Eylan — Restaurant in Menlo Park

Having been to Chef Srijith Gopinathan and Ayesha Thapar's other restaurant Ettan, I had some idea what to expect at their latest Menlo Park venture, Eylan. Upscale California-Indian fusion cuisine with dazzling decor and furniture. They also recently won the "2025 Michelin Guide California Exceptional Cocktails Award". So I was eagerly waiting to dine and drink at Eylan with my co-worker after a particularly rough couple of weeks at work.

The waiting area features a wooden tuktuk and a surreal wall-sized collage with dozens of scenes densely distributed throughout the landscape. Once they opened, me and my co-worker passed through an enormous wooden door with an ornate door handle. We were seated next to the window of a bright and colorful dining room, with dozens of lanterns mounted to the ceiling and ornate tiles.

For appetizers, we ordered the Chilled Green Grape Chaas and Bellwether Farm Ricotta. The lime and mint chaas was served in a pitcher to be poured into pani puri. It was refreshing and crispy, although I urge caution in pouring the chaas. I poured too much chaas and tried to take a partial bite...big mistake! Chaas ran down my fingers and created a puddle on my plate. Don't do what I did, pour a little and eat the whole thing in one bite. The ricotta was breaded and fried. It was delicious with both the mint and mango chutney.

I ordered "A Cut Above," for my cocktail. It has shades of an Old Fashioned but is made with reposado tequila, corn liqueur, dry vermouth, umeshu & cacao bitters. It was spirit forward with an interesting Japanese touch from the umeshu and garnishings. Engraved into the ice cube was a hand doing an "OK" gesture. I had hoped to try 2 or 3 drinks but not having ate prior all day and driving dissuaded me from doing that.

For the entrees, we ordered the Roasted Cornish Hen and the Fava Bean Composition. Both dishes were bright green due to the tomatillo used in the butter chicken sauce and spinach and mint used in fava beans. The hen was juicy and tender. The tomatillo gave it a bit of Mexican flavor melded into a superb butter chicken sauce. It was served with a kulcha stuffed with dried fruit and paneer. The fava bean patties with beans and mint leaves on top crumbled apart and were difficult to raise with a fork. They tasted decent but the star of the dish for me was the saag in the platter, which was some of the best saag I've tasted in quite some time. It was fantastic when scooped up with the kulcha.

Couldn't resist ordering a couple more appetizers of the Eylan Crispy Chicken and Gulf Shrimp. The chicken was perfectly breaded and fried, delectably moist chicken inside. It paired perfectly with the chili crisp aioli. The shrimp was heavy on turmeric which accented the salty crustacean flavor, which I'm not crazy about.

Finally, to conclude the meal, we ordered the Shaved Mango Lassi. The icy flakes from the mango sorbet topped pockets of lime yogurt. It was a refreshing and tasty dessert adaptation of a classic Mango Lassi. A Taiwanese-style shaved fine snow texture would've been nice touch rather than chunky ice bits.

The service was very attentive between the different waiters and servers. Collectively, they made us feel welcome and well taken care of. I'm usually wary of fusion restaurants, but Eylan is a great concept with creative and well-executed dishes and cocktails that I look forward to...

Food: American Wagyu Ribeye (Dry-Aged) - 9.75/10 Green Grape Pani Puri - 7.5/10 Crab Mutabaar - 8/10 Celeriac & Pineapple Kebab - 9/10 Anar Chicken Sigri Kebab - 9.25/10 Fava Bean Saag Paneer - 7.5/10 Celebration Treat Dessert - 8.25/10

Drinks: Techies, Guns & Money - 8/10 A Cut Above - 8.5/10 Amrut Single Malt - 7/10

Right off the bat, Eylan exceeded my expectations. One of the best Indian restaurants I've gone to so far. The Food and Experience was way better than its peer Ettan.

I came here for my birthday. The restaurant is tucked inside a business building. Once you walk through the door marked with the Michelin logo, you enter a really cool place.

Hospitality was outstanding. The hosts and servers were friendly, knowledgeable, and attentive. They explained dishes, pairing ideas, and cocktails well. Really liked the pacing -- dishes arrived in waves (unlike Ettan, which can feel rushed). The menu is structured well imo.

