Idly Express - Mountain View — Restaurant in Mountain View

(Non-desi review...why do you need a reviee? y'all aready go there, or are inexplicably not going)

These folks have a JAIN MENU! Good start.

Dont lie, you dont know what that means...but try some, you will be able to impress your date: "myself, I find the jain version fresher and fruitier, and treasure that it honors all god's living creatures...so, what are you doing later tonight?)

Can only review two items, mostly because I always get them...Everytime I am in Los Altos, I stop by. But really, how often does ANYONE go to Los altos? So once a month, can never bring myself to order anything else...

If you want to order anything else, DO YOUR HOMEWORK. If you ask the cashier what everything is, you'll get a lot of gringo stares from the people behind you.

Tomato-onion utthapam (rice...?...flour pancake filled with onion and tomatoes). WONDERFUL! By definition non-jain. Get something else for date impressment.

Side of pongal...wait, isnt that just mashed potatoes? No wait...is that mashed RICE?? More! More! Gimme more!

Skip the fresh squeezed sugar can juice...you will feel the type II diabetes coursing thru your veins. Halfway thru you will run for a cup of salt. Sugar juice...what could go wrong?

They also have a fridge full of amazing special curries, a diff set every week. They all have 30 letters in the name, with "th"s in random unexpected places. Dont even bother trying to pronounce them...just find a member of the almost impossiby kind staff, point at one and ask about it. You still wont understand it (describe Twinkies to a tibetan...), so pick one and go for a curry plunge.

They apparently have a WhatsApp account so that you can tell which curries they have that day. So maybe that clears it up.

I don't use whatsapp, don't feel like giving Peter Thiel all my private info. So I'll just have to believe them. But face it, paneer is going to be the only ingredient that you will recognize.

And lest we forget, the staff is almost miraculously nice. It's almost like they majored in niceness at IIT.

Wait...gets better... The most amazing thing is the DECOR. It's the anti-indian restaurant. Feels like Epcot and a football luxury box had a secret love child. Indian time travel restaurant from the 2100s

WHAT?

You heard...

Idly Express Was a unique joint for me as I felt the aspects of the meal were very different. While the food was quite good, the service and portion size were just not up to standard and the ambiance with no plates even for done in orders and only plastic waste made me feel very wasteful while eating. However let’s start with the food. I started with the rose milk which was ok. It was really sweet so it wasn’t my cup of tea but it had a strong rise flavor and was a large portion. The mango lassi however was jaw dropping. It was the perfect amount of sweet and tangy and was quite creamy. It also tasted fresh and seemed to be made in house. After getting the drinks we explored the restaurant while waiting for our order. There is a little store in the restaurant where you can buy Indian sweets like ladoos and jalebis for desert. The merchandise sold at the store ranges from Indian sweets to nutritious powders made from native Indian plants! Then we got our orders. I got the benne dosa which was so freaking good. The mysore masala on the inside was sooo tasty and not spicy at all which I appreciated. The dish was very hot sou you could tell it was made fresh. Unfortunately, the portion size was insanely small for $13. I had to get a second one to just fill myself up and I wasn’t very hungry in the first place. The dosa itself was filled with ghee(clarified butter). It was an interesting dosa.nit was quite thick and was very crispy on the outside. The chutneys and sambar that came with the dosa were also super tasty and unique! There was a coconut and tomato chutney and a flavorful lentil sambar. OVERALL the minimal portions for the price, the subpar service, and all of the plastic waste would make me not recommend this place to others, however if these factors were too change Idly Express would be my new favorite South Indian restaraunt to eat at. Enjoy the food if...

The new 'Idly Express' on the block!

Mountain View is home to a diverse range of restaurants catering to several delicious cuisines, but one cuisine that's been missing all these years is good South Indian. Finally, we have Idly Express to fill that gap right here!

I walked in expecting a similar, but overall good, experience to their sister location in Fremont,  but I was pleasantly surprised! The staff is friendly as ever, and the food is consistently delicious as always, but the biggest difference is the  interiors - it is well-appointed and looks and feels more warm and inviting compared to their other locations (including the recently opened Mylapore in San Jose).

I got a VIP combo breakfast takeout - that's a crispy Vada, a fluffy Idly, and a serving of Pongal (hence VIP) with a portion of Sambar and two types of Chutneys - and a Filter Coffee to wrap up my meal. And every bite was delicious!

Apart from a wide-ranging menu filled with a variety of Idlis, Dosas, and Utthapams, this restaurant also carries Idly and Dosa batters, along with various ready-to-eat fresh curries, pickles,...