My latest favorite is a Pakistani restaurant called Mughal on Thronton in Fremont. The place, like most other good-food-for-money place, is unassuming. It's located on a strip mall opposite some car delaership. It's absolutely forgettable by look. But the food there is worth remembering the place. My friend came from Denver. He and his wife share similar taste as ours as far as food is concerned. So we took them to Mughal. I had no doubt they would like it, which they did. The next day me and my wife were suggesting all sorts of places to go out for dinner. It seems they were not whole-heartedly agreeing with any of them. Then the cat came out of the bag, "can we go to Mughal again tonight"!

Mughal has great Lamb Chops, but now I am coming to believe that although making great lamb chop may not be very easy, it may not be that difficult either since there are quite a few restaurants around here who can make really good lamb chops. Mughal is one of them. The key is though, apart from the taste, making it soft while keeping the texture of meat. At least once in Mughal I have tatsted lamb chop which is among the bests that I have ever tasted.

Their Beef Boti Kabab is really good too. Very few restaurants make Beef Botis. If you are into kababs, you should definitely try Mughal's Beef Boti. The Seekh Kabab and other Chicken kababs are very good, but you can have similar kababs in places like Shalimar or Pakwan.

Try their Sindhi Biriyani too. I'll admit that nobody makes great biriyani in this part of the world - at least I havn't found any, but Mughal's biriyani is as good as you can get in the bay area. It's on the spicier side, and the portion is huge.

Among the curry's I have tried their Karahi Goat and Goat Korma. Both are good. But again, these are similar in ranking to the dishes you can get from Kabana.

The place is not too big, can sit probably 30 people. And most importantly they don't make every dish everyday. (I haven't been able to manage ordering their Kulfi-Phaluda yet.) Moreover, on somedays some of the dishes run out quickly. I have observed that their kababs have this bad habit of running out by 8:30 PM. So, it's imperative that you call ahead to see what is there. You may want to order on phone too so that the food is ready when you arrive. That will also increase the probability that you will get stuff you want before they run out.

Price-wise Mughal is at par Kabana or Pakwan.

Gulistan is a new discovery, recommended by a friend. The restaurant opened just four months back, otherwise I would have dubbed it as the best know secret of the bay area.

Gulistan is a small place, may accomodate about 35 people at most. If you have ever been to Fremont Shalimar, the layout is exactly like that though the size is more like Kabana. It is hard to tell that the restaurant is almost brand new except that the menus are yet to be stained with turmeric curry and the table tops also are relatively clean.

The menu is a medley of Indian (Punjabi), Pakistani and Bangladeshi dishes, most without any indication what is the contributing cuisine. We tried Lamb chops - mostly for benchmarking purpose, Hilsa fish curry, Pabda fish curry and Goat Akni Biriyani. Barring the Lamb Chops everything else was cooked Bangladeshi style.

The Lamb chop is as good as any other place - Kabana, Shalimar, Pakwan. I will go even further that it was the best, even better than Kabana's - the last couple of times Kabana disappointed me a bit. Gulistan's was juicy, just right amount of spice and right amount tandoored. This was the best of the evening.

We ordered Hilsa expecting that it will come fried - because that's what was written in the menu. But they served it curry. We accepted wihout fuss. The preparation was OK, but the fish lost the aroma of Hilsa. The Pabda was better. The curry was good but could be better. I thought it could use a bit more chilli.

The Biriyani was very good. I think, considering Kabab and Curry's deteriorating quality, this was the best biriyani in the area. However, it still can be better.

We are planning to go back to Gulistan a few more times to explore the other stuff on the menu. We have heard (after our visit) that Keski is the best fish item on the menu. They also have chicken/beef/lamb rolls - we are expecting Kolkata-style roll. They have some 'Today's Special' which I am eying on to taste: the Brain Curry and Lamb Karahi.

The management, I think, is Bangladeshi. So it was an added bonus for us to ask questions about the entrees and order the food in Bangla.

Shahnawaz is located in Milpitas, at the corner of Landess and Park Victoria. That makes it very convenient from our home. I discovered Shahnawaz about a year/year-and-a-half ago. Their menu is a combination of Indian and Pakistani dishes. First I went for a Biriyani. And it was very good - not too spicy, and more on the white side than yellow. It was milder than most other places', but very well cooked. Each grain of rice was separated from the other - which I haven't found in any other restaurants here. The other things were OK, better than an average restaurant, but nothing to write home about.

