South Bay: Zareen's

One upside to not eating out often due to the pandemic is being able to catch up on my blog posts.  You read that correctly, folks.  After being behind by six months for the last however many months, with this post, I'm now caught up.  

I'm simultaneously elated and kind of sad.  Elated because I hate being behind and sad because of the fact that I've only eaten at three new places since COVID-19 hit.

Ah, well.  Health and well-being takes priority over foodie ambitions.

Anyways, my friends and I had a socially distant gathering at Zareen's back in July.  We ordered separately in our household units and then spread across two of the picnic tables outside.

Abby, her boyfriend UK, and I ordered together.  There were only three of us, but FOMO was high and we ordered as if we were never going to eat again.

Zareen's may be most well known for its chicken tikka masala.  We got the meal ($11.25), which included rice, daal, salad, and chutney:

We also split the palak methi gosht or lamb with spinach ($13.99 for a meal):

And because it's only available on the weekend, we had to try the sabri nihari ($13.50), which was this beef stew with a huge hunk of beef shank:

To make sure we got our daily intake of carbs, we added on two naan ($1.70 each):

And one sheermal ($2.49):

It was my first time trying sheermal, which is a flatbread made with milk and saffron.  It was slightly sweet with a dense, doughy texture.  I enjoyed eating it on its own, but when it comes to sopping up sauce, naan is still the way to go.

As if that wasn't enough, we also got masala fries ($3.99):

Everything we ordered was delicious, from the mains to the sides.  The palak methi gosht was savory and flavorful.  The fork-tender beef shank in the sabri nihari was enough to feed a small family.  The naan was fluffy and heavenly.  Even the fries were spot on!  

My favorite, however, had to be the chicken tikka masala.  Compared to tikka masalas I've had elsewhere, Zareen's tikka masala had this smoky touch to it that was truly special.  

Take advantage of all the tech people working remotely and head to Zareen's now!  No need to fight for a parking spot, no need to wait in long lines.  Just make sure to order the chicken tikka masala.  You'll be missing out otherwise.  

Zareen's

1477 Plymouth St, Suite C

Mountain View, CA 94043

(650) 641-0335

https://www.zareensrestaurant.com/