Address: | 2299 S El Camino Real, San Mateo, CA 94403, USA |
Phone: | +1 650-458-3701 |
Site: | chennaiclubsanmateo.com |
Rating: | 3.8 |
Working: | Closed 11:30AM–2:30PM 11:30AM–2:30PM 11:30AM–2:30PM 11:30AM–2:30PM 11:30AM–3PM 11:30AM–3PM |
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Christopher Calhoun
The Good: I have gone here a few times with co-workers, both when it was Dosa Republic and now the new name Chennai Club. Most of these times I was treated to my meal so didnt notice the price. The people at the counter are helpful and try to help. The Bad: For the $19 I spent at this place I could have got a full buffet of yummy Indian food. Its weird their once informative website now points to Yelp. Huh?! The rice was steamed or brown. Seriously? This is not Indian food. The Dosas are like crepes made into a pocket, fun at first, confusing to eat. WTF style is Chinese Indian fusion? My palate may be different, but this food is very hot and spicy to hide how absolutely bland it would otherwise be. Most of it tastes like burnt chow fun dipped in a Moo shu or sweet hoisin sauce. It doesnt have the delicious curry or chutney tastes youd expect from Indian food. Its like bad Cantonese trying to be something else. Freshness: This didnt taste fresh, it tasted like it had been prepared well in advance and sat around in a freezer all day before it was reheated for my lunch. Coffee: The Madras coffee was nowhere near what a Madras coffee should taste like, this was some cheap instant coffee knock-off, even supermarket chai tastes better. Portions: What I ended up for $11 was a cat-food dish sized sample which was supposed to be the elaborate lamb entree I ordered. This thing resembled cubed meat (pork, maybe) with a sweet sauce that was extremely spicy. It had no taste of lamb at all. Being a new item on the menu, maybe they are experimenting. It kinda failed. Most everyone elses Dosa order (which was cheaper than mine) were double the size portions that I had in front of me. Naan: I had to order Naan separately, because it didnt come with my plate? Thats kinda lame. It was one slice (or half a slice, maybe, it was smaller than normal) of Naan that cost an extra $3. Grrr. When it arrived it looked weird, like a whitish-yellow pita, something not quite right here. Rice: The rice was white and steamed. The other option was brown steam rice. There wasnt any of the usual Indian style saffron rice. Drinks: The coffee and chai drinks taste like they were made from powdered mix (not fresh). The water was right from the tap and tasted chlorinated, served in a mason jar. Seating: When we all sat down together in a nice comfortable table (there were 5 of us) they insisted we move to one of the rustic picnic table setups. This was bad because 1 person in my party exclaimed they needed a chair with back support, and another person is a bit mobility challenged so had a heck of a time getting into and out of said picnic table bench, that was not cool of them at all. They did manage to bring a chair over for one of my friends. It would have been nicer if they let us stay where we were. The noise level was bad, mostly due to the layout of the place and the decor. Some curtains or sound deadening in the ceiling or walls would do wonders. Staff: The wait staff didnt know what food went to whom. I asked to have my coffee brought out when the food was ready. However, they didnt. When I asked to have my coffee brought out, they gave it to someone else. Mine finally came about the end of the meal, and was in a metal cup and too hot to drink. It tasted like metal of course, I wondered if the cup leeched into the coffee or if it was really just that bad. I wont go out of my way to visit this out-of-the-way place anytime again soon. Theres an adult bookstore next door called Secrets. Maybe Ill be back for that.
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Haridas Pal
Horrible food. These guy have no clue how much chili to add. Either that or their cook is blind and puts 5 spoons of chili powder in all their dishes, includin dosa. They also smilingly steal you online. Their online price for Chili Chicken showed $6.00. When I ordered and went to pick up, they charged me $9.99. I showed them their website and the pricing online. The guy just smiled and said "we have many websites, you were looking at the wrong one". When I showed him that the name and address matches and so does the menu, then he said that something is wrong on the website. Didnt apologize for the error. Basically they just fleece you with a smile. Both my dosa and chili powder chicken are half eaten and rest dumped in the trash. Avoid at all cost.
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Pili E
The owners exploit their workers. I had dinner here the other night and I saw how the owner mistreated the dishwasher. I speak Spanish and I heard a Guatemalan man in his 40s complaining about not geting paid the $7/hour wage. I will not support a business that treats their employees like this. Shame on you Chennai Club. I am never having dinner here again.
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Arpit Goyal
Tried masala-potato, onion masala and kid cone Dosa with idli. For the veg south Indian option this was so far our best experience in the Peninsula area. Idli for kid was soft. Coconut chutney was really tasty. Sambhar lacked some taste but was decent. Also clean place to eat with family. Soda lovers they have unlimited refills.
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Tyler Morse
Very nice Indian food. I got the ghost chili dosa and would recommend it. You go up to the counter to order and they bring the food to your table. Felt like a place Id see in San Francisco. Not a ton of effort spent on the decor, and instead they focus on preparing yummy food. Will be back again.
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Radha Madhavi
Been here couple of times... Likes: Food quality,taste and consistency are much better than most bay area indian restaurants ...pricing is reasonable... Dislikes: Should improve on their masala chai and madras coffee (tastes like water , please change the sugar packets as well...)
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Neil Diaz
Average tasting food. Asked for recommendations for a dish comprised of healthy vegetables and meat. Thee dish they served was crepes and potato with 3 small pieces of chicken (about 2oz.). Pretty much the opposite of what I wanted and a ripoff to boot.
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Shyam Bansal
Went there once in evening, will not go there again. The Indian food was not as good at all (and food was almost cold), as resturants in Sunnyvale; probably because Sunnyvale etc have more Indians etc going there regularly
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Prithvi Pande
Expensive food (10-15$) for the quantity you get, but everything was quite delicious. A little spicy, but its South Indian food so I guess its expected. Lunch wait during week can be a bit.
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Supratim Samanta
The said it was a Indo Chinease resturant. But after eating their stuff, I thought I hadnt. It was not tasty and was not well cooked. We ordered a fried rice. Man, it was a bad experience.
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Venu Mora
Food and Ambiance not so great. But if you want to try different Dosa varieties definitely this is the place. If you want to eat Chinese then is not the place you may want to consider.
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Jared Zimmerman
Skip the dahi vada and go straight for the Dosa! Spicy bites in a clean well light, albeit a little confused interior. Nice staff and look lots of gluten-free, and vegetarian options.
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Paulo Beccaro
I couldnt find another Indian food place in the area that has a reasonable price vs quality ratio. Order at the counter and they will bring it to your table. Try the mango Lassi.
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Kiran Kanchgar
Good taste. Everything is locally flavoured to Chennai even Mysore Masala Dose/Dosa. Mysore masale dose is actually thick and crisp which you will get only in Mysore/Bangalore!