However, on the next visit the Biriyani was dissappointing. Oil was dripping, the rice was not well-done and the taste was not that good. I tried it a few more times after that visit and found that their Biriyani lacks consistency in quality. One day it's just fabulous, almost at par the best Biriyani that you will get here. And the next day it may be such that it can be termed so-so at best.

On that second day, we discovered that they make fish tandoori too. Having the experience of heavenly fish tandoori from Kabana, we enthusiastically ordered fish tandoori, and alas, what a dissapointment! Agreed that we did not eat in there, but I am comparing Kabana take-out vs. Shahnawaz take-out. The Shahnawaz fish was I-don't-know-what-fish (Kabana makes it with catfish), it was low on spice, soggy and almost tasteless. I never ever tried it again.

After a long time, on a friend's recommendation last Sunday we went for a Sunday all-you-can-eat Brunch. It was well worth the first visit. It's meat all-the-way. There were three vegetable dishes which I promptly ignored. There were Chicken Tikka - quite ordinary, Beef Paya - mild and good, Nehari was Ok, Haleem, Goat Quorma, Chicken Kadai, another chicken curry and a Beef leg - Tengri. Have you count the meat dishes? I don't know of any other restaurant here which serves half as-many meat dishes on Buffet. Most of them were mild - but tasty. Chicken Kadai was the most spicy. None of the preparation was like the run-of-the mill Indian restaurant stuff. The Tengri was superb. My friend instructed me to go around quarter-past-twelve, because around that time they bring out the Tengri and it doesn't get refilled. Oh they had Biriyani too, and it was OK. But their Naan, served at the table and with Ghee, was superb. And all these for $9.95 per person.

I still don't rate Shahnawaz up there with Kabana, Shalimar or Pakwan. It may be run-of-the-mill Pakistani, but since we have a dearth of restaurants serving real Pakistani food, Shahnawaz gets a prominent place in my address book. It is quite specious, much better decor and ambience than Kabana et al. and priced reasonably. It's definitely worth a try.

Kabab and Curry gave us the taste of some good Biryani after a long time. I have been in search for a good place for some authentic Biryani but in vain. Even Kabana disappointed me. I ran from restaurant to restaurant on the slightest provocation from friends in the guise of recommendation. Eventually Kabab and Curry satisfied me and my Biryani-aficinado friends. But, alas that was so short-lived.

Let me explain. When we discovered Kabab and Curry, it was hole-in-the-wall place with no fancy decor on the 1st floor of a shabby apartment building in a non-descript alley in Santa Clara. But then, I guess a lot of other people also 'discovered' Kabab and Curry at the same time. The result being that even though it's still housed in that shabby building, the interior has drastically changed. New swing door for the kitchen, new flooring, new furniture, new and fancy light-fixture, significantly increased waiting time and, worst of all, deteriorating food quality.

But Kabab and Curry is still a good place for tasty and non-generic north-Indian food. They make Lamb-Briyani on Friday's and Chicken-Biryani on Saturdays. If you cannot put your order by 7:30 or latest by 8:00, chances are that you have to forget about having Biryani that day. The Biryani is still very good compared to what you get in most other local restaurants, but nowhere near what it used to be a couple of years back. Their Lamb Karai is also pretty good though these days they put too much garlic for my taste. Their Chicken Korma too is decent. They make wonderful Naan, Chicken Tandoori and Chicken Tikka. Their Navratan Korma is the best among what I have tried in different places. Their Shikh Kabab is generally excellent - on a bit high side of spicyness - but last time the Shik-kabab was dosappointing. I hope it was a temporary lapse.

I hope Kabab and Curry goes back to its old day of glory after it gets used to its newly found fortune, else they will find that their fortune is ephemeral too.

Rose Market is not a restaurant. It is an Iranian grocery store-cum-supermarket, but the reason I am listing it here is that it has a Deli with it. And that deli serves some tremendous Iranian kababs.

There are only four types of charcoal-grilled kababs on the menu - the Koobideh, the Barg, the Chicken Kabab and the Vegitable Kabab. Needless to say I know nothing about the vegetable kabab. End of story there.

A Koobideh is made out of minced beef and lamb in a similar way of making Shik-Kabab. The only difference is that the Shik-kabab is tubular while the Koobideh is flat in shape. As far as the spicyness of the Koobideh is concerned, it is milder compared to Shik-kabab - but just as tasty.

Barg and Chicken kabab are chunks of meat (beef and chicken respectively) marinated and grilled a la, say, chicken tikka. They also have lamb chops - the milder version of what you get in either Shalimar or Kabana.

