| Clean, new Indian buffet with nice selection of entrees and friendly staff. |
Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 1020
Reviewed: 9/8/2004
Rating: 8
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We took Julies suggestion on trying a new indian restaurant in downtown Mountain View, Shivas. Very clean on the inside and one of the better furnished restaurants weve been to. Shivas is pretty smart to strategically place their buffet along the sidewalk window. People walking by will have to see these dome shaped serving trays filled with exotic food. Did I mention that everything is so clean? Im not used to buffet style lunchs looking so palatable to the eyes.
With ~18 dishes to choose from, I knew I would be making at least 2 trips to the line. Im not good at remembering the names of the dishes but here goes...
butter chicken - watch out for this one, its tastes really good but left a buttery film in my mouth....like I had been eating movie theater popcorn
curry chicken - not too spicey but quite enjoyable
dahl something - loved this stuff, put it all over my rice
rice - saffron hint to it, could be a little bit more moist
something with corn - i dont know the name but it was green and had small kernals of corn. great stuff, another thing to smother my rice in
nann - mixed feelings on this, 1st batch was crunchy, 2nd batch was better, 3rd was the best...tasted like a sugarless pancake
Buffet costs $10 with excellent service. While at the buffet line, I overheard a customer asking a buffet attendent what was in a particular dish. He proceeded to explain what was in it and also made some suggestions that go well with the dish. He said...this is not spicey, this is spicey, this is vegetarian and so on. Ive never encountered buffet service like that...Shivas goes the extra mile and should be commended on a job well done. Be sure to pay a visit to Shivas.
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Reviewer: Terry
Total Reviews: 738
Reviewed: 9/8/2004
Rating: 8
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Shiva's was Agent Julie's choice and what a nice find it was. Upon entering, I knew immediately that the place was new. Everything interior is very well taken care of. Also, usually in Indian restaurants you either have an all-business staff who doesn't care for you much or rarely you have the friendly wait staff who go totally out of the way for you. I am happy to report that Shiva's is of the latter. We must have got 4 baskets of Nan brought to our table and water refilled after 2 sips. Very cool.
The buffet was very clean and nicely setup. It seems like they had the vegetarian and meat entries on different rows. It would have been nice if they demarcated this. Maybe put english translations for some of their dishes. Doesn't matter because I tried all of the veggie offerings and they were all really good. I ate so much that 2 hours later at work I was still feeling overstuffed to the point of near-sickness. Its maybe 95% of Sneha quality and a couple bucks more (it hurt a bit when the bill came in at $10 each for the buffet. But in my opinion, you will not find better Indian food in downtown Mtn View. I think the other two I've been to in downtown pale in comparison.
Give Shiva's a try next time you're in downtown Mountain View. It might cost you a bit more, but you'll love the quality.
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Reviewer: Julie
Total Reviews: 46
Reviewed: 9/9/2004
Rating: 8.5
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I noticed a new Indian restaurant, Shiva's, had opened up on the corner of Castro and California. It looked good from the outside and so we decided to try it for lunch. I was very happy with that decision.
They have a lunch buffet that was one of the nicest buffet lunches I've seen. The dishes were nicely labeled, fresh, well stocked, and clean. There were no drips or piles of food falling into the dish next to it. There was a wide variety and it all looked very appetizing.
The food was really good. I liked the main course dishes and the rice was tasty and had good flavor. There was also a section of the buffet that had some fruit and salads, and dessert selections of rice pudding or the gooey ball things (I don't know what they're called). All and all, I was very happy with the food.
The service was even better. Water was quickly refilled and as soon as someone at our table took the final piece of naan out of the basket, it was replaced with fresh, warm bread. The naan even had some butter on it, which I enjoyed. The price was reasonable - for about $12 (tax and tip included), I had a lovely lunch. I will definitely go back to Shiva's. |
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Reviewer: Brandon
Total Reviews: 16
Reviewed: 9/29/2004
Rating: 8
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The most important thing with Indian food is, of course, the naan, and Shiva's scores no points here. It was thin and crackery and broke apart in the middle and on the edges it was doughy. Our first batch was cold and then the basket lay empty for a long time until the second batch finally arrived.
The food was pretty good, but the best thing about it was that it was distinctive. It doesn't taste like a lot of other Indian buffets, and they had a few selections I hadn't seen in other places. My take on Shiva's in general can be extrapolated from my take on the microcosm of their dessert table: They had the normal pancake-like balls in syrupy sauce, which were as good as any others I've had. They had no rice pudding, so that was a minus for me, but they had a dessert there that was bread chunks in some sweet, milky sauce. I hadn't seen it anywhere else before. It was ok. It didn't blow me away but it was just nice to try something new.
It's a new place, so it's clean, looks good, has good light, and the service is eager to make good impressions on its first rounds of customers. Good points for comfort. Price for the lunch buffet was standard.
Shiva's is a welcome addition to the local Indian fare for bringing some variety, but it doesn't stand out. 8 stars. |
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Reviewer: Vikram
Total Reviews: 19
Reviewed: 10/23/2005
Rating: 8.5
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A while back I had written a review for Shiva's that was promptly rejected by Jason on grounds that it was extreme.
