Emperor of India — Restaurant in San Jose

We had dinner at Emperor of India last night. It was in the 90's and we don't have air conditioning. We found "deals on demand" Groupon for the restaurant. It's located very close to us, so we gave it a try.

The place was deserted and I don't know why. The food was awesome! I saw from the reviews that the restaurant is packed at lunch. Perhaps that's why the Groupon? to develop some evening trade:

The staff very helpful in making suggestions on what to eat. I had the Emperor of India special, half order. It's a mixed grill Tandoor style. YUM! I love Tandoor spiciness, which this had, but I could still taste the flavor of the meat through the spice.

Hubby had the chicken curry and asked for the spicy version. I sampled some over basmati rice. The chicken was tender, and the sauce, while spicier than I would order for myself was delicious. You could taste multiple layers of flavor, not just heat.

We drank Indian beer with dinner. Even with the alcohol, our dinner was about $20/person before the Groupon. Unless I'm going to "fast food" or a diner, that's about what I expect to pay for dinner out.

Will we go there...

We ordered several dishes, and the overall experience was very inconsistent.

The highlights were the gobi manchurian, which was crispy, flavorful, and delicious, and the garlic naan, which was soft and tasty.

Unfortunately, the rest of the meal fell short. The lamb samosa was far too oily, while the tandoori chicken lacked flavor and came out so fast that it felt pre-prepared rather than freshly made. The paneer tikka masala was overly sweet, almost like a dessert, and the lamb rogan had the same problem—it was unexpectedly sweet and came with an excessive pool of oil. While I understand rogan has oil by nature, this was far beyond reasonable.

Overall, the meal had a couple of bright spots, but the heavy oiliness, lack of balance in flavors, and overly sweet curries made the dining experience disappointing. With more attention to freshness and authentic taste, this place could...

This is by far the best Indian restaurant accessible to the South-Bay Area residents. The food quality is excellent, the ambience is great and the service is nice. Sometimes the service can be a bit slow during rush hours and that only gives more time to chat.

I have been frequenting this restaurant for more than 13 years and the owner often came by to chat. Nowadays his son is running the restaurant. Throughout this period, the food quality as well as the overall ambience has been very consistent. Often times, the quality of the restaurant starts to dip especially after one decade of service. Not so with this restaurant! They even renovated parts of the restaurant, including the restrooms.

The location has certainly proved to be very good for this restaurant and I hope it lives on for the next...