Zahir's — Restaurant in Milpitas

I've been meaning to try Zahir's Bistro for a while now because it's rather difficult to find this style of restaurant (semi-fancy) in the area. When we walked in, the decor was nice, and we were immediately greeted by a man who seated us. We sat down and met our waiter, who was a very pleasant and helpful guy. They brought out warm sourdough with butter after taking our orders, which were fine. We got the Zahir's Combo appetizer, which included fried calamari, cajun shrimp, and stuffed mushrooms. It was the right amount of appetizer to split among three of us. The calamari was crispy and came with two sauces. One was a standard marinara, and the other was some flavored horseradish sauce that I quite enjoyed. The shrimp also had nice cajun seasoning and came with a roasted red bell pepper sauce, which also tasted nice. The stuffed mushrooms came with a ton of cheese on top along with what I think was a bechamel (white) sauce; tasted great.

Unfortunately, I ordered the sea bass special for my main course, and I was disappointed. While the fish itself was very nicely cooked (juicy and flavorful), I felt that it had a slightly fishy taste (indicating it not being very fresh). The shrimps that came with the dish were seasoned with just a hint of salt, so additional seasoning or a sauce would have been a welcome addition. The sides were also nothing special: roasted squash and zucchini, which tasted fine. The other side was some sort of rice pilaf which wasn't as flavorful as it looked visually. However, it had a nicely crisped bottom which added a much needed crunchy texture to the dish.

That said, the other two main courses my party ordered looked significantly better. I was torn between the sea bass and the breaded filet, which my friend ordered. The filet looked significantly better (cooked to the requested temperature), and it had a potato croquette side instead of the rice I got (which I tasted, and really liked). Another got the ribeye speical, which also looked nicely cooked.

We didn't get dessert, and I don't think I'll be running back. I wouldn't mind giving it another shot with something on the menu that's not seafood.

Appetizer came out fast, main course took quite a long time to come out, but service made sure our bread basket was always full. I was satisfied overall with the service...

DO NOT RECOMMEND!! I would rate this place a ZERO 0!!! BEWARE of the owner Zahir and his false promises . We came to Zahir and he seemed like a friendly man with a good amount of knowledge for the events business. We had told him that my wife was graduating from law school and we wanted to throw a party. We talked over a price and we agreed on the event room price. However, he made false promises of telling us that we can bring in food with plates and knives (no extra charge). He then changed his mind 4 days before and said if we were to bring in food. We have to pay someone to pick up the plates and that’s only what they did which was $200. They didn’t serve the food we had to do that ourselves. We had to pay the alcohol which was only beer and wine $6 each. we can bring beer but we had to pay more. On top of that he wanted to us to pay for the plates and utensils which was in total of $100 extra. He didn’t want paper plates or utensils. We were forced to cooperate with this CROOK 2 days before my wife’s party. He said we could have the party from 3-12am if we wanted to but then he changed his mind after we already payed the man. He even threatened to cancel the party if we didn’t want to accept his terms!!!! The party ended on a terrible note, the old man had a temper and was yelling at some family members. I DO NOT RECOMMEND YOU HAVE YOUR PARTY HERE WITH ZAHIR. STAY FAR AWAY FROM THIS PLACE. DOES NOT FOLLOW THROUGH WITH WHAT HE SAYS. MAKE A CONTRACT WITH HIM IF YOU WANT TO...

Here is my experience. I arrived at about 5:30 pm to find one other small family there. This should have been my first warning. The service was very good. I was greeted, seated, and had drink and bread within minutes. I quickly put two small wrapped butter bricks into the bread basket to start warming the butter. The bread was good, better with soft butter.

I ordered calamari, which was also good. Then came my entrée. I ordered the Fillet Mignon medium rare. It came perfectly cooked and very tender. This is where the good came to an end. That was the most bland steak I have ever eaten. It was as if they forgot to put anything on it, at all! The veggies were likewise bland, and I am 95% sure that the mashed potatoes came from a box. There is no way those mashed potatoes came from fresh potatoes.

I asked for salt and pepper, which they promptly brought out. I used my very soft butter on the steak along with salt and pepper, which made a big difference. The manager or owner them came out to ask how my meal was, which was nice. I didn't have the heart to tell him what I really thought. I almost asked if I could come to the kitchen to see what were, or weren't doing. It honestly tasted like food to be served in a nursing home cafeteria.

In summary, the service was top notch. But I wish I would have just gone to Outback...