All kababs come with thin and square Iranian bread and vegetables (on requests). Vegetables consist of Basil leaves, another kind of leave (looks like parseley) and onions. You can make these a super-sandwitch for a dollar extra which is basically the vegetables with some extra tomatos wrapped along with the kabab inside the bread like a wrap or Kolkata-style roll.

The prices are very reasonable. Between 3 to 7 dollars. They have other stuff like Iranian Biriyani and meat dishes in the deli. Those are nothing great to my taste. They also have something called a Cotlet - not bad if you can get it hot.

If you go there, try their meat section to get some goat meat. They also carry good Darjeeling tea in aluminium containers. Pick one to try out. Those are good.

One of the best chinese places in the area, period. The food is no comparison with your regular friendly neighborhood chinese restaurant. The food is so different from any chinese I have ever had in the US that it's difficult to describe.

One is that that most of the dishes are very spicy - even to my Indian palate. I remember the first time I had Kung Pao Chicken here - I was in tears. I have regularly made my friends and collegues cry whenever I take them to this restaurant. However, the food is so good that people from far-away places flock to this restaurant even during the lunch hour. After the econom-bust, the crowd seems to have gone thinner, but even then assume a 15 minutes wait during the lunch time - especially on a Friday.

Their lunch special comes with a thick Hot-and-Sour soup. Very tasteful, but depending on when you get it the thickness varies. They also give you a salad - a few leaves of lettuce with a chocolate dressing - not my favourite and I frequently skip it.

For the entree, my favourites are Kung Pao chicken or shrip and Twice-cooked pork. They are fabulous. If you have a bad cold and you want to sweat, try their Ma-Po Tofu. Tears are guranteed. Their General Tso's Chicken is very good too. Actually you can randomly pick one dish and chances are that it will be better than anything you have tasted elsewhere. Yes, I have that much confidence in them.

The price is very reasonable. The lunch specials are priced at around 5.99. So with a 6.50 dollar lunch, you have a sumptuous portion (the portions are really big) of delicious food.

The downside? Their service. It sucks. If you see smile on any of the waiter/witress, consider youself lucky. God help you if you need a glass of water or something else after your meal is served. You may need to do a stand-up comedy routine to attract their attention. That with this level of service, they are still in business and roaring tells a lot about their food quality. Ambience is also nothing to write home about.

Little Sichuan is located at Ellsworth in San Mateo.

This is the best place in the San Francisco Bay Area to have really really good North Indian / Pakistani food. It's a small place - dingy compared to any decent dinner place - which can sit approximately 30 people at most. So you will find there a quite a few people waiting at any reasonable time. Inside, it gives you and ambience of a lwoly food joint in India, add a TV blaring latest Hindi songs to that.

But the food is beyond expectation. One caution: if you are a Biryani aficionado don't try Kabana's Briyani. It's not upto the mark. It is probably at par any other places in the Bay area, but why take something in Kabana that you can get somewhere else?

So what to try? Start with their Combo kabab to taste what you like. But I always go with a Lamb Chop and Shikh Kababs. The Lamb Chops are just fabulous - no other way to describe it. Follow it up with an order of Shammi Kabab, may not be as good as the Lamb Chops but are still best in the business.

Don't forget to order the Fish Tandoori - a whole cathish tandoored with usual tandoori marination. It is sort of Kabana special. I have found only one other place in the bay area that makes Fish Tandoori - not a quarter as good as Kabana's.

On the main curry side, most of the times I take either Karahi Gosht (which in their latest menu called Karachi Gosht) or the Goat Curry. You won't find Goat Curry in their menu, but it's generally on Today's Special. Ask what's there on Today's Special. Generally stuff on that menu are good.

Honestly, visit Kabana - it's the best.

Kabana is located on University and San Pedro (I think).

Shalimar considered to be the best in this category in the Bay area. They have two locations in San Francisco and one in Fremont. They have a plan to open another one in Santa Clara. This probably will show the popularity of Shalimar's food. And that's a correct indication, in my opinion. Shalimar is definitely one of the best.

The first one in San Francisco is really a hole-in-the-wall joint in the tenderloin district. I haven't been to the other San Francisco location, but the Fremont location is more decent. However, don't expect a white-linen dinner in any of the Shalimars. By the way, they are on the web at sfshalimar.com.

Almost anything is excellent there, but meat preparations are more excellent than their veg stuff. And their Biryani is not at par their, say, Lamb Chop. Try Shalimar's Bhuna Ghost, you will not regret. On the Veg side, their Alu-Palak-Mathi is good too. On the kabab-tandoori side, their Lamb Chop is arguably the best, so is their Chicken Tikka

Shalimar is a must-stop for the Bay Area visitors.