The standout was the Dry-Aged American Wagyu Ribeye -- incredibly flavorful, with a deep beefy savory & richness and a bacon sweetness w/ a long finish due to the dry-aging. The fat was perfectly rendered and melt-in-your-mouth, almost like meat jelly like from a brisket. The black pepper coconut sauce was good contrast, while the broccolini and paratha were good sides.

Next favorites: the Celeriac & Pineapple Kebab (sweet, caramelly, fruity, yet balanced with savoriness) and the Pomegranate Chicken Sigri Kebab (juicy, minty, smoky - though I wish the pomegranate came through a bit more).

The Crab Mutabaar was also a highlight: sweet, savory, and clean-tasting with a sauce that paired well with the flatbread. The Saag Paneer and Pani Puri were solid, though the latter could use a little more savoriness.

The Celebration Treat dessert was nice, the chocolate mousse and candied cardamom worked well with the Amrut whisky nightcap.

Both cocktails -- "A Cut Above" and "Techies, Guns & Money" -- were creative Old Fashioned-style builds using rum, cachaça, agave, and corn liqueur. I'd have liked a touch more sweetness for balance. Diplomatico was okay, but non additive rum like Panama Pacific or Grander would be better imo.

The nightcap list was nice -- I spotted the rare Birthday Bourbon, Indian whiskies, and a good Amaro selection.

Constructive Feedback A compound butter/ghee-based with rice could make the ribeye even stronger than the current sauce/paratha setup. A pickled or acidic component would be good here. While trout is fine, salmon has more recognition and better flavor imo. Would love to see tandoori meat or pork dishes added in the future. Minor note: the menus across Yelp, OpenTable, and the website didn't match the in-house version. Allowing spirit during dinner (not just cocktails/wine) would be good to have. It would be cool to see Woodfire, maybe a "open kitchen-like" concept Small tweak: cocktails could lean slightly sweeter and use non-additive spirits -- e.g., Tears of Llorona or Tapatio Excelencia over Clase Azul/Casa Dragones.

Overall a 5/5. Eylan is a Michelin Level place. Recommend it to others, and definitely will be...

TLDR: decent food at above-average prices in a crowded & noisy space with fast & friendly (& overwhelmed) service in a strange location.

Location: Followed Google maps to a rather desolate underground parking lot. Got into elevator and saw "Restaurant - 2nd floor" but the 2nd floor was maze of hallways filled with construction. Got back on elevator and saw "Eylan - 1st floor" (my bad!). Got out on 1st and again there was no sign or person in sight. Saw a closed door and went in, and suddenly the restaurant opened up. The entire building complex was deserted, and there seems to be no good access from street level (we went out to the plaza after dinner, and found the building doors locked behind us!). All in all, the location creeped us out a bit...

Interior: The space is much smaller that Copra or Ettan, decor is quite busy (much like Copra), lights are very muted (hard to read the menu), seating is quite informal, noise level was extremely high (couldn't even hear our server!). Not my favorite...

Service: Aisha took a while to get to us, but once she did, she was very efficient and friendly. Despite the busyness, she was able to check on us and serve us on time. Food came quickly (drinks not so much). One order got mixed up (they comped it). Still working out the kinks...

Drinks: Quite underwhelming, given the price point ($20+). Flavors were not very balanced and presentation was quite bland. Bazaar Paloma and Companion were the best of the lot. Techies & Lady Marmalade were too sweet, Bombay Green & First Order tasted very mild.

Food: More misses than hits: Good - Chaas puchka, Crispy chicken, Whole sea bream, Shaved Rose Lassi Meh - Squah & Pear salad, Taro chaat, Eylan Eye, Sweet Potato mutabar, Flaxseed Poee, Lamb seekh, Celeriac kebab, Chai Sundae, Frozen Srikhand

Breads were especially disappointing - priced high but felt quite ordinary. Didn't help that they messed up the Mutabar order! Sea bream was impressive (skin was a bit too crispy) but kebabs were served in a weird chili oil that put me off. Shave Rose Lassi was an excellent dessert (light & flaky) but Chai Sundae was too cinnamony and Frozen Shrikhand had too much mango flavor.

For $100+ a pop, one would expect a more elevated experience which this did not...