Shalimar Restaurant — Restaurant in Fremont

I am really sorry for the 1* review in-spite of having eaten a relatively good meal in Shalimar Restaurant.

Shalimar Restaurant is a very basic restaurant where one orders at the counter and food is served at your table. it has pretty ordinary tables, basic plates and cutlery and very attractively priced dishes which spell value for money.

They have some sliced onions next to the order counter which is basically on self-service. They also have Masala Tea with disposable cups next the counter on self-service.

Our order for Kadhai Chicken along with Naan's and Goat Biryani was served at our table within 10 minutes by eager to serve servers. The Kadhai Chicken was very well cooked and spiced to perfection (I agree with other reviewers that the curries are a bit too oily but then that is how Kadhai Chicken needs to be cooked).

Though I have eaten better Naan's elsewhere - the Naan's served out here were not bad and had a character of their own.

Starting off with the Goat Biryani - the first few bites and pieces of goat meat was quite delectable but then one big piece of completely dry and burnt meat came up which was simply not edible. Then my wife found a piece of Chicken meat from the confines of the Goat Biryani!

Even at this point we were not disappointed with Shalimar Restaurant. Having finished our meal - I decided to wash my hands and started looking for the restroom which was hidden away in the back with it's door opposite the kitchen door.

As I awaited my turn outside the restroom the door to the kitchen opened giving me a sneak peek into the kitchen. The view is simply unforgettable. It was dirty, filthy, greasy and in a complete mess. Mayhem may be the most appropriate word to describe the kitchen at best.

The restroom got vacant - I entered and walked right out!

I am hard pressed in comprehending how Shalimar Restaurant has managed to get it's operations approved by the...

Shalimar was probably the best Pakistani restaurant in the US. We lived in SFO bay area from 1984 to 2002 and enjoyed their food. We are visiting Sanjose after some 12 years and went to Fremont store. We ordered Aloo-palak-methi, Lahori Chholay and chicken tikka. Aloo-palak and chholay were excellent just as they were at SFO store a day before but chicken tikka was a left over from hours ago. It was too dry and hard to even chew. The sad thing is that I had told at ordering that I was one of the first customers eversince Naeem Bhai started in SFO and currently visiting after some 12 years. I understand there are over production and chef wants to sell it. My argument would be that, if necessary, chef must be trained to sell such left overs with large orders so the guys only throw out one piece. Ideally, if a piece is unedibile, it should be dumped for dogs to eat. I would have happily paid ten times as much if a fresh tikka was gaurenteed. Now I can see why the rating has gone down. Just to save pennies, they are willing to let the customes go. There's nothing wrong with pricing a bit higher and taking loss on leftovers etc. I am sorry to write this review but Amir and Naeem Bhai needs to know. With excellent taste, you do not have to play tricks to make money. too much oil in food, selling old leftovers or saving on ugly unhygienic "chatney" containers are likely to drive customers away. My intentions are to improve your quality and business and not hurt feelings...

Once you been to THIS Shalimar you will always keep coming back.

First there is a system to this place in case you've never been here. Go in and grab the table number and hopefully have someone stay there holding your table, then go to the register and grab a menu, choose what you want, place your order with the man at the counter, tell him your table number and just wait for a bit for your food to arrive. That is when the magic happens!!

Let me say that while I am not Pakistani or Indian, my family and I have tasted several other places and keep coming back to this place because at least for us the flavors and intensity of the dishes are amazing!!

We are creatures of habit and find that their Aloo Paratha, chicken Tikka, Paneer Masala, Murgh Boti, Banarsi Kheer (dessert) and their delicious rice are a few of the outstanding dishes on their menu.

The place is always busy so arrive early, sometimes they will forget something when bringing it to you, just keep your eyes open and the guys bringing the food will quickly remedy any problem you might have, I will add that one of the regular servers is an incredible worker there, he is running up down left and right taking care of dirty dishes, bringing stuff out, asking you if you need anything and to top it off he is super friendly and smart.

We all love...