Gulzaar Halal Restaurant & Catering — Restaurant in San Jose

I've had Gulzaar Halaal (GH) on my radar for quite some time. The only thing keeping me from visiting sooner is my cultural heritage; being of Middle Eastern descent, it's hard for me to eat Arabic-type food without comparing it to Mom's. I know it's not fair to do that, but it is what it is. I probably would've continued to hesitate coming to GH, but my work cohort -who knows a thing or two about food- was waxing poetic to me about it. So, I finally sucked it up and we made our way there. I actually enjoyed it so much, I went there two days in a row! Here's a dish-by-dish breakdown:

Appetizers:

Chicken Samosa- Freshly deep-fried pastry filled with ground chicken and spices; it also comes with a spicy tomato chutney that was terrific. The pastry was pretty great and the chicken had good flavor. I think some cheese in there would really put it over the top, but that's neither here nor there. 4*

Manakesh:

Zaatar with Jebneh- The simplest way to describe Manakesh is to call it Arabic Pizza. I've had it with Zaatar (dried thyme, sesame seeds, & olive oil); meat; and cheese with various herbs, spices and veggies. GH's Zaatar and Jebneh (Arabic Cheese) is very unique to myself, and I've gotta say it was terrific--especially the Jebneh! I'd prefer the bread to be a little more doughy, but never mind me. 4.5*

Specialties:

Mix Plate w/ Biryani Rice- You get to pick two meats to go with the Biryani and I chose the Beef Kebab and Chicken Tikka. The Tikka was OK; a little dry and I would've liked more spice on it. The Kebabs were great; the meat was tender, spicy and tasty, but the real star was the Biryani Rice! I'm usually not a big rice guy, but I swear it tasted better and better with every bite. Great Saffron flavor and my favorite part were these little red crunchy bits that were tiny explosions of flavor. I could eat this dish every day! Tikka 3/Kebab 4.5/ Biryani 5*

Wraps:

Beef Kebab Wrap- GH's great Beef Kebabs, tomato, lettuce, cucumber, pickled carrots, yogurt, and mayo wrapped in a huge pita. This is a great, quick and cheap meal for only $7 it really fills you up. My only qualm would be I'd prefer less lettuce and more of the other veggies. 4*

Service & Ambiance- The owner of GH is extremely nice and seeing his young kids (Spring Break) helping out in the store was fun. This is exactly the kind of small business owner we should be supporting. GH is located in a suspect neighborhood with only street parking available. However, the store itself is clean, well decorated, and tiny (I believe it only holds ±30 patrons). It fills up fast, so get here early! 5* Service/ 4* Ambiance

Value- GH is a good value; everything runs from the $6-12 range for entrées, and the samosas are only a few bucks. 4*

I think Yelp has the rating right for GH at 4.5-stars, but I think the friendly service and good value give this place the 5-star boost. It's not quite as good as Mom's home cooking, but then...

I didn't get a chance to actually visit the restaurant or eat here... My brother got a few items to go, and we chowed down on everything family style which turned out to be pretty good idea. We got to try a little bit of every dish at the pace we wanted to eat in the comfort of a familiar environment.

All the food was delicious! The cuisine at Gulzaar is more of a fusion or cross-over from various Middle Eastern cultures; Middle-Eastern, Indo-Pakistani and Afghan Cuisine. It works very well, since each of those cultures have similar yet different dishes.

The first thing that stands out are the generous portions. These plates feel like they are 5lbs. heavy, robust and full to the brim. Then there is the fragrant aroma and the smell of the meat...brilliant. I could already tell this was going to taste great!

~ Mix Plate with Biryani Rice: My favourite plate: I get to try multiple items! The Chicken brilliant; was juicy and moist with good flavor unlike some other places where it is dry in the middle. The beef was also tender and jam-packed with flavor, all those delicious spices. The rice was amazing, I didn't want to eat that much rice but ended up finishing all of it in one sitting. Delicious!

~ Beef Kebab with Biryani Rice: Same reaction as the mixed plate...only with more beef! Full of Flavor. Tender. Delish!

~ Chapli Kebab with Basmati Rice: Didn't know what to think of this one...a hamburger shaped patty?! Nevertheless, another amazing meat dish. I was thinking what this would taste like as a hamburger with a fried egg on top... I will have to bring this home an experiment with it next...

It is one of good restaurant we have visited recently. They serve fusion food, you will find kababs along with Basmati (plain white rice) and Biryani rice. The biryani is not traditional biryani but taste is good. We have order Fatoush, Zatir and Jabneh Manakesh, chapli kabab, chicken kabab and mince meat kabab. They all were good, I have taken some of my freinds as well who have not tasted this food before, they were happy and have enjoyed the food. The Fatoush was fresh, Zatar and Jabneh was the pick of food. The meat was cooked well and they owner is gracious enough to provide us extra yogurt (raita) and curry sauce to make it spicy. We have eaten food with some biryani rice and afghan Naan. Afghan Naan was cooked perfectly although the portion could have been bigger. Other day we have tried kabab with biryani rice and chicken Tikka masla, biryani rice portion and kabab was good and delicious. Chicken tikka masla was good for someone who has not eaten it before but for people from India and Pakistan it lacks the spices and traditional curry base. My friend who ordered this was happy with it. The owner was very humble and very gracious. He has recognized us on our next trip and was available on hand to explain dishes to my friends and suggest them the level of spice they should try. They also have Kabuli pilao available although we did not try it. It is good place for both lunch and dinner, they...