| Lotus 704 Fourth Street San Rafael (415) 456-5808 www.lotusrestaurant.com Indian Cuisine |
Housed in a brick building in downtown San Rafael, the first hint of what you’ll find inside Lotus is the door. Ornately decorated in a colorful pattern, it’s both a feast for the eyes and a lively invitation to come on in.
Surinder (who goes by Pal, pronounced “Paul”) and Linda Sroa established Lotus in 1998 with their son Jyoti and nephews Amba and Happy. Along with their master chef Purshotam Lal, they’ve created a restaurant with a welcoming feeling and cuisine that will wake up even the sleepiest of tastebuds.
One look at the beverage menu prompted my friend Brennen and I to order the Karma beer. (How could we possibly resist that name?) Made in India, it had a mild, light flavor—certainly a contrast to the majority of the food that was soon to come.
Our meal began with the Lotus platter, a combination of six appetizers, including potato, vegetable, chicken and spinach pakoras (fritters fried in besan batter) and vegetable and lamb samosas (stuffed pastries). They were served with a sweet tamarind sauce, a hot green mint sauce and a third sauce that the server sat down on the table, raised his eyebrows and said, “This is the really hot sauce.” And um, yah. He definitely wasn’t kidding! Let’s just say it set our mouths aglow. We had a great time trying the different items in the various sauces.
Next we ordered mango lassis (mango-flavored yogurt drinks). I tend to order them every time I eat Indian food. First because I simply love them and second because their sweet, silky flavor balances out the spicy food so well.
For our entrée we shared prawn vindalu (prawns cooked with spiced potatoes) and channa masala (chickpeas with tomatoes, herbs and spices). The server asked us how we’d like them prepared, and we requested the chef decide. Both were served at what I’d call “medium” (although I think everyone has their own spice meter). The prawns were cooked with herbs that danced in perfect timing with the spicier elements. The chickpeas were milder than the prawns and were cooked with sweet onions. I’d never had chickpeas with so much pizzazz.
Lotus’ menu has nine different types of naan (a white-flour flat bread). We chose the pesto variety, by Pal’s suggestion. It came out looking like a pizza—almost—but was sweet, soft and mild (with zero grease) and certainly provided a nice break between bites of the spicier dishes.
To end the meal, we chose the kheer (chilled rice pudding with nuts, cardamon and saffron) and the rose petal ice cream. The rose petal ice cream was like eating a rose. Combined with my chai tea (real chai, not that weird sweet stuff people pass off as chai these days), it was a delicious way to end the experience.
