S to Zed

We arrived, realising that as no reservations can be made for parties of less than six, that we would probably be in for a wait for a table. When we saw other people waiting outside we were almost deterred from sticking it out in the less than clement weather, but after a quick word with the very charming French-speaking hostess, learnt we were welcome to wait at the bar.

The room, with its spicy orange walls is warm, cosy and welcoming although the lofty ceiling means that noise is not dampened and the space is too loud for comfortable conversation. Eventually we decided that sitting at the bar to eat would not only secure us a spot of our own more quickly, it actually seemed more inviting than the tables, some of which were stationed in less than attractive areas that served more as walkways than places to enjoy a meal.

Spotty service can be forgiven during the first few weeks of a restaurant's opening. Things were a bit hectic on our visit to Dosa but if you are patient and prepared for sitting it out, start with one of their remarkable Lychee Lush Soju cocktails made to a S is for "Secret" recipe from the fruits seeping in a huge glass jar of alcohol behind the bar. It's difficult to drink this mouthwatering Lychee concoction slowly so when you need further refreshment, slow down, perhaps, with a huge glass of sparkling Prosecco that will provide a crisp refreshing contrast to the spicy food that follows. The rest of the wine list, chosen by Michael Minna's sommelier, Mark Bright, is short but attractive and of a quality beyond the kind of wine list you would usually find at an Indian restaurant in San Francisco, where a bottle of beer in a brown paper bag is more the norm.

We could already see, from servers passing by, that the entrees were huge, but we were itching for an appetizer, anyway. We asked for a Dahi Vada - a South Indian snack food, consisting of a lentil dumpling served in a yoghurt sauce. We not only chose it because it is a dish we usually like, but also because it didn't incorporate any of the chutneys or sambar that we could clearly see were repeated in the entree section of the menu. Unfortunately we ended up being served a different appetizer by mistake, a deep fried, crispy lentil dumpling instead, complete with the doubling up of chutneys and sauces we were trying to avoid. In their favour - the Dosa Staff offered to change it for us but we declined because we were hungry after all the waiting. Certainly do be aware, when eating at Dosa, that the sides for the appetizers and mains might be the same. Read the menu carefully and balance your choices accordingly for a more variety-filled meal.

For our mains we ordered a masala dosa and a a plate of mixed uttapam to share. The enormous dosa, filled with a simple blend of spiced potatoes and cashew nuts, was good. The accompanying chutneys, including the coconut one that we thought was disappointingly flavourless compared to those we have tried in other South Indian eateries, began to seem a little tired, especially since they had been with us since our first course. The sambar - a soupish lentil gravy traditionally served with the dosa, idly and vada items, for dipping, was much thicker than we've encountered before and was without the same unique flavour we were expecting. Uttapam is a dish we are only familiar with from our trips to Kennedy's, but our British genes are reminded of pikelets (a kind of flat crumpet) by the Dosa version. We like the idea of the sampler plate - a selection of several mini uttapam, each with a different topping, of which the caramelized onion one has the most flavour, the fresh tomato was bland, likely because of the unavailability of good fruit during the winter season and the mutter, or peas, was the most disappointing (the peas were almost as hard as bullets). The one dish that totally bowled us over was the side of Channa Masala - chickpeas. Heck we don't even care for chick peas and we couldn't stop eating them. We finished the whole bowl, licked it clean, they were surprisingly and totally irresistable. Definitely check them out, whatever else you order.

The staff were really genial and we even had a chat with one of the owners, Anjan Mitra, from Bombay, whom we told that many of the dishes didnt taste quite as we expected them to, from our previous experiences of South Indian food (admittedly experience that comes from London, not India). Again, he explained that he was using a lot of his mothers "secret" recipes. The peculiar sambar was a "secret" as was the delicious chickpea dish created by his chef. "It's slightly sweet", he said, "that's part of the secret".

Another conversation with our bartender and server, who mellowed out and became much less stressed as the clientele thinned out, had him asking our opinion. We thought about it for a minute and conlcuded that, much as we dislike the word, it is a "trendy" version of South Indian Food. Dosa is a lively place, it's a fun place, it's great for vegetarians, it's reasonably priced, it's good for groups and it's very friendly. To many people Dosa offers a new style of eating and a new taste experience which should be enough to keep it busy for a while. But unless they incorporate some more authentic flavours where they are expected and add a bit more variety into their menu, our guess is that true fans of South Indian food won't be in any great hurry to return after they have given it the once over.

This review was a first impression. Read more opinions on: Love in The Time of Coriander | Citysearch | Yelp | In the Crowd.
You can also get Dosa and Uttapam at Kennedy's in North beach. Read a previous SFist Review here.

Dosa
995 Valencia St
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 642-3672