September 17, 2007
In Praise of Mediocrity: East Bay Eats at Flavors of India
When you live in a neighborhood overrun by donut purveyors and nail shops, with a fair number of fairly unappetizing Chinese restaurants sprinkled in between, the arrival of a new joint featuring a new regional cuisine is cause for at least a little salivation.
In the Grand Lake district, we now have a Flavors of India restaurant, second outpost -- the first opened in Rockridge in 2006.
It's not great Indian food. We'll be the first to admit it. You want GREAT and in the East Bay, head to Breads of India (which recently relocated to a beautiful and cavernous new space in the ever-reviving Old Oakland area); or the East Bay outpost of Taste of the Himalayas in North Berkeley (which arguably and elegantly hovers between Tibetan and Indian cuisines); or try the plethora of regional Indian restaurants and cafés that line either side of University Avenue in West Berkeley; or follow Alice Waters to her favorite chaat spot, Vik's.
At Flavors, the décor is warm and pleasant, the tables usually packed -- we're not the only ones in the neighborhood glad for the new addition, and the service young, and slow; verrrrry slow.
We were dismayed, on our second visit, to discover how many of the "flavors" we were reasonably enjoying came out of a can or box -- as the entire pantry is on display for diners who navigate the labyrinthine path to the bathrooms.
That all said, we find Flavors of India to be a decent local option, and a cut above the other types of Asian foods available in the immediate four-block area (we usually call over to Piedmont Avenue for take-out/delivery Chinese, or head downtown for Vietnamese).
We can report that with four dinners under our belts, we have already fallen into a rut. We prefer the Tandoor meats over the floating-in-sauce meat offerings as for almost the same price, you get twice as much meat, enough for two hearty eaters. The Chicken Tikka Kabob ($9.99) was a little dry for us. but tasty enough; we prefer the Tandoori Boti Kabab, a.k.a. lamb, ($10.99). We haven't tried the seafood offerings here, and we're not sure you should either; this just doesn't seem like the place for it. But if you do, let us know.
For our veg, we get the Saag Paneer ($8.99), a thick creamy spinach dish with hearty chunks of fluffy and just slightly sour homemade cheese. We enjoy the Vegetable Samosas ($3.50) appetizer, even though the cubes of carrot and wrinkly peas clearly come from a can or a freezer bag or somesuch.
These same peas and carrots are NOT a welcome addition to the Rice Pilaf ($2.99). Save your pennies and your palate and get the regular Rice instead ($1.50), which is nicely flavored with dots of caraway seed.
The Papadums $1.25 are pretty standard, and we were not impressed with the "buttered and layered whole wheat" Paratha ($1.99), which could have used more butter, and some salt. Plain Naan is just fine ($1.49). The Raita ($1.49) is mild and pleasing, if thin.
We enjoyed the Mango Shake ($2.99), a mango-milk blend that is lighter in consistency than the Mango Lassi. But we would have enjoyed it more had we not seen the canned mango pulp on the shelves in the back.
All in all, a decent, clean, friendly establishment for those in the hood, but not a "destination" location. Just be sure to allow a lot of extra time if you are dining here before catching a movie at the Grand Lake Theater.
Flavors of India
3276 Lakeshore Avenue
Oakland
510-268-8957
Open 7 days a week
Lunch: 11:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Dinner: 4:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
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at a certain point you have to wonder, why not just make indian food at home? you'd probably do just a good a job as this place, and the service would be faster, too.
Just to clarify--Breads of India has not "relocated" to Oakland, they merely opened another branch, their 3rd branch (though the second branch, in North Berkeley, did not last long). The original is still going strong on Sacramento at Dwight in Berkeley. But you really should head down to the intersection of San Pablo and University for soem quality Indian and Pakistani food--Breads of India will seem bland and watered down by comparison. Some of the best in the area are Priya, Indus Village and Kabana; further up University near MLK is Udupi Palace, a mini-chain serving vegetarian South Indian food.
SFist Julie here (still can't get the system to work for me -- a metaphor?)...
Kasey, thank you very much for your recommendations on the University Ave locations.
I guess we have a different definition of relocated. I was indeed referring to the now-closed North Berkeley location (which happens to currently house Taste of the Himalayas) which to my mind had re-opened or relocated to Oakland.
As for the other "guest" (#1): Ummm... thanks for your input? If I felt like cooking, I wouldn't be calling for take-out. Perhaps my review wasn't clear. Given the options around Lakeshore and Grand avenues, Flavors offers pretty decent food. That's useful info for some folks, I hope.
I live near this restaurant and was thrilled to learn they were coming to the neighborhood. I had often eaten at their location on College and Alcatraz. I've been eating Indian food for 20 years and find this food wonderful. I've never been disappointed by what I've ordered and eaten at Flavors of India. Nor was the service slow when I ate there. I often order food to go and pick it up by bicycle, which is easy and convenient.
I have eaten at Breads of India and Vik's, both. I love Vik's, but never went back to Breads of India because it was such a long, frustrating wait.
I am more disappointed by the snarky, "cool kid" style of the review than by the food at the restaurant, which is made with care and periodically changed and improved after feedback from customers. This review, sadly, is almost a caricature of what someone thinks a cool food review should be -- damining the place with faint praise and smug, superior, self-satisfied comments. I guess that's what it means to be a critic, to have that mindset. I'm glad the tables are often crowded, and I am hopeful they will continue to be filled up, despite Julie's "we were dismayed" sniping. How many of her are there, anyway?
"I am more disappointed by the snarky, "cool kid" style of the review"
Hi! Welcome to SFist!
Also, perhaps you should allow that other people have different experiences than you have, sir (or ma'am). Your happiness with the restaurant Julie was somewhat tepid about is duly noted.
I'm surprised Breads of India still gets the sort of fawning reviews it does. Mehak across the street has a hard time with consistency and ambience, but when they're on, their food is WAY better than Breads of India, in my opinion. If you could hook their best chef up with a businessperson who knows how to handle the other things: ambience, consistency, keeping the pantry adequately stocked....they'd conquer the world.
"with a fair number of fairly unappetizing Chinese restaurants sprinkled in between"
Oh, it's Oakland... I thought the article was about Clement Street!!! bummer - but glad you've got another choice!