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    Desi Express

    4.2 (104 reviews)
    Closed • 11:00 am - 8:00 pm
    Updated 3 months ago

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    DESI EXPRESS ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Outdoor seating
    Good for groups

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    Recommended Reviews - Desi Express

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    Inside seating
    Chandrika B.

    Its a new indian chaat/ cafe corner opened within SoFa market. Hard to find street parking here. They do have indoor and patio seating. In $14, we got: - veg pizza sandwich 3/5 - it was three slices of bread which was good. Good stuffing. I wish they offered hot sauce. - masala chai 2/5 - they displayed a wide variety of chais in menu but all of them were out of stock and only masala chai was available. It was ok but nothing i would order again. Im hoping other menu items are better. Will try something else next time. I hated the fact that it was self ordering kiosk only while the staff was sitting there and watching tv shows. Seemed impersonal for an indian place or indian cafe

    Chicken Tikka Masala and garlic naan
    Jacqueline D.

    This is located in the SoFa foodhall, on the right side at the end. You can order via in person or kiosk. My 8 oz chicken tikka masala and garlic naan came out to be less than $10, what a deal! The food came out piping hot , naan was definitely made fresh. The paneer masala and mango lassi are calling my name for the next visit .

    Renee L.

    I ordered a chicken tikka (8 oz) and garlic naan. The flavor was there but the chicken seemed processed and not fresh. The garlic naan had a nice garlic flavor. Could be that I didn't quite order the best item on their menu. Ordering was on a kiosk and this is located within a food court.

    Chicken tikka masala bowl
    Julianne R.

    This is located in a food hall, where most of the vendors take orders through a self-serve kiosk. I didn't get any smiles from the person who handed me my food which would have been appreciated. The chicken tikka masala bowl cost $18 (including tip). I will say the flavor is quite delicious, but the rice wasn't the best quality and there was something off about the chicken texture.

    Menu on the displays does not have details on what's in the dish
    Anagha J.

    Not one dish was tasty. They used the same potato stuffing for puff and sandwich. The tea was really the worst I have had in the Bay Area. Items tried: 1. maharaja sandwich 3/10 2. Veg puff (with no veggies but only onion potato masala) 2/10 3. Ginger Tea 0/10 Edit: adding the following to answer the rude response from the owner: Yelp is a platform to give honest feedback. I gave the feedback based on my experience, but it looks like you only yearn for positive feedback. Negative feedback is an opportunity to improve, but looks like you don't like constructive feedback. 1. Your menu displayed on the monitors does not have description for veg puff (photo attached) or maharaja sandwich 2. Aloo puff is not the same as veg puff. A standard veg puff has aloo usually with carrots and peas. Aloo in a puff is spiced different than aloo masala in a sandwich. 3. The chai was so over steeped, it was bitter. I have had and liked good sandwiches and tea from other place to whom I have given 5 starts. I usually do not give poor reviews and certainly not 1 star but unfortunately your food fell really short on taste.

    Chaats
    Bindi S.

    Amazing desi version of sandwiches and chaats. My husband and I got the paneer tikka sandwich and the jumbo Bombay sandwich. They both tasted anazing-just like back in Mumbai but were a bit small for the price.The jumbo Bombay sandwich was a bit fluff and could have done with more stuffing. I tