Holyland Restaurant and Catering — Restaurant in Santa Clara

My husband and I were in San Jose for a meet up and as we were getting out looking for a lunch place, I reminded him about a place where you get to eat Mandi and immediately we decided to come to Holyland. It's placed in a quiet place in the middle of other small technology companies. We ordered a Mezza for 4, for appetizers it comes with hummus, falafel, babaganoush, and tabouleh along with pitta bread, one Mandi - oven roasted lamb shank mixed with special spices served with rice and garnished with roasted almonds, and Keftah kabob plate which comes with a skewer of seasoned ground beef and lamb served with hummus, pita bread, rice and salad. For drinks they have yogurt drinks, and all other bottled drinks, water. I went for a kiwi with basil seeds and my husband had an aloe vera drink. The person at the counter welcomed us and made us comfortable to choose our table. It was very peaceful music in the background and as I paid attention it was the Boney M that was playing. I felt very relaxed and was wondering if it's Saturday because even if it's a weekend we tend to be in a hurry and here I was lost in time listening to music and playing peekaboo with a little girl on the opposite side of our table. It was very fulfilling. Our appetizer came and as we started digging in I figured that we won't be able to finish Mandi and Keftah kabob so we made Keftah to go and enjoyed Mandi. One has to eat it to experience the deliciousness of it just like how the meat has taken its own peace to get cooked. The feel inside this place was very calming and made me think of Holyland and its people. A tear or two.. thinking of the children. I will definitely recommend this place for lunch or dinner, big group or couples dining out but they also do catering so check it out. I highly recommend it. PS: I forgot to take Mandi's picture so you have to...

This location of the restaurant is almost like they want their patrons to earn their great food. But jokes apart, this is really a hidden gem. I happened to be in the area one lazy Sunday afternoon and was surprised to see such a highly rated Mediterranean joint that I had never heard about. This is the first restaurant in the South bay featuring a Mandi.

I absolutely had to get that after seeing the other reviews on it. A perfect 12 minutes after I placed my order, I walked in to the restaurant. The size of the dining area is a little surprising as it does not look much from the outside. I definitely want to dine in, if we ever get back to a non socially distanced way of life.

The lamb shank in the Mandi was slow cooked to perfection. Absolutely fall off the bone goodness along with the slivered almonds for the crunch. It was bursting with flavor in a very subtle way. This preparation is what I would recommend to anyone who is on the fence about lamb. The only reason I went with a 4 is the rice. Not that it was bad, but with such a star, the rice is almost a let down by being just average. Does this mean I'll not go back? Heck, no. I have a whole menu to try out. Trust me, a visit to this Holyland will definitely make you feel blessed. By the flavor God, if...

I regret to say that my recent visit to Holyland Restaurant and Catering was nothing short of disappointing. Despite being one of the few customers in the restaurant, the service and quality of food were shockingly subpar.

Upon arrival, my party of three found ourselves waiting for an unreasonable 45 minutes before our food was finally brought to our table. To our dismay, the dishes were served cold, completely ruining what little anticipation we had left.

What's worse, there was no acknowledgment or apology from the staff regarding the unacceptably long wait or the poor quality of the food. It was as if they were completely indifferent to the appalling service they were providing.

In addition to the dreadful dining experience, the lack of basic customer service etiquette was glaringly evident. It's truly disheartening to see a restaurant with such disregard for their patrons' time and satisfaction.

Needless to say, I will not be returning to Holyland Restaurant and Catering, and I strongly advise others to steer clear if they value prompt service and decently...