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Salwa Gilani Cuisine (Indian cuisine)  $

 7.25
JaT Rating

1530 S De Anza Blvd, San Jose, 95129  (Directions)


408-865-0302


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Pakistani buffet with spicy, mostly-meat dishes.


Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 1020
Reviewed: 7/27/2007
Rating: 8
My photo gallery 		Salwa Gilani Cuisine comes off the jatboard for a request. I had no idea this place existed and I've been in the adjacent shopping center many times. Parking was not a problem and the restaurant didn't appear too busy. Just walk up to the counter and tell them you want the buffet. It costs $6.99 with about 10 dishes to choose from. Not interested in buffet, feel free to order off the menu. From a vegetarian standpoint, there's not too much for you here.

For meat eaters, I think you're gonna like it here. Their meat is of higher quality than other restaurants and they give you a decent selection to choose from. They had goat, beef, curry chicken, bbq chicken, and ground beef. On the regular menu, they even had burgers in naan.

keema (picture 7, bottom left)- It's ground beef in a red spiced oil bath. If any of you guys remember the Empress of India, they loved to spice things up and the Keema is up in the hot ranks. Watch out, this isn't for the weak and they don't even warn you it's spicy. My favorite dish of the lunch and most flavorful.

nihari curry (picture 7, it's the brown piece of meat, right of the fork) - beef shanks? in a curry sauce. If you enjoy beef marrow, well, they have huge bones in the stew. I immediately fell in love with this dish. The beef was extra tender and curry has some spiciness to it. It's one of those dishes that probably took hours upon hours to prepare. Not as spicy as the Keema but just enough to get get things rolling. Loved it.

Biryani with chicken (picture 4) - I didn't really care for the chicken joints. Chicken was dry but rice was near incredible. Rice was extremely fluffy and moist with a slick film to it. Now, I don't know if it was yogurt or chicken fat but it was hecka good.

Not sure why Terry wasn't too hot on the naan. I thought it was perfectly cook. When folded, the bottom cracked and it was a bit steamy. Maybe he was too grossed out that this dude sitting next to us, walked up to the buffet and used his bare hands to grab the naan. Or maybe it was the lady who cut in line and stole the last pieces of naan when we walked in.

If I liked it this much why would I give it an 8? Why not the 8.5/9? The food is super greasy, huge pools of oil. If that's the way it's suppose to be, let me know. Service was pretty much non-existant with the exception of paying for the meal.

Suggestions

- each chafing tray should have their own serving utensils. The bbq chicken and naan did not have any tongs/spoons.

- it wasn't even that busy yet a lot of the tables had dirty dishes on the table. Pictures don't lie, look at image 3.

- Styrofoam cups have got to go.

- have someone man the buffet area so the lids are closed to the flies
 


Reviewer: Terry
Total Reviews: 738
Reviewed: 7/28/2007
Rating: 6.5
My photo gallery 		I couldn't take too long a lunch today and Jason had this place in mind (either from a request or personal observation I do not know). We arrive and the place is about half full. There is a good buffet selection on the back wall. We walk right in and grab a plate. I start making my way down the line, passing by meat item after meat item. This place is NOT for vegetarians. I ended up finding one tray containing veggie items and loaded up on it, then made my way down towards the naan, hoping to find something to suit me there. Just as I was about to get to the try (with Jason right on my heels) this older asian lady cuts right in front of me, grabbing the naan, leaving us one piece to share.

THANKS lady.

So I grab the last piece (since Jason was able to find plenty of meat items, he was covered) and sit down. After the required pictures, I dig in. I found the veggie dish to be fantastic. This was really good, a little spicy, and still lots of flavoring.

I was a little annoyed by the flies milling around the place, and the fact that all of the patrons left the tray covers off the buffet items didn't fill me with a lot of hope in the cleanliness of my experience. The guy comes from the back with more naan, and the ladies husband rushes up and grabs a nice big handful (with his hands) and rushes back to his table. NICE.

Jason grabs us 2 pieces and sits down. The freshness was good, and it had a delicious flavor. Nothing extraordinary, but standard very good tandoor.

Overall I was impressed with the food quality, I am sure Jason will give it a higher score as this place really caters to meat eaters primarily. Everything had a nice spice and good flavor. I would be cautious of the cleanliness of the place, but the kitchen has things together in the food department.
 
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cheapEATS ate...

meat

“you are correct jason. their meats are locally grown and free of hormones and stuff. very high quality.”

8/5/2007 1:13:29 AM

cheapEATS ate...

everything

“I don't think it's dirty at all. you prolly just had bad luck with the flies and the rude lady and her dirty husband.”

7/30/2007 7:40:56 PM