotation. (We eat at many of the inexpensive lunch joints near UCSF when we get the chance to eat together, but those don't count so much.)
Roti is a brilliant concept. All the affect of a Bistro (white linen napkins, good stem ware and glass ware, nice silver, etc etc), all the deliciousness of good Indian food. Now, I can't speak very much to what actually constitutes "authentic" Indian food. I've never been to India. But, I've eaten food prepared by an Indian friend of ours who was taught to cook by his mother in India. Roti is more like that than any Indian food we've had anywhere else. So, so far as we know, its pretty authentic. Whatever it is, its tasty.
We like them because in addition to very good food, they've got a nice wine list (though the wines tend toward a bit warm because they're stored fairly close to the kitchen...ah well) and the interior of the restaurant is nicely designed and comfortable. They pay a lot of attention to service, too.
We've eaten most of what they have on the menu. Tonight we had tandoori asparagus (only in San Francisco) which were quite good and very spicy. We also had paratha (which the Food Gal abjectly loves...whole wheat naan slathered in butter...how is that anything but good?) and regular naan, which I love because its one of those amazingly simple things that most places managed to mess up but at Roti is just what it ought to be. As always, we had vegetable samosas and they're a very good example of samosas, so far as I know.
Our entrees were kind of funny, we ordered a special chicken dish with a sauce made from almond paste and various spices and a salmon curry dish (they do wonders with salmon). They mixed up the sauces, but being the good restaurant goers that we are, we tried them before we said anything and they were delicious, so we went with it.
As always, everything was tasty, cooked perfectly (a lot of places we've been anything out of a tandoori oven is super dry, here is it moist and tender) and well seasoned. Roti serves up dishes with a lot of balance, which I also find missing in most Indian restaurants. Usually, its just hot or buttery.
It's also a good deal. With a glass of wine, 2 appetizers, 2 orders of naan type stuff, 2 entrees, a chai, a soda the bill was $70 before tip. Not bad. And for the level of service, for that price, it's no wonder we go back a lot.
Roti is a brilliant concept. All the affect of a Bistro (white linen napkins, good stem ware and glass ware, nice silver, etc etc), all the deliciousness of good Indian food. Now, I can't speak very much to what actually constitutes "authentic" Indian food. I've never been to India. But, I've eaten food prepared by an Indian friend of ours who was taught to cook by his mother in India. Roti is more like that than any Indian food we've had anywhere else. So, so far as we know, its pretty authentic. Whatever it is, its tasty.
We like them because in addition to very good food, they've got a nice wine list (though the wines tend toward a bit warm because they're stored fairly close to the kitchen...ah well) and the interior of the restaurant is nicely designed and comfortable. They pay a lot of attention to service, too.
We've eaten most of what they have on the menu. Tonight we had tandoori asparagus (only in San Francisco) which were quite good and very spicy. We also had paratha (which the Food Gal abjectly loves...whole wheat naan slathered in butter...how is that anything but good?) and regular naan, which I love because its one of those amazingly simple things that most places managed to mess up but at Roti is just what it ought to be. As always, we had vegetable samosas and they're a very good example of samosas, so far as I know.
Our entrees were kind of funny, we ordered a special chicken dish with a sauce made from almond paste and various spices and a salmon curry dish (they do wonders with salmon). They mixed up the sauces, but being the good restaurant goers that we are, we tried them before we said anything and they were delicious, so we went with it.
As always, everything was tasty, cooked perfectly (a lot of places we've been anything out of a tandoori oven is super dry, here is it moist and tender) and well seasoned. Roti serves up dishes with a lot of balance, which I also find missing in most Indian restaurants. Usually, its just hot or buttery.
It's also a good deal. With a glass of wine, 2 appetizers, 2 orders of naan type stuff, 2 entrees, a chai, a soda the bill was $70 before tip. Not bad. And for the level of service, for that price, it's no wonder we go back a lot.
Labels: Roti, San Francisco Restaurants
posted by The Food Guy at 7:54 PM
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