Saturday, September 26, 2009

Highlight #237: Unexpected delight - Restaurant: Dosa (San Francisco)

Once upon a time, I was one of those travelers who plan out every meal on the road. Invariable, plans are frustrated and the frustration would take something away from the entire trip. After five years of traveling with Jason, the ultimate non-planner, I am a much happier person. I still plan, but only loosely. Mostly, it's just a list of where I'd like to eat if timing and location happen to work out. If I am feeling super ambitious, I'd make a reservation, but would be flexible enough to change or cancel. By being flexible, we have had some extremely delicious experiences that would never have happened if we insisted on sticking to plans.

On this trip, I initially plotted to celebrate a birthday at Foreign Cinema, but then realized the foolishness of that plan (they have a very new baby and it's a weeknight). So we proposed to visit at their home after a quick dinner on our own. We found parking near Valencia St. when the SF heavy wind picked up, forcing us to duck inside Dosa, a modern Indian restaurant.

It smelled wonderful inside, spicy and yeasty. The dramatic yet modern chandeliers drew the high ceilings closer and cast a cozy glow on the space. We took a banquette two top, my favorite kind. Ordering was simple. I ignored all the curries and went straight for the name sake dosa. A spinach and green onion one to be exact. The neatly wrapped and stacked dosa rolls are less dramatic than the usual too large for the plate whole ones, but the neat bundles were easy to attack. Faintly crunchy on the outside, the inside was of a tenderness only fermented rice can achieve (think mochi, but slightly sour). The sourness was tempered by both the warm spinach filling and the tongue tingling potato curry for dipping. After finishing the whole plate, I felt light yet satiated and ready to step out into the wind.

Dosa
995 Valencia St
(between Liberty St & 21st St)
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 642-3672

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