dresese

Chutney

For lunch today, my coworkers and I went to Chutney, a Pakistani / Indian place right across from Shalimar's in San Francisco's Tenderloin area.

Those that have eaten at Shalimar's probably are staring in disbelief at the preceding sentence. It amazes me too. But there is a reason that we went to the Tenderloin and didn't go to Shalimar's. We heard that Chutney was very good, and that was from people that have been to and appreciate Shalimar's. So we decided we should try it out.

When we arrived there, it had the same great smoky atmosphere that Shalimar's does. Some in our party thought it even smelled better then Shalimar's but I disagree. Their menu was almost identical to Shalimar's, and even had some of the same specials such as Nihari and Brain Masala. There was one interesting difference - a lamb curry with bitter melon (Kareyla Gosht, or something like that). We got that, some lamb tandoori, a Chicken Vindaloo (another thing they don't have at Shalimar's), egglplant (bhegan bharta), spinach and cheese (saag paneer) and some plain and onion naan.

The food was good, and full of flavor. Not as spicy as it should have been, though. The tandoori was especially nice, and had a great smokey taste. The Chicken Vindaloo was in fact spicy, but not too spicy. It's been a while since I've eaten that. The other dishes were similarly quite tasty, except for the somewhat plain saag paneer. That dish was just a puree, I could have taken some home to feed my babies.

The consensus was, it was good, but not as good as Shalimars. That probably will be the last time I go to the Tenderloin and not eat at Shalimars. I've learned my lesson.