ROOH SF — Restaurant in San Francisco

Rooh San Francisco – A Contemporary Indian Journey with Highs and a Few Misses

Rooh SF continues its bold exploration of modern Indian cuisine with inventive takes on classic dishes. Our recent dining experience highlighted both its strengths and areas where refinement could elevate the offering further.

Dahi Puri A delightful start—the yogurt mousse adds a luxurious lift to the traditional street food staple. The flavor balance is spot on, but the puri itself feels like an opportunity for reinvention. A crisper, more delicate shell or a creative reinterpretation could push this dish into truly memorable territory.

Delhi Palak Patta A standout dish. The flash-fried spinach layered on top was a brilliant touch, retaining crunch and visual appeal. It’s a sophisticated nod to its street-side roots. That said, it missed the crunchy contrast that fried besan typically brings. A touch more sweetness in the chutneys could enhance the balance.

Chili Paneer and Cotija Cheese Puff This dish, unfortunately, felt underdeveloped. The puff pastry left a residual margarine-like film, and the filling was dry and underseasoned. A butter-based pastry and a more flavorful, well-seasoned paneer filling could transform this into a winner. As it stands, it needs a complete reimagining to align with Rooh’s otherwise thoughtful menu.

Kashmiri Nadru Conceptually intriguing, but the execution needs refinement. While crispy lotus stem is a welcome textural element, it turns chewy and sticky under the sauce. The yogurt dip could benefit from added sweetness and airiness—perhaps through light whipping or a creamier base.

Paneer Pinwheel A must-try for vegetarians. The execution is clean, and the presentation appealing. Charring the paneer with a blowtorch and introducing a subtle smokiness in the gravy would elevate this already strong dish to the next level.

Vegetable Kofta The kofta reminded me pleasantly of Japanese croquettes—crisp, golden, and comforting. However, the accompanying sauce lacked depth or that elusive je ne sais quoi to tie the dish together fully.

Breads Both the naan and the laccha paratha were excellent—flaky, fresh, and well-prepared.

Dessert – Kaju Katli Layer Cake This was a clever and nostalgic idea, reimagining a beloved sweet in layered form. Executed as a Napoleon-style dessert with crisp puff pastry, custard, and delicate kaju katli layers, it could become a signature finale.

Service Impeccable. The staff were attentive, made thoughtful recommendations, and remained highly accommodating throughout our meal.

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Overall Verdict: Rating 9/10 Rooh SF continues to lead the way in modern Indian cuisine with bold concepts and polished service. With a bit more refinement in a few dishes, the experience could become truly...

A solid, if overpriced, Indian offering in SoMa.

I came here on a Thursday night around 6pm to grab dinner with my aunt. The place was nice, not necessarily warm but definitely welcoming. Think modern, casual setting... high ceilings, lots of glass, clean wood, natural light. There's lots of color through the interior like deep blues, poppy reds, and glints of gold. We were seated right away and ordered cocktails plus a bunch of food to share.

Pink City - 4 stars. Rum, guava, Indian chilli, Rooh masala. Easy drinking, slight spice, slight sweetness, and well balanced. Served with a chili-covered cucumber slice.

Tuna bhel - 3 stars. Raw chunks of tuna served with avocado, tamarind gel, puffed black rice, baby radish, and togarashi. Overall the dish was quite light. The tuna was rare and tasted very fresh. Pieces of onion brightened the dish, though I got nothing from the radish. Creamy avocado added some depth and the puffed rice created texture. There was a slight chili flavor and I got something else, maybe pieces of apple? It was hard to differentiate too many of the flavors from one another, and while the dish was enjoyable it didn't quite wow me the way I hoped for.

Paneer chilli - 3 stars. Served wrapped in crispy kataifi with alam chutney and green papaya & pomelo salad. Weirdly, my favorite part of this dish was the chutney. It was full of super dark chili type flavors, just so much depth and complexity. The rest of the dish, less so. I liked how the textures played together with the crispy crunchy nest around the creamier, chewy paneer but the chili flavor overwhelmed the taste of the paneer such that I could have been eating anything else and I wouldn't have noticed. The papaya was completely lacking in flavor for me and I would have appreciated a little more pomelo.

Pork belly - 4 stars. Served with tandoor smoked bbq sauce, pickled radish, and pork crackling. I was surprised to like this dish the best. I normally find pork belly dishes overrated but the sticky, sweet, fattiness of this one came together in all the right ways for me.

Bread sampler - 2 stars. This was supposedly a basket of plain, garlic, and cheddar naan but they all looked and tasted pretty similar to one another. They were tasty but nothing special.

Service - 5 stars. Our server was fantastic. She gave us lots of great recommendations and she was incredibly attentive. My single gripe is that all the food was brought out at the same time which led to a very full table for two.

Overall, I'm glad I stopped in. I'd probably come back to try more things, but for a business lunch or something where it's...

We enjoyed an incredible dining experience in the parklet at Rooh on Brannan on a warm San Francisco summer evening. The cuisine is said to be Kashmiri or "Progressive Indian", but to us it resembled Indian French fusion cuisine. However, the olfactory and gustatory impression was quite different from another restaurant of this genre, Amber India.

For our beverages, we chose several beers, including an Indian bira white ale, and the Almanac Love IPA, brewed across the Bay in Alameda, CA. One member of our party chose from the list of craft cocktails, one called Mango Tango.

We decided to dine family style, sharing dishes, so that the four people in our party would be able to sample as many of the intriguing plates Rooh has to offer. Our appetizers included assorted papadi crisps and dips; a “Cold BBQ” plate, which consisted of oysters on the half shell enveloped with dry ice vapors, topped by caviar; a morel mushroom dish; and shrimp ambotik. Everyone thought that the appetizers we ordered were tasty and a nice introduction of what was to come.

Our four main courses included Tandoori monkfish, butter chicken, and lamb shank nihari, all of which were cooked perfectly, to a melt-in-your-mouth consistency. In fact, I would be hard pressed to choose one of those entrees over another. They were all so tender. The vegetarian in our party ordered the black sheep keema, kind of a veggie version of lamb keema served with a fluffy home-baked bread. We all sampled it and thought it was excellent.

For side dishes, we chose saffron rice, garlic naan, and a bowl of delicious daal, which was a perfect accompaniment to the saffron rice. We capped the meal with a shared piece of cashew praline cake for dessert.

Service by our sonorous-voiced waiter, Elliott, and his assistant waiters was superb. When he found out that two in our party were avid mushroom hunters, the Rooh owner-chef came out to tell us about the use of various types of mushrooms in his cuisine and where he sources them. He returned to our table a second time with a sampler of several items, including plums, which he personally pickles with Indian spices.

Overall, we had a superb experience at Rooh. The price, while not inexpensive, came to about $90 per person, including tax and tip. Considering the quality of the meal, the presentation of the dishes, and the excellent service, the cost is commensurate with the experience we...