After my first visit to Shiva's I have gone here multiple times, for both dinner and lunch and I have only good things to say. :-)
First, this place is slightly upscale. This is not your usual butter chicken and beer kind of Indian restaurant. Lunch buffet is not bad at 10.95 + tax. This place is crowded like you wont believe even for lunch on a Friday afternoon. You can call ahead for large parties though.
For lunch, they dont have one of those endless buffet tables. The selection is limited but decent. I prefer this to having so many items that you try everything and dont remember how any of it tasted. Some of my favorites from their buffer have been Butter Chicken, Chicken Tikka, Goat Curry (I have seen this only once in my numerous visits here). The vegetarian dishes I like are the Daal, Aloo Baigan (eggplant with potatoes. One thing I would change about this dish is to leave the stem out before tossing the eggplants in!). They bring fresh naan to the table and service is good.
One of the things I dont like about this place is how they 'invent' stuff. I have seen a pumpkin chicken dish and I have never ever seen this in any Indian restaurant here or in India. Maybe, that's their way of experimenting and distinguishing themselves. I am no chef, but the idea of pumpkin with chicken is quite unappetizing. If you are interested in trying more of the chef-invented dishes I suggest you try Amber India at Santana Row.
Anyway, the other thing is that these guys have a $2 beer special at lunch. Also, try to get a masala chai at the end of your meal. It's a nice end to a good meal.
For dinner, one dish that I remember I loved was one called Shrimp Moilee.
This would be one of my favorite Indian buffet places. |
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Reviewer: Humbucker
Total Reviews: 11
Reviewed: 10/9/2005
Rating: 7.5
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I was in downtown Mountain View tonight with my parents looking for a place to eat dinner. They were thinking about checking out the new California Roadhouse restaurant, but I vetoed it because I'm wary of any place that is owned by the same people who gave us Miyake (how Miyake ever made it into Jatbar's top ten is a question I'll save for the Jatboard). Instead, we headed across the street to Shiva's. When we inquired about seating availability we were told by the hostess that there would be a 40 minute wait- not surprising given that it was Castro Street on a Saturday night. However, we were almost immediately told by someone who I assume was the manager that the wait would actually be 2 minutes, which was a nice, if somewhat befuddling, revelation. Sure enough, we were led to a table soon afterwards and left alone with our menus.
Shiva's main dining area is reasonably elegant and tastefully decorated: a rarity among the ethnic restaurants of the area. The menu reflected this upscale attitude as all entrees, with the exception of biryanis, are served a la carte- sides and starches are ordered separately. Price-wise, this puts Shiva at the upper end of the Indian restaurant spectrum with the likes of Amber India. Eventually, we settled on the Lamb Roganjosh ($15.95), Chicken Tikka Masala ($14.95), the Chef's Signature Seafood Curry ($16.95), and the Assorted Bread Basket ($7.95). It took a few minutes for us to be noticed by a waiter, and when we were finally able to order, our server wasn't particularly amiable. No matter, if the food was good, all would be forgiven.
Amazingly, our food arrived in what must have been just over 5 minutes. The time that had elapsed between our seating and ordering was longer. In addition to our bread basket and the three curries served in small metal bowls, we received a fourth small bowl of seasoned rice to share. The rice was the subject of some controversy, as the amount we were given was roughly equal to the amount one diner would be served in a Japanese or Korean restaurant, allowing each of us only a few spoonfuls of the grain. Although the stuff was nothing special, I couldn't help but wonder why they didn't give us more or just give us none at all.
The Lamb Roganjosh was mediocre: pretty good, but not great. The cubes of lamb weren't particularly tender or flavorful. Had I not been told it was lamb, I could have easily mistaken the meat for beef or pork. Although some might see that as a virtue, I prefer stronger and more distinctive tasting meat. The sauce was fairly mildly seasoned and pretty oily. The Chicken Tikka Masala was easily the best dish, not surprising given it's internationally recognized status as the quintessential Indian dish. This rendition of CTM was notable for the complex flavors in the creamy sauce, which I suppose is all that can be done to differentiate $15 dine-in CTM from $5 take-out CTM. Not being a fan of seafood, I didn't have much of the Seafood Curry, but it seemed to have a pretty good amount of fish and shrimp. The breads in the assorted bread basket were all pretty similar, the main differences between the types being varying degrees graininess and oiliness. At first, we were a little worried that there wasn't enough food, but the size of the small bowls was deceiving, and there turned out to be an ample amount meat. Though we ordered no appetizers, we ended up getting stuffed.
After our dishes were cleared, a busboy whipped out a crumb scraper and cleaned off the table- again revealing Shiva's high-end dining experience aspirations. We took a look at the dessert menu, but decided to pass on the sweets because we were too full. Throughout the meal, water refills were given at all the appropriate intervals. The busboys seemed to do a better job serving us than our waiter, who was MIA save for the ordering and bill paying parts.
Overall, I would say that neither the food nor the service really warrants a return visit to Shiva's. If you're determined to have Indian food in upscale ambience (and willing to pay the upscale prices to go along with it), Amber India might be a better bet. If you're just looking for good Indian food, t | | |
