Food Review: Dosa on Fillmore
Do you go to Dosa for the food or for the cocktails? That's always my dilemma! Honestly, I go for both. Jared's band was playing in the city Sunday night, and we met up with two friends at Dosa on Fillmore before the show. I love getting together with Mendel and Cathy- I know the food will be good, the conversation will be interesting, and I'll leave with at least two new book recommendations. We decided to order as many different things as possible on the menu to get a nice sampling, and we all shared our cocktails. Here's what we found:
We started with two salads- the mung sprouts and the spiced mango and goat cheese salad. The goat cheese salad was a little straight-ahead for my taste (you could have eaten it at any restaurant in SF, Indian or not). The mung sprouts were good (never tasted them before) with a bit of heat. The vada pav were everyone's favorite (described as vegetarian sliders, they're cute little imitation hamburgers made with spiced potatoes) but watch out for whole chilies under the bun! I also had bhel puri for the first time. The puffed rice looked to me a bit like my favorite kind of namkeen mixed with a whole host of other interesting surprises. We rounded off the meal with a Mysore masala dosa (I've never been there, so I'll assume it's like the Mysore original) which was very nice and one of my all time favorites, paneer and peas uttapam. For the record, it's hard to mess up paneer peas uttapam, but Dosa's was oh so crispy good.
And what you've been waiting for... the cocktails. I tried the rosemond because it mentioned rhubarb- I've been a bit obsessed with rhubarb since it started taking over my garden the last couple of weeks. The cocktail had a little spice in it (I'm assuming that was the long pepper nectar) but was nice. I really couldn't tell where the taste of rhubarb was (it usually has a distinct tangy flavor), but I enjoyed sipping my pink drink while eating the rest of my meal. Mendel had the peony, one of my personal favorites- light pink and made with coconut milk, it slides down easy. Which is why I didn't have one this time around, because I'd be tempted to have two! Cathy had the pink city cocktail (we're assuming named after Jaipur) with gin, raspberry nectar and green cardamom. It was good and also a bit strong. After sampling the cocktails around the table we decided mine, the rosemond, would actually be better named the pink city because it was closer to the color of Jaipur's pink walls than the almost fuchsia tint of Cathy's drink. But a good time, great food, and nice cocktails were had by all. Dosa remains the place to go for a fancy bit of decor, colorful cocktails, and some of the best fusion Indian food mixed with a solid repertoire of reliable favorites. I always feel a bit swankier, and certainly well fed, when I step back out the door.
