BARR - Milan Sweet Center

Milan is actually famous for its sweets. I have purchased sweets here twice in the past and have been very impressed with the quality. Recently, my friend and his wife suggested we check out dinner at Milan. So off we went to try their dinner menu.

Milan is located on South Abel street in Milpitas, very near the corner of Calaveras Blvd. and Serra Way, behind the Korean BBQ place. It was buzzing with customers who were mostly ordering the sizzler plate. Maybe we should have ordered it as well.. But, we went for the typical tandoori and north indian sabzi stuff and got burnt !

Wait time : 10 minutes (4 people in front of me in the line for ordering)
Food wait time from order : 10 minutes
Check time : 3 minutes (Visa, Mastercard only )
Average price per person : $9
Rating "My wife can cook better"
Service : Excellent

Items sampled : Tandoori Paratha, Pav Bhaji Naan Plate with salad and Malai Paneer Masala, Spring rolls and a THUMBS UP soft drink !!

The Naan plate : Naan was actually good but the malai paneer was too bitter.

If the sabzi was too bitter, the tandoori paratha was too sweet. I am not kidding, it was sweet. I am still thinking if it was intentional or an error. Maybe the guys at this place are going for "we are different" more than "we can do the standard stuff consistantly".

My wife ate the Pav Bhaji and was making faces at me. I could see that she was pissed off. So to make herself happy she asked me to get a Thumbs up (a soft drink popular in india in the 80's before pepsi and coke took over the indian soft drink market). It was $1.75 for a bottle of Thumbs Up. Told her that this is the costliest indian softdrink I have ever tasted.

The spring roll we got was slightly better than the spring roll our friends ordered just 10 minutes before us. But it was tasty (I got the crust which I usually like) and my wife got the rest. Based on input from my friend and his wife (not a lot from their plates were being input into their mouth) we have to say it was disappointing.

The people behind the counter were very nice and courteous and they were very helpful in spite of the long lines. But hey! what is the point in serving with a smile if what you are serving is not great quality stuff ?

Except for the salad, the little one actually said "yukkie" ! To compensate for the whole thing we decided to go to Ghirardeli after the dinner and treated ourselves to some Hot Fudge Sundae's. Now that was a winner !.

We might still visit this place the next time we go to great mall to try the sizzler out.

Photos from the park

Wanted to share some my photos with the junta out there.. had taken my daughter to the local park last weekend.

1. Wood chips in the Play area in a local park..





2. My daughter on the swing.





watch for more photo blogs soon.. I am making a desperate plea at home for a Digital Rebel.. lets see what "God" has in store for me !

BARR - Chaat House

Chaat House as the name suggests is a Punjabi Chaat place at the corner of Wolfe and El Camino Real in Sunnyvale. We dont go here that often, but we do go for an evening snack once a month or so.

I usually go for the aloo paratha here. Reminds me of munna maharaj's aloo paratha!. People who went to school with me in india and stayed in Vishweshvaraiya Hostel will know what I am talking about. To summarize : godly parathas that melt in your mouth!

My wife orders the typical Chole Papdi Chaat or Dahi poori or sev poori. I was going to be very positive about Chaat House, but my most recent experience yesterday is going to cost them a nice rating.

We walk in and the guy at the counter has a glazed look on his eye and cannot focus on us. Ditto for the other two guys (in their early twenties I should guess) who were working behind the counter. After ordering we sat down and figured out why. They were playing a very racy hindi movie on the wall mounted TV. In the fifteen minutes or so we spent there, at least three times women were undressing and we were treated to what can only be called "soft porn". At first we were the only ones in the restaurant but then another family walked in and they were embarrassed too. They tried to place their kids away from the TV. My wife suggested I go complain to the guys, but judging by their focus on the screen, I didnt want to pick up any arguments with these guys (they were much bigger than me). So I told my wife to eat fast and get the hell out.

My daughter watched the screen and lifted her T-shirt above her tummy and that, wasn't funny at all. That goes to show you the type of movie that was playing.

Wait time : 5 minutes
Food wait time from order : 10 minutes
Check time : 3 minutes (Visa, Mastercard, AMEX)
Average price per person : $5
Rating "My wife can cook better" for the food but watch out for the ambience.
Service : Poor

Items sampled : Paratha, Chole papdi chaat

Yummy paratha (kid approved), average papdi chaat. Raita was too strong. Have had better raita here in the past.

NOT A PLACE WHERE YOU CAN TAKE YOUR KIDS OR YOUR PARENTS.. not unless these guys change what they play on screen.

BARR - Swati Tiffins

This review is long overdue. We have been going to Swathi Tiffins for almost a year now and have seen it go through changes - in appearance and food quality.

Swathi Tiffins is in Namaste Plaza on your way to Central Expressway West on Lawrence Expressway North. A nice little place with Telugu TV playing in the background, it has been remodeled recenty to have closed eating nooks instead of the all open seating.

This used to be one of our favorite hangouts, so much that I started having get togethers here, with my old work buddies who left for greener pastures. The place got rave reviews from all my buddies, indian, chinese, isreali and yankee !

But recently, the cook seems to make a habit out of insulting my taste buds.. maybe a new cook, I dont know. This place had one of the best rava dosa's in the bay area but there has been a noticeable slump in quality.


Wait time : 5 minutes
Food wait time from order : 10-15 minutes
Check time : 3 minutes (Visa or Mastercard ONLY !! Pay before you eat)
Average price per person : $8
Rating "My wife can cook better".
Service : They call your number and you pick up your food.

Items sampled : Rava Dosa, Upma, Poori, Thali, Idli.

The rava dosa was average (too oily, too thick). Made me long for the once crispy thin dosa from the same place 8 months ago.

The Upma was below average but the poori was EXCELLENT. This is one item which is still good at Swathi tiffins. The idli was okay and the sambar above average (another thing that has gone down in quality).

Now coming to the one item that makes you really go "what the Heck ?". The rasam in the thali was actually tomato puree with some sambar powder. It lacked the taste or consistancy of what can even come within three standard deviations of your average "rasam". My wife who ordered the thali was really disappointed.

The little one ate the idly without complaining but was not overly enthusiastic.

This place could regain its place if they changed a few items to their old quality levels.

what is god ?

recently Karthik has been blogging about god.. after being inspired by Mukundan's philosophical articles..

my logic here..

man proposes god disposes
man proposes woman disposes

Therefore ...

also when woman proposes, nobody dares disposes !!

I am not writing this to please the boss at home. I have actually put some thought into it.

Maybe I have stumbled on to something big here ?!?