Besharam — Restaurant in San Francisco

Restaurants are in the hospitality industry, but I’m not sure Besharam is aware of that, as there was no hospitality from anyone besides the two bartenders who were serving me. There was a time when customer experience was prioritized, but at Besharam last night, it not only felt like my experience came second to the restaurant’s arbitrary rules, but that the higher-ups at the restaurant were committed to ensuring I did not have a good experience.

This was a huge blow to me, as I’ve been anticipating dining at Besharam since it opened. I am Gujarati and vegetarian (which is the style of food served at Besharam), so I was eager to try for the first time an elevated version of the cuisine my mom and grandmother used to cook for me while I was growing up. It was supposed to be a comfort. Little did I know that rather than leaving the restaurant comforted, I would leave with a sour taste in my mouth.

I wanted to do the tasting menu to try a little bit of everything, since I live in LA and am rarely in the Bay. I only have one friend here and this friend had already done the tasting menu. She was very dissatisfied with it, so she did not wish to do it again. I, however, wanted to give it a chance. The dilemma was that if we were to sit in the dining room, both of us would need to do the tasting menu. The way we found around the dilemma was to each make a reservation for one at the bar. I had asked in advance, and was told a single person could do the tasting menu.

I arrived after my friend was already seated at the bar, and the host sat me right next to her. This is important, because I didn’t ask to be sat there. And again, we had separate reservations. When I asked for the tasting menu, they said no because I was seated next to my friend. I begged them, saying technically my friend and I were not together and that I could sit a stool apart from her if that would help. I also explained my personal connection to the cuisine, how I would be leaving in a few days and that I’d been anticipating dining at Besharam since it opened. They still said no. Eventually, they said I could do the tasting menu if I were willing to sit at a dining room table by myself. This is what makes me feel like they were committed to ruining my experience, rather than making my experience an enjoyable one. Why would you want to seat me by myself when I could have a joyous time eating and drinking with my friend at the bar? For all they knew, we ran into each other at the restaurant. If anything, the hoops I jumped through to do the tasting menu should have earned me the opportunity. It was a testament to how badly I wanted to experience Besharam’s food.

I was in disbelief at their complete unwillingness to accommodate my small request. It’s not like I was asking for something off the menu or being demanding in any way. I was simply trying to offer them more of my business, as my meal would have been more expensive had I been able to order the tasting menu. In addition, why did you give me a tasting menu if you were going to arbitrarily decide I can’t order from it? Others were eating it, so I don’t get how it would’ve inconvenienced them to offer it to me. It’s actually weird how militant they were about their rules when they could have had a sense of humor about how my friend and I put on this show of running into each other just to have this experience. It’s like we were in high school again, and detention would’ve been sitting at a table by myself.

Also, if their rules are so important, why not clearly state them on the tasting menu? Maybe because they don’t apply to everyone? Another reviewer mentioned he was treated poorly because he was Indian. I wonder the same. And here I was hoping to support a fellow Indian.

I’m not at all surprised by their low rating, given their lack of dedication to customer experience. It’s a shame because their food and drinks are actually good, but I won’t be dining here again or recommending this restaurant to anyone.

Besharam means “shameless” in Gujarati. I can now see where they...

We were so excited to come here and try their take on the Gujarati dishes and flavors that my husband grew up with. Our friend made a reservation for a party of seven for dinner. We specifically did not choose the prix fixe tasting menu, as we were looking forward to sampling a variety of dishes.

When we arrived, our server (Shyrissa - throughout the night, she was great!) informed us that parties of six or more MUST order the tasting menu. We understood that policy was out of her hands, so our friend who made the reservation went to show the host (Paresh) that the reservation clearly showed that we had picked the dinner option. After much back and forth, including showing that their website still permitted new reservations for 6+ people to select the non-tasting option, he refused to budge. Their reservation website clearly needs work. If parties of 6 must do the tasting menu, don't allow them to make reservations for the dinner menu! This is basic UX stuff: don't allow people to put themselves into invalid states.

