Bongo's — Restaurant in Fremont

The place is a Bangali (/Bengali) food restaurant. It is more tailored for takeaway that dining in.

I found the food experience very similar to that of fellow reviewer @AurkoGhosh - so please read his review for the key points. I will elaborate on some points not covered by him.

Overall the restaurant feels dirty. The cutlery at the self service station feel greasy - as if not washed properly. The trash can is near the entrance of the restaurant (who does that?). The tables felt like they are in a state of disrepair. It felt as if someone who owns/runs the restaurant doesn't care about it much, as long as it keeps running.

On requesting for some lime pieces with our food (which we were willing to pay for too), we were told that there wasn't any. It was hard to believe for a Bengali cuisine place where lime is an integral part of meals.

The mustard hilsa (available only on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays) portion was quite small for the "large" option. And base/sauce was not that rich with mustard paste as it is meant to be. It was more oil than mustard paste. And the meat of the goat biryani was tough and dry- not tender and slightly moist like fresh good preparations are meant to be. Even the baloo (potato) in the biryani was hard, whereas Bengali biryani potato is meant to be tender and soft.

The attitude of the young gentleman running the place was slightly brisk - not the most polite. While it shows on Google that they are open from lunch through dinner on Saturday, we were hurried up in the middle of our meal because he wanted to clear the place and allow only takeouts at around 2:30pm. That was strange.

What was excellent was the mishti doi (pink sweet curd) and the gurh (jaggery) rasgulla. So these two desserts are highly recommended there.

On the whole, it is not a place I would recommend unless one is looking for desserts, or certain specific dishes only. And definitely not for dining in.

Sad - considering the amount of potential they have in dishing out good fare of such a varied and rich cuisine, and there being such a demand for it from not just Bengalis. I hope they wake up and get their act...

We went here for lunch. The order consisted of Fish chop: This was the only perfect thing here. The coating was thin and the potato-fish stuffing was good. Sadly it went downhill from here; Kachuri: Very oily. The pea filing was okay but the bread itself was raw in parts. Seemed like it was cooked at wrong temperature. Paratha: Same thing with this one. Very oily. Not great taste. Morog polao: There was something really off. The serve ware was too small to mix the polao and masala was accumulated in parts on the sides of the chicken quarter. The tate and flavors were very inconsistent in the single entree itself. Also the menu mentions it as "Chicken BIriyani" it is not at all a bengali biriyani or any biriyani. Please correct the menu. It is misleading. Chicken kosha: This entree was ok. It had 4 small chicken pieces. However the gravy did not taste like a kosha gravy and was more like normal chicken curry. Roshogolla: We've had roshogolla in Kolkata, India and it wasn't even remotely close. Mishti doi: Had mishti doi color but did not taste great.

Disappointing experience.

Ambience: Casual. Not terribly clean. Self service throughout. You need to holler when you are ready to order or need anything during your meal. Quantity: ok Parking:...

You will agree with me that some of the restaurants first need to take a training on customer service, serving, communication, food, hospitality and sure the management here badly needs to get it. I took a friend to celebrate and Jeez! wasn’t I surprised. There was no one inside the restaurant. Lot of clambering sound of dishes were coming from behind a partition. Then at last someone came and we ordered our food. It look a long time to come.. the way they placed the dishes on the table was making me anxious that he might spill, food was ok but prices were high. They need a big overhaul and must consider to hire a professional to advice them how to run a restaurant. Immigrant businesses must learn courtesy, cleanliness and professionalism before they start any business in America. I might give them another try in future. #bongos #bengalifood #papiha #papihanandy #bangladeshi #bangladeshifood #food #ilishmachh #ilish #machh #fish #biriyani #papihanandybroadcastingcompany #review #reviews #restaurant #restaurants #bayarea #california #usa #barbeque #tandoor #tandoori #meat...