Cementing their mettle as a culinary dynamic duo, Chef Srijith Gopinathan and business entrepreneur Ayesha Thapar are on their way to creating a mini empire of Bay Area modern Indian restaurants with Copra in San Francisco, Ettan in Palo Alto, Little Blue Door in Los Altos, and now their newest, Eylan in Menlo Park.
Eylan, which means “proclamation” or “public announcement” in Hindi, opened in January in the new retail-business development, The Villa Menlo Park.
As with all their restaurants, the interior is striking, though, a little less showy than some of their other ones, as I found when I was invited in as a guest of the restaurant last week.
Its look is punctuated with leafy vine-wrapped columns, lush trees, macrame hangings, black and white geometric floor tiles, curve-backed sand-colored chairs, and red-and-green fabric-wrapped chandeliers. Dimly lit at night, the dining room offers a nestled-in quality but can get noisy when it’s full.
The menu here is all about wood-fire cooking. Prep your taste buds with a Bombay Green ($19), an Indian take on the gin & tonic. While still every bit as refreshing as the classic, this one gets an even more citrusy depth from Jin Jiji Darjeeling Dry Gin, dry spices, tonic, and lime.
Everything on the menu is made for sharing family-style. Oysters ($21 for 6 or $42 for a dozen), which are rarely found on an Indian menu in the Bay Area, make a big impression under the “snacks” section. The sweet, briny bivalves get a knockout punch of tropical spice and fruitiness from fermented passion-fruit chili. The addition of sesame oil adds an unexpected Chinese influence, too.
I can never resist the fried chicken at any of their restaurants. The Eylan Crispy Chicken ($16) features juicy, boneless thigh meat with an airy, crunchy batter finished with a house chili crisp sauce that creates a slow burn.
Dungeness crab meat gets layered inside golden, griddled mutabar ($21) with fennel, poppy seeds, and mint. A warm curry-like sauce accompanies it for dipping into.
Shrimp ($21), marinated in lemongrass, turmeric, and anise-like ajwain get grilled over embers. It’s got a hit of heat that you can easily cool down with the yogurt dip that comes with it.
King trumpet mushrooms ($17) are smoky and meaty tasting. A mint-cilantro chutney adds a fresh, herby lift.
From the larger plates, the roasted Cornish game hen ($32) is a clever play on butter chicken. The usual tomatoes are swapped out for tomatillos instead in the creamy, buttery sauce, adding a fantastic tang that helps lighten the classic’s usual heavy richness. It comes with jalapeno naan, with the grassy tasting chilies proving a perfect complement.
Cod ($45) gets marinated in tamarind, turmeric and coconut milk, then cooked over the fire, leaving the skin crisp and the flesh silky. It comes on a bed of finely diced kohlrabi with coconut rice on the side.
Desserts are mainly the cool, the creamy, and the frozen — a perfect way to reset the palate. The Citrus Composition ($12) is especially refreshing with its cloud of lime creme enveloping a smooth, creamy Kesar mango ice cream, fresh citrus segments, and a grapefruit vinaigrette. Its taste is a little like an Indian version of key lime pie.
Frozen “Shrikhand” ($12) is a slab of frozen passion fruit yogurt that tastes especially nutty with cashew and pistachios.
If you are a fan of chai, you will love the Masala chai “Sundae” ($12), which tastes like your favorite milky, spiced tea but in ice cream form. Toasted ghee cake, whipped bourbon milk, a crumble flavored with masala spices, and tiny meringue kisses, as well as syrupy cherries complete this fun treat.
Before you depart, there is one last goodie — crisp, cardamom-pistachio butter cookies to enjoy.
With food like this, Eylan definitely proclaims itself loud and clear.
More: A Visit to Copra
And: A Visit to Ettan