632335 Sun Jun 28 14:29:51 -0700 2009 13 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 4813335 Anyone been to Sakoon on Castro in Mountain View ? It's in the old (2nd) TK Noodle location across the hall from Sono Sushi. Side note: It seems to have been open only one week, and already there are 15 verbose reviews on Yelp. I assume that means most of them were guests/friends/relatives of management, and their opinions should be ignored. Which is why I'm asking here instead. Sun Jun 28 14:29:51 -0700 2009 106052 dump123456789 1 4813441 The menu looks very promising. It's on my list of places to try in the near future, but I haven't made it there yet. Why don't you check it out and let us know what you think? Michael Sun Jun 28 15:35:00 -0700 2009 4813335 10707 mdg 2 4819470 I tried the lunch buffet at Sakoon today. I was lured by the tempting menu and the description of the dishes on Yelp. The buffet is definitely among the better Indian buffets out there. There is an extensive selection of vegetarian dishes and a good mix of the tried and tested dishes and a few new ones. The salad bar had a kidney bean salad and a chicken salad which was excellent. The chicken was marianted in kebab spices and was very moist and flavorful . The standouts in the buffet were paneer bhurji ( the indian answer to veggie scrambled eggs), the mutton seekh kebab, the sweet and spicy eggplant curry & the seafood molly. There was also a veggie tawa fry ( stir fry) which was fantastic. The buffet also included butter chicken, lamb curry & yellow dal which were very good but not great. The desserts included rice kheer, gulab jamun & mango halwa. The desserts were disappointing and I recommend skipping them.Since it was lunch time I did not try their cocktails but I did try the virgin mojito and was impressed . I was not too impressed by the decor which was over the top buddha bar/lounge with trance music playing in the background. While the decor seems pretentious and over the top, the food definitely has substance. Overall the buffet was good but my main complaint was that all the dishes were drowning in oil. In spite of the greasiness the flavors do stand out, but they would do well if they went easy on the fat. I definitely will go back for dinner to give the al a carte menu a go. Tue Jun 30 16:31:51 -0700 2009 4813441 150869 vaparna 3 4871065 The food wasn't overly oily at all last week when I ate the buffet. I'm particularly sensitive to this, because I don't much like greasy food. One of the head guys was asking lots of questions about the food and ambiance, so he must have heard some complaints about greasiness and responded. He told me that they'd be serving different food from day to day, which is always a nice thing, and some of the dishes vaparna mentions were not there when I was. I was favorably impressed by everything I ate except the fish tawa, which was salty. At first, I was OK with the decor, but it wore on me quickly. There's not much light in there, either, which I don't really get, and it was too cold for me, though maybe nobody else minded. I complained about it, though, and they warmed it up. I live in the 'hood and am really excited about the prospect of a good restaurant on Castro. It's quantity over quality there and this could be a major exception. I can't think of a lunch buffet I've liked as much as this one. I'm looking forward to trying dinner. Sat Jul 18 21:53:39 -0700 2009 4819470 109657 maigre 1 4869278 We finally tried Sakoon tonight and were very impressed. It looks at long last that Silicon Valley has Modern Indian done right: - Authentic Indian tastes with no fear of spices - Updating with California ingredients and some innovative twists - Reasonable prices for the quality: entrees are generally in the $15-$20 range Other previous attempts at modern Indian in Silicon Valley have generally done only the second, while underspicing and overpricing. Everything we tried was excellent with full and vibrant flavor. The trio of samosas was outstanding, though one of the samosas, delicious as it was, did not seem to match the menu description. The heirloom and watermelon salad sounded too interesting to pass up. It was also delicious, but here too differed from the menu description: the roasted walnuts were minimal, but there were grapes in addition to the generous portions of watermelon and tomato. The spices listed were roasted coriander and fennel, but to my taste it seemed like ground curry leaves were involved (but I don't know if I have had roasted fennel before, so maybe that was indeed it). For entrees we had two smash successes: a wonderfully deeply flavored soft shell crab vindaloo, and outstanding tandoori prawns with eggplant chutney. Excellent rice and good naan accompanied. The wine by the glass list is wonderfully well chosen; our glasses of Albarino and Torrontes went very well with the more wine friendly shrimp and tomato/watermelon dishes. We would have picked something else if we wanted them to stand up to the vindaloo, but the samosas were also spicy and richly flavored enough to dominate these white wines. Some of the discrepancies may have been caused by the restaurant getting slammed just before we arrived - with our reservation we filled in the last table in the place, and most of these people had apparently arrived quite recently. The place has only been open a few weeks so there are still some service kinks to work out. But the food is already exquisite. We will certainly be back to explore more of this delightful menu. Castro Street has always had a lot of good neighborhood restaurants. Now with places like Sakoon and Nami Nami, it appears to be developing a roster of destination restaurants as well. Michael Fri Jul 17 22:51:42 -0700 2009 4813335 10707 mdg 2 4967430 Our second visit was just as tasty as the first, and with the glitches worked