Gastronomique: Aslam's Grand Slam

Aslam's Rasoi sounds a bit like Occam's razor, especially with our thick French accent, which has us straining our little brains to find a relationship here. We know that if we don't, the next reviewer will steal our shtick. But Aslam, first name Mohammed, does not keep things simple: every dish which comes out of his kitchen is a multi-layered, sophisticated, refined dish with a list of ingredients long like the arm. Yet, he achieves consistently bright flavors, and varied textures. Even in the naming of his restaurant, he took over a place called Rasoi and complexified it.

Good thing he did, though. We haven't been to the Tandoorloin lately, we are not on top of the Indo-Pakistani food scene there, but Aslam's Rasoi serves better food, both in flavor and quality of the ingredients, than, say, any place in the Lower Haight. When we looked at the menu, we were shocked with the similarities with the Indian Oven. And for a good reason: Aslam cooked there from 1995 to 2004, and claims credit for this place becoming the best rated year after year. You'll get the same dishes in both places, and you'll get almost the same prices. Which is to say: Aslam's Rasoi is not cheap. After Indian Oven, Aslam manned the stove at Roti in Burlingame, got rave reviews and he is going for a third top rated place in a row, a grand slam of sorts.

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But consider the chicken salad ($10), where a twice-hot --oven and spices hot-- breast of chicken skewered in the tandoor is sliced over a perfectly French vinaigretted salad with fresh fennel shavings, nice quality greens, cucumber and tomato. Or the Bombay pakora ($7), which were be the best fried calamari we had in a while. The pakora batter (with chickpeas) is thinner than usual, and the dipped bits of calamari are fried in a light canola oil, so they don't weigh on the stomach as fried stuff does. The canola oil is used for a samosa ($5), two small, dark gold nuggets, with a crispy outer shell and a spiced-up potato and peas filling, and for the poori, a bread puffed up in a fry bath into an airy ball, which stayed crisp even though we let it stand idle on the table while we focused on the other dishes.

Other dishes include lamb cooked on the bone: three chops ($17), marinated in yogurt, absolutely succulent, moist inside, with a velvety texture, the gamey flavor of the lamb fat very present, but marrying itself nicely to the spice rub. Or lamb cooked on a skewer, as in the boti kebab ($15). Here too, the tender meat, cooked evenly all the way through despite the rather large size of the chunks, is still moist and flavorful, despite the meat being leaner and less grisly. We used the bread (thin chapatti and puffy poori) to wrap the slivers of pepper and red onion which came as a bed for the lamb chops: they had been lightly sauteed and spiced to bring out the sweetness of the vegetables, and they made a delicious impromptu fajita straight from the sizzling metal plate.

Seafood choices include a scallop korma, the light nutty flavor of which enhances the scallops, choped into eighths, in a creamy sauce with almond slivers, or a machchi masala, fresh fish of the day cooked in a light sauce of onions, tomatoes, caraway and spices, with shreds of cilantro. The fish was advertised by our server as salmon. We had to ask: Wild or farmed? Wild! So we were surprised to see a white fish on the plate. Could it be that wild salmon, lacking the coloring additives of the pisciculture, is really that pale? Or is it the spice mix with yellow turmeric which colored it? Or was it really salmon? The first bite, with the skin attached, gave the wrong hint. The soft, almost melting meat was reminiscent of seabass. But the other pieces, less fatty and more mud flavored, gave away the catfish. However, we did not send the dish back, it was so enjoyable.

As in most Indian places, you can confidently take vegetarians there. We sampled a saag paneer ($10): the homemade cheese stayed firm without becoming chewy, in the creamy spinach sauce, with hints of nutmeg. The Bhindi Masala, fingers of okra sautéed with onion and red peppers and garlic and tomato, was free of okra's usual sliminess. We licked every plate clean.

For dessert, the kheer was ok, if a bit pricey ($4) for the small portion of rice pudding; the kufta ($6) on the other hand, a log of house-made ice cream made with ground cashew which looks and has the texture of marzipan, peppered with a pistachio powder and flavored with rose water, was well worth the admission.

The place is quiet, and even intimate, despite several tables accompanied by children on our second visit. The place was much busier the second time than the first, two months before. Nonetheless, the tables overlooking Valencia, in a secluded space, are even romantic. The main dining room is warm and inviting, with a bar where one can eat at the counter, even if the giant pair of eyes painted over a passage way is a bit spooky to us.

Overall: we find Aslam's Rasoi a better alternative than the overcrowded, overloud, overobnoxious Dosa on the next block. And right now, you won't even have to wait for a table for really superior food.

Aslam's Rasoi
1037 Valencia St. at 22nd Street
(415) 695-0599