Kat's 9 Lives

Since I was still stuck in SF by myself, I decided to try Mehfil because I knew they delivered as well. They were highly rated for Indian food so I had been interested in giving them a try. I like that they have an interactive menu online where you can order everything. One thing that really concerned me was that they asked for a ton of detailed information that shouldn't even be necessary. At first I was a little worried that they were trying to steal my credit card number since my Discover card was stolen a month before. Soon after I placed my order, they called me to tell me that they ran out of the Gulab Jamun and I was really sad that I didn't get to try it out. The delivery did take a really long time to arrive and again... they never even give you a time range on how long it takes for the delivery.
I had decided to try the Lamb-Do-Piyaza because it said that Do-piyaza means two onions and that it would be Lamb cubes cooked with Onions, Raw Mangoes, Ginger, and Garlic. Little did I know that this was a curry based dish. I was hoping for a well-seasoned grilled meat dish. It was flavorful but I could not taste anything to do with mangoes. This was really just Mehhhhhhh for me. It was not special that I would ever want to have again, but not bad enough that I wouldn't give this place another try. Every dish comes with Basmati Rice, which was nicely colored.
Being greedy as always, I ordered the Paneer Pakora as an appetizer. It's home-made Cottage Cheese marinated in Chickpea Batter, Spices, and Herbs. How can you go wrong with fried cheese? That was my thought but this was not good. I really like paneer but they just didn't do it right. Maybe it needed to be thick cubes? The paneer was just flat and square with a rubbery texture. They do pack a variety of sauces for you to dip them, but they were only just alright too.
I ordered a Mango Lassi and Mango Juice as well. It's my habit to order Mango Lassis wherever I go. They must not use real mangoes for their Lassi because it just tasted like the mango juice I ordered. I should have just gotten the mango juice, L'ooza, sold at Whole Foods. Still, the drinks were good but I wished they used real mangoes.
For dessert they only had the Rabri. It's cooked by boiling Milk for about 3 to 4 hours. When the milk gets thick add Sugar, Saffron, Honey and Pine Water. Then boil again and served cold. I really really liked this. The amount they give is really really really really REALLY small! I felt a little jipped for $3 because it was stored in a glorified sauce container. Was there even 2 ounces of dessert in that tiny cup? Good thing for them that it was very tasty or I would never want to try them again.
Mehfil
600 Folsom Street
San Francisco, CA 94107
(415) 974-5510