out. We started with the dum aloo soup and avocado jhalmuri aloo. The soup was new potatoes and cherry tomatoes in a bowl, over which is poured a yummy and tangy broth. The second was like a reconstructed new-wave chaat, with the three named ingredients in layers, visually (but not culinarliy) dominated by the jhalmuri. For entrees we had the tandoori game hen and the Kerela fish curry. The tandoori was excellent, and came with nice touches such as a couple of deliciously marinated onion slices - and presented on a plate, no sizzler overcooking your dish while you wait. The fish curry managed the feat of letting you notice the outstanding taste of the fish while presenting a rich, multiflavored coconut-based curry. The waiter recommended a glass of Amador Zin with the fish curry, and it actually went very well with everything except the somewhat citrusy soup. Sakoon continues to excel, setting the standard for Modern Indian (but authentic!) in Silicon Valley. Michael Fri Aug 21 21:37:47 -0700 2009 4869278 10707 mdg 3 5006743 great review mdg. would you say this is the best place for indian in silicon valley right now? Sat Sep 05 00:27:13 -0700 2009 4967430 322695 52X 4 5009982 Best for what? Best for a modern Indian dinner, absolutely! If you compare to places like Junoon, Mantra, or Turmeric, this is far better. I haven't been to Amber since Sakoon opened. In the past, Amber has gotten better as their competition got more formidable, so maybe that will happen again. But there are plenty of great places with dishes you'll get better noplace else. Nobody matches the gongura dishes at Taste Buds. Nobody else has the Sri Lankan dishes that are at Spicy Leaves. Nobody makes achari dishes as good as Hyderabad House. (I haven't had the achari dish at Sakoon yet; from the menu description I'm pretty confident in that judgment.) I'll take the dosas at Madras Cafe over anyone else's, though there are numerous worthy alternatives in different styles. Indian cuisine is a vast territory. No one restaurant is going to be "the best" for everything in that cuisine. And for lunch buffets, I have no idea - I am no fan of that genre. If you go, let us know what you think and what your favorite dishes are! Michael Sun Sep 06 18:52:50 -0700 2009 5006743 10707 mdg 1 5077216 The lunch buffet here is great. I believe it surpasses Turmeric. Quality of most dishes is higher, a little less oil, a little more spice, about $2 more per person ($13 -> $15). Sat Oct 03 18:32:24 -0700 2009 4813335 54804 bbulkow 2 5077272 It surpasses Turmeric pretty handily, to my tastes. But I'd say it's less spicy. Depends on what day you pick, I think. They change most of the dishes from day to day. I've still yet to order off the menu. Gotta go for dinner or resist the buffet at lunch. Sat Oct 03 19:20:31 -0700 2009 5077216 109657 maigre 3 5077296 By "spicy" I don't mean "hot" I mean ... with spices. Some days, Turmeric is hot like crazy, but usually it's simply good --- but Sakoon is just better. Sat Oct 03 19:35:18 -0700 2009 5077272 54804 bbulkow 2 5077277 I agree. We tried last week and enjoyed it. I usually don't like tandoori chx on a buffet but it was good. butter chx OK, but I am not a butter chx person. Favorite was the saag with corn and chicken malai. Desserts were just OK. Sat Oct 03 19:23:19 -0700 2009 5077216 15001 jsaimd 1 5149667 Sakoon continues to excel and amaze. On our last dinner visit this weekend we had: - The ahi tuna appetizer. My wife got this as I am not a big peanut fan, but in my taste i could appreciate the nice complexity of the sesame / peanut / pear accompaniment. The tuna itself was excellent. This is a larger portion than many of the appetizers and would be good for sharing. - The samosa trio. This was our one repeat dish; my wife had it on our first visit, and I ordered it this time. These are the best samosas I've ever had - three mini samosas with a much lighter (and better seasoned) pastry than usual, with delicious and unusual fillings. The mushroom samosa went absolutely great with our 1/2 bottle of Chateau Haut-Beasejour St.-Estephe. - Parsi Subz Biryani. This vegetable biryani continues the somewhat sweeter biryani theme we noticed in the shrimp biryani - though with apricots listed in the menu, we were expecting that this time. Another very tasty dish, with many more vegetable ingredients than those listed in the menu. - Shahi Raan. For me this was the highlight of the meal, and one of the best dishes we have had here. The lamb shank came with a wonderfully complex spiced sauce with a whole different flavor profile than I've had before - and so blended I could not figure out what was going on. The menu claims Kashmiri flavors, and I don't think I have had many Kashmiri dishes before. This one was superb. Sakoon does play a bit fast and loose with the menu descriptions sometimes. This dish described the shank being accompanied by lotus root and baby root vegetables. I didn't see any lotus root, and while there were carrots in the dish, the main vegetables were yellow and green summer squash. Very delicious, and it went great with the dish, but hardly root vegetables. I guess the chef updates based on seasonal availability (good) but neither the menu nor the servers reflect this (not so good). - Lime and coconut soup dessert. As advertised, a very refreshing and light end to the meal. The carmelized lichee was a bit odd. I was vacilating between this and the much more traditional Indian sweets platter, so they included a couple of sweets in place of the almond brittle. My preference for Indian desserts remains on the modern vs. the traditional side. It's great to see Sakoon mantaining its consistent high quality since its opening! Michael Mon Nov 02 12:13:29 -0800 2009 4813335 10707 mdg 2 5150350 Nice reports, Michael - thanks! Mon Nov 02 15:24:19 -0800 2009 5149667 17220 Claudette