ID Company — Restaurant in Newark

We visited ID Company in June 2023 during our 3 week vacation in CA. My niece and her husband suggested we go here for lunch on a Saturday. Even though we battled traffic , it was well worth the trip. I am quite late in writing this review but I had to write this review as this is probably the best south indian food we have had in USA in over 20+ years.

Food - We were a group of 8 people so ordered quite a few different vegetarian items as we were pretty hungry after a morning hike/walk in a park. We ordered Vadas, Samosa, Tikka fries, various varieties of Idli & Dosas, plus variety of drinks. As we were ordering we thought we may have ordered too much food and may not finish all the food (typical thing we all do when we go hungry into a restaurant)

Vada - we ordered 4 types of Vadas - regular Vadas, sambhar vada, batata vada bites and punugulu. All were really good. I am not normally a vada fan but the regular vadas and smbhar vada were really really tasty. The sambhar was probably the best sambhar I have had and I actually was drinking the sambhar (normally I am not a big fan of sambhar). The batata vada bites were also good and the punugulu was really nice and crispy (kind of like dal vada/bhajiya).

Samosa - good taste and chutney was really good complement with samosa

Tikka fries - I ordered this as they seemed interesting and I was in a little junky mood and thought they will be like the masala chips I used to have in Kenya. They were good but not as good as the original masala chips of Kenya

Idli - we ordered regular idli, sambhar idli and karam podi idli. All were amazing really soft and literally like you were eating a sponge - it was heavenly!. The karam podi idli were nice and spicy and we really enjoyed those. The sambhar as mentioned before was really good and all the chutneys (coconut, tomato) were really tasty and had a slight zing to it.

Dosa - we ordered masala, mysore masala, andhra karam and Hyderabad Bandi & Mumbai mini dosas. All the dosas were mouthwatering & perfecly crispy with the right amount of spice. The Hyderabad Bandi and Mumbai mini were new to us and we thoroughly enjoyed them and would highly recommend them to those who have not tried it. As with Idli the accompaniments (Sambhar & Chutneys) were a perfect complement and flavored perfectly. All the food was freshly cooked as it took a little bit of time as they prepared each item plus the place was quite packed with hardly any empty tables. As each item was ready from the kitchen we devoured it. Even the young kids finished their food.

Drinks - We ordered buttermilk, mango lassi, and kala khatta soda. They were all good but kala khatta was a tad salty (slightly more sanchad than what we like)

Service - this is basically a place where you order food at the cashier and then they make your order and you pick it up at the counter. So not much of table service involved. Nevertheless the people at the register and those handing out food as ready were friendly and were not fazed by the number of orders they had plus the amount of people. Food was being prepared in a timely as expected manner. Once has to understand and expect that when you go to a dosa place, you will not get your food instantly.

Ambiance - regular neighbourhood dosa type of place ambiance. Bunch of different sized tables laid out and can be combined if you have a large group. The place was clean and as expected buzzing with people.

Overall value - excellent. Only thing I would suggest is looking at ways to minimize overall plastic/paper waste (replace plastic cutlery & plates with reusable plates/cutlery)

If you are in Freemont area in CA, you must go to ID company. You will not regret it. As mentioned before, hands down one of the best South Indian food I have had and I wish they had a branch in Central New Jersey. If they did I would visit them every time I had idli/dosa cravings ; even while I was writing this , I had my mouth was watering (ha ha) recounting the memory of the amazing delicious food we enjoyed in June

Come...

Tried this spot a few days back for a takeout. And I would recommend dining in this restaurant :) they have a lot of options!

The ambience is decent - just people rushing in craving "not so traditional" South Indian food. There are good numbers of chairs and tables available inside the restaurant. It was a clean place and good looking place for family - nothing fancy.

About the food- Well my partner was really excited about the tava idly- but it was nothing but disappointment for us. It looked pretty good but the the flavor was pretty weird. Not sure if it was too much garam masala or what; but the taste was 2/5 for us. Quality was good - no complains there. The vijaywada paneer dosa was good. It was a little heavy and filled with paneer. A little too greasy as well. I wouldn't go again for this item- 3.5/5. You might actually like this dosa if you love paneer. The Hyderabadi bandi dosa was yummy- a must try! I and my partner absolutely loved it. It was interestingly flavorful, not too greasy/ heavy and had perfect balance of spices. It had podi.

Sambar and all chutneys were yum! Definitely the star of the show. But sambar was too less in quantity, come on it was the same size as the other 3 chutneys!

Please note, they charge $1 per dosa box for takeout. Well, the dosa was packed really nicely. The box is so well done. The dosas didn't become soggy and a quick reheat on the tava made it better as they suggested. I was a little out off that they put a newspaper(the usual black inked ones) inside the box and then placed the dosa. Why would you not use a proper Bounty/ Costco paper towel after charging me a dollar. Costco is right there! :)

This restaurant is located right at the entrance of the Newark mall next to Costco. You will have no trouble finding a...

The Good -

The food is really good. I've probably had one of the best dosas in Fremont! They have nailed the recipe for Geni dosa. As close as it gets to Mumbai street food! The menu is breath of fresh air with some unconventional yet appetizing dishes. The filter coffee is a must have!

The Bad -

Hands down, this has been one of the most unsustainable dining experiences for me. The amount of plastic and disposable items used is unparalleled, and in some ways, unwarranted. The dosas are served in a reusable tray. The tray has a sheet of paper for the dosas to sit on. Chutneys are served in small plastic containers; sambar is served in a paper container ( has to be trashed as there are no compost bins). Cutlery is plastic. Juices, shakes and coffee is poured in plastic/paper glasses. They have 5 gallons jugs for drinking water, but one needs to use plastic cups to drink. Chutneys are served cold. My guess is they make it in bulk and refrigerate it for day to day use. Probably a strategy to reduce operational cost. It was ironic to see banners of "Do not waste food" when in reality everything is trashed. For the 30 mins we were in the restaurant, the staff had to clear out 2 large bags of trash. That is the amount of trash generated in such a short span.

The verdict -

I am not ranting, but I am left disappointed to contribute to so much waste. The staff is really nice and friendly and the food the yum, but waste reduction needs to be given serious attention. In today's times, consumers want to see sustainable practices in addition to good food. I am not perfect; I generate waste too. However the intention is always to reduce waste. I will not go back here again unless there is conscious effort towards...