8Elements — Restaurant in San Jose

I’ve always wanted to try a higher end Indian restaurant than the buffet style places I’ve been to before, and this place nailed it. In addition to the more common chicken and lamb, they also offer fish and shellfish options, not to mention alcohol, all of which I don’t often see with Indian places. The food is served family style, to be further shared with your group.

I got the Mumbai calamari, the coconut curry lobster with paneer naan, a side of rice, falooda for dessert, and Masala chai and salt laasi to drink. The calamari was just the right consistency, (I’m very used to places cooking it rubbery and there was none of that here.) It’s a delight to eat properly cooked calamari. It did have some heat to it, but that was quickly quenched by the laasi. The lobster coconut curry, while offered with a choice of naan or rice, clearly worked better with rice, so I ordered both. The paneer naan was fresh and chewy, and the falooda (a sort of rose flavored shake with chia seeds and tiny noodles) was an excellent end to a great meal, and I got out for 50 bucks including tip. 50 bucks for a seafood dinner made this well is a steal.

The only downsides I found were that finding the place in the dark was a little difficult because their outside sign didn’t light up, and the heat of the calamari was unmarked, (maybe they don’t consider that hot enough to warrant a warning, then again I’m a heat lightweight). The place was full of ethnic Indians, which is usually a good sign for an ethnic food place, but I could have used a picture or two of some of the menu items.

TL;dr I finally found what Indian food cooked perfectly tastes like. Seafood options. Mid...

My family we went for dinner last friday 10/15 at around 7:45PM as my wife was craving to eat Paper Dosa which was her fav in Dosas. The lady at the front desk said 2 parties before us, we had to wait for 30 min to get the table. We were asked to order scanning code because of pandemic / shortage of people, which we are totally fine. We did not find Paper Dosa in menu and asked the serving person ( Not sure if he is manager or owner) he said Paper Dosa is not on Menu closest is Hyderabad Spice Dosa and we asked particularly if it's going to be crispy, he said yes, to the disaster the pic on menu shows round folded like a tube, but the plate we got was in shape of triangle and very louzy and soft. We told the lady who served its not what we expect, she asked do you want me to take the plate back we said yes, then the guy came and kind of asked in rude manner what's the problem with Dosa, we explained him first its not what in pic, and not crispy, he then asked us to open the menu online again and says read disclaimer, food served will not be exactly shown in picture, first time i see disclaimers in menu in restaurant business. Overall his attitude was rude and not a good experience for us, all he can say is sorry or get another crispy one, which we did not see in his way of talking. So overall its a disaster, i just want to put this review, so other are aware of disclaimers...

Me and my wife visited 8Elements with the intention of trying new foods and new places. I have very limited exposure to Indian food and my wife had none and in fact was nervous about trying it. After a short (5min) wait for a table we were seated and given menus and some water to start. After looking at the menu for a little while and trying to decide what to eat, our waitress--whose name i have forgotten, regrettably--came and and asked if we were prepared to order. I had my sights on the Butter Chicken, and my wife was still unsure. After a few questions and admitting that she had no knowledge of the cuisine, the waitress really helped my wife find something she would like by explaining various foods and even bringing a sample of the tikka masala and butter chicken. My wife enjoyed both but decided on the chicken vindaloo and the sample also cemented my desire for the butter chicken. In addition our entrees we ordered some plain and garlic naan which, like our entrees, were delicious. The waiters and waitresses also kept the water flowing which I always appreciate. All told it was a wonderful experience from the start to finish and I especially appreciate our waitress taking the time to help my wife find something she would enjoy....