Kennedy's Irish Pub and Curry House

A tale of stale potatoes in San Francisco.

I'd known this place on Columbus Street for a long time , but with a different name . Was it "India Curry House" ? Was it "The Cable Car Restaurant" ? I don't remember and it doesn't matter.

I used to go there to take my tourist friends to have beer with Pakodas. And to play pool. The food was never great there .

I went there this weekend after more than five years and it looked pretty much the same , except this time there were signs of "Voted the best South Indian Restaurant in San Francisco" etc .. We wondered who even voted for such a criteria.

We had some draft beer and sat down to eat. We ordered Paneer Pakodas , Lamb kababs , Fish Curry , Nan , Masala Dosa , Gobi Paratha and Chicken Biryani.

Paneer Pakodas came in first . The ladies didn't like it much. They made some technical comments about how the besan was not cooked well etc ...etc.. I tasted it , gave it a 5 out of 10 and kept on sipping the beer and talking away.

The lamb kabab came in next. Seeing this Tandoori dish on a sizzler platter , I knew what it would taste like and immediately apologized to my friend for ordering it. A bite of the Kabab confirmed that it was blander and rawer than it looked earlier.

These first two dishes gave a good enough indication to lower our expectations about the food. Then came in the Chicken Biryani ... with lots of kaju and cube-cut pieces of bland chicken.... Yaawwnn ... Another Indian item for non-Indians. The Gobi Paratha came in with the Masala Dosa and was okay .

But what followed next is the main reason for me to start blogging about Indian Restaurants.

My wifey couldn't start eating her Dosa and lost her appetite . The reason - the smell of stale potatoes. All four of us on the table confirmed that the potato masala in the Dosa would not be touched by us. It can be harmful for our health , and what mattered to me was it wouldn't taste good .

Wifey coulnd't eat anything else and was nauseated. We , being typical desis , don't really care for complaining about restaurants to the Health Dept etc ... , so we quietly called the waiter and told him that we won't pay for the Masala Dosa as the stuff in it was stale and it stank .

Waiter called the manager , who explained to us that SOUTH INDIAN FOOD SMELLS LIKE THAT !!!!! We told him, two people on the table are from South India , and he told us he has been to the whole of South India !

He then proceeded to be nice to us and take the item off our bill as we had requested .

We called him to the table , told him politely that rotten potatoes smell the same everywhere , whether its South or North India or America . Paid the bill and walked out .

I now need at least five visits to Shalimar to get back my tastes for Tandoori dishes. As for Masala Dosa .... only after I've had it a few times at my South Indian friend's homes !