We later found out that the disclaimer about parties of 6 was hidden behind a tiny "Read more" link. More basic UX stuff: don't hide critical information. Maybe this was intentional to tricky people into the more expensive option.

After our friend returned to the table, my husband went to go speak with Paresh. The reason he gave (in a rude, condescending voice) for the policy on parties of six is that they "didn't want us to all sit there staring at each other while we waited for food to come out at different times and then complaining that the food got cold". Well, that's our call to make, not yours, and that is in fact exactly what we wanted: lots of different dishes arriving at different times so we could try them all! And had we split our party into tables of four and three, it seems like they would have been happy to serve us the dinner menu. This reasoning seems incredibly flimsy, and I can only assume that the policy is a money grab.

Had Paresh left it at that, we might have too. But after my husband told him we'd still like to dine there, he said in a horribly sarcastic and mocking tone of voice, "Oh, thank you soooo much!" We were incredibly close to just walking out at this point. But as we'd already ordered drinks, we decided to stay and see if the food was better than the service we'd received that far.

Well, we all thoroughly enjoyed the food, and that's the only reason this wasn't a one-star review! It's clear that Heena is an excellent chef. The malai kofta was especially delicious and the ras malai was plated beautifully. However, we've had larger quantities of similarly excellent food elsewhere in the Bay Area for much less money. We ultimately felt the price was too high for what we got.

With one drink each and the mandatory 25% tip/surcharge, the bill came to almost $1000, which is among the most expensive meals we'd ever had. Had our treatmeant by the host been absolutely exceptional, we may have walked away happy enough. But it wasn't, and we didn't. Besharam means shameless. Shame on us for staying even after being treated that way, I guess.

We...

I had high expectations after hearing about this restaurant from my friends, but unfortunately, this place was a bit of a letdown. An Indian restaurant that charges for chutneys - that's a red flag in my book.

Let's start with the positives first. Finding the restaurant tucked away in the Minnesota Street Project felt like stumbling upon a hidden gem. This also meant that parking was easy to find, which is great. The restaurant is vibrant and has a warm and pleasant ambiance.

Now, let's switch gears. Besharam definitely lived up to its name (which translates to "shameless" in hindi) when it comes to service. We were a party of 5. While the 4 of us were waiting for our 5th friend to arrive, we decided to order some appetizers, only to be told by our server that they only take full order (not sure if that's the restaurant policy but we didn't bother to clarify). Anyway, after our friend joined us, we decided to order a few appetizers and one entree. When we were ready to place our order, our server kept pushing us to order more food for our party size, despite us telling him that we were okay with what we were getting. We've never had a server be so pushy that it felt a bit sales-y. When we politely opted for our own selection, he seemed almost disappointed.

Speaking of selection, the pacing of our food left a lot to be desired. Everything seemed to arrive at once, turning our meal into an unintentional eating competition. We were inhaling food to make space for the next dish on our table (partly because our servers didn't do a good job of removing empty plates from our table).

The food itself was a mixed bag. Mango lassi was delicious - thick and creamy with perfect sweetness level. The masala chai was okay. Most of the dishes fell flat and were bland. The Dahi Wada, a lentil dumpling in creamy yogurt, was good and flavorful because of the tamarind chutney. The Pav Bhaji Puff, a unique take on the classic street food, had potential, but the pastry crust was a tad dry. The Drunken Pani Puri, a fun twist on the traditional pani puri with a boozy filling, was a playful idea, but we could hardly taste the gin.

The Dabeli Paratha, a flatbread stuffed with spiced potato filling, was decent, but nothing special. The Kachori Dumplings, another lentil dish, were a bit underseasoned. The Malai Koftas, vegetable dumplings in a creamy sauce, were the clear winner - flavorful and rich. The Garlic Naan, on the other hand, was very cheesy and filling.

Apart from their a la carte menu, they also have a tasting menu priced at $75/person that is served family style and requires everyone at the table to participate. In my opinion, it is not worth it. You are better off ordering items from the a...