The counter at Build Pizza in the Student Union began offering Indian cuisine instead of Italian pizza slices at the beginning of October as Desi Contemporary Indian Casual fired up its burners for on-campus patrons.
In an email sent on October 3, Spartan Eats announced the grand opening of the visiting restaurant, offering a “fresh twist” on Desi flavors.
The restaurant gave itself the name “Desi,” a native moniker denoting people and cultural exports from the Indian subcontinent.
As a fledgling enjoyer of Indian food after arriving in the Bay Area, I was excited at the prospect of this new and accessible option available on the San José State campus.
Though the grand opening announcement described it as a “Bay Area favorite,” the food I was served was far from my favorite.
The menu at the Student Union restaurant encompasses some northern and western Indian cuisines alongside original Desi Contemporary Indian Casual creations such as “Desi Pepper Chicken Curry” and “Kulcha Chalupa Taco.”
Before diving into the puzzling yet intriguing Mexican-Indian fusion somehow claiming to be both a chalupa and a taco, I elected to order something safe and easy for my first visit – butter chicken.
In what was supposed to be an afternoon of enjoying one of my comfort foods, I instead was met with a bland curry chicken that was one-upped in quality by the readymade meal version found at the Costco deli.
The saucy tandoori bites provided vague tomato and garlic notes but failed to deliver on any of its other marinated flavors and spices.
Using the naan as a vehicle for the curry offered the best experience, but it wasn’t enough to conceal the mediocre execution of the Punjabi staple.
The kachumber salad, a small cup of chopped cucumber and tomato salad topped with lemon juice, was a bright and refreshing accompaniment to the main course and unfortunately, was the only highlight of my first meal.
The eatery’s “meal plates” included a serving of curry with saffron rice and kachumber, priced on the menu at $12. For a meal, side and drink, be prepared to spend at least $20.
My next visit encompassed the best and worst experiences in exploring the tastes of Desi Contemporary Indian Casual.
I chased trying something new with the promise of a familiar classic when I ordered a half shahi paneer and half sarson ka saag paneer meal plate followed by a hot “Desi Chai.”
The shahi curry with its cashews, yogurt and mellow spices was served in the traditional “Mughlai” style without tomato.
It was my first time eating paneer and the shahi imparted an enjoyable nutty, aromatic and creamy flavor profile to the unaged and unmelting cheese cubes.
The spicier and more vegetal, spinach-based sarson ka saag was not as fitting to my tastes with its use of mustard greens but seemed authentic to the traditional balance of flavors.
However, the enjoyment didn’t go on for too long before another utter disappointment.
The pop-up’s rendition of a chai should be appropriately named “Desi $4 Cup of Hot Water” on the menu with its only sipping notes being unpleasant chalky bitterness.
I attempted to finish the weakest, most flavorless and terribly unsweet chai I’ve ever experienced to no avail. I couldn’t struggle through it, which is a feat achieved by only a handful of willingly purchased food and drinks in my lifetime.
After the botched execution of two Indian food fundamentals, I did not have high hopes for the restaurant’s more experimental options.
However, I steeled myself to face the final boss, the “Kulcha Chalupa Taco.”
The mélange of Mexican and Indian fare is an interesting fusion concept, but the actual product felt like a last-minute culinary afterthought hastily thrown onto the plate rather than a substantive integration of ideas.
The “chalupa taco” was a mini naan filled with spiced chickpeas and topped with green chutney, kachumber and cilantro.
There was an option to fill the creation with butter chicken, and opting to avoid that disappointment again, I chose the pindi chole which led to mediocre results anyway.
The seasonings and ingredients in the bready shell were palatable but incohesive, with its structural integrity lacking.
In the time it had taken me to eat my first Kulcha Chalupa Taco and vegetable samosa, the second street snack was soggy and falling apart.
Speaking of the samosa, the triangular pastry was by far my favorite side.
The crunchy exterior combined with the satisfying spicy potato filling provided a comforting respite amidst the letdowns throughout the rest of the menu.
Topping off my final meal from the pop-up, I drank a mango lassi that tasted less than fresh and was a bit too yogurty while I digested my overall dissatisfaction.
Desi Contemporary Indian Casual will be in the Student Union for a limited time, according to the initial Spartan Eats announcement, but I don’t see myself rushing to try any more of its second-rate offerings before it leaves.
