By Sheila Himmel
“Gaylord Who?” you had to wonder, upon seeing Gaylord India Restaurant in Menlo Park.
Turns out it comes from the names of the New Delhi founders, Ghai and Lamba. The two started the Gaylord family of Northern Indian restaurants under British rule in the 1940s, says Karam Gill, the new owner of Gaylord in Menlo Park. Even better, Gaylord is the English name for Lord Krishna.
Ever since the upscale Indian restaurant pioneers set up shop in Stanford Shopping Center back in 1982, there have been a lot of tandoori prawns under the bridge. A dozen years ago, Gaylord moved from Stanford to El Camino Real, on the northern edge of Menlo Park, but competition still was slim. Now, Amber India and others cover the white-tablecloth territory very nicely, and El Camino from Palo Alto to Santa Clara is plastered with fenugreek and cardamom.
Fresh from Gaylord in Las Vegas, Gill took over Menlo Park’s ranch-style restaurant in May. It could use some freshening up.
Parts of the sprawling restaurant have been taken over by a dance studio, but there are still two banquet rooms and the 55-seat main dining room. With a working fireplace and dark wood walls and bar, this could be a men’s club or a prime rib restaurant.
The refreshing Bengal Tiger ($6.50) mixes dark and light rum, orange and pineapple juice with a splash of cherry brandy. The Pimm’s Cup ($6.50) could be the mojito of the British Empire, speared with a stick of cucumber.
Both go well with spicy and fried appetizers, and the complimentary crisp lentil crackers called pappadams. These are fresh, delivered in small batches, not overly seeded or salted. On one visit, the accompanying tamarind chutney and mint-cilantro-chile sauce were thick enough to get a grip on the cracker. The second night, they were too thin.
Once you get past appetizers, go directly to a bottle of crisp ’04 Sula Sauvignon Blanc ($21), from India.
The pre-selected “royal feasts” at Gaylord range from vegetarian ($24.95) to mixed grill ($31.95). Each feast comes with basmati rice and tandoori-baked bread. Each results in welcome leftovers.
The Maharini dinner ($26.95) starts with your choice of tangy mulligatawny or silken tomato soup in a good-sized bowl. Then comes a basket of hot naan, dappled with green onions (onion kulcha). Rather than being served on the big metal plate with dabs of everything, Gaylord’s thali dinners come in near-entree proportions, each in its own dish.
On the Maharini, the entrees are a slightly spicy lamb curry, a pretty good butter chicken that did even better as a leftover, and the total comfort of peas, carrots and potatoes creamed with farmers’ cheese and cashews. Then you get coffee or Darjeeling tea and your choice of dessert. Choose gulab jamun, two golf ball-sized pieces of fried cheese in syrup. Small but sweet.
Two people can do very well with one royal feast and one entree, with perhaps some add-ons such as mango chutney ($3) and cucumber raita ($3.50) and one of a dozen breads baked in the tandoor, just not the pudina paratha ($4.95), which was dusted in dry mint.
Two outstanding entrees are the sublime lamb chop masala ($23.95) and the simple tandoori chicken ($12.95). Remarkably, half a good-sized chicken is cooked just right in all of its parts. The tandoori-baked breast is tender and juicy. The scored meat rests on a bed of onions, which happily keep cooking on the metal plate that itself sits on a wooden platter. A spritz of lemon and none of this dish goes home. The lamb chop masala is actually a lean little rack of lamb, disassembled for easy eating, simmering in a rich spicy sauce featuring fresh cardamom.
If there are more than two of you, assorted appetizers make life simple. However, we ordered the vegetable fritters sampler plate ($12.95) and a ground lamb samosa had hitched a ride with the crisp vegetable pakoras. It was good, but we aren’t vegetarians.
Also good, four crispy potato cakes ($5.25) come with their own mint-coriander chutney and a drizzle of yogurt. Eggplant slices ($4.95) are too bready.
Goa prawns ($18.95) commit a major sin, though the sauce is creamy and fabulous. Called “jumbo prawns” on the menu, these are medium shrimp at best, and not nearly enough to justify the price.
Service also raises the worth-it issue. One night our server was friendly and helpful, but there were long lapses when nothing happened. The other night had the long lapses with a server who wasn’t all that nice. Gaylord, why?
Gaylord India Restaurant
1706 El Camino Real, Menlo Park
(650) 326-8761
www.gaylordmenlo.com
Hours:
Lunch daily: 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Dinner nightly: 5-10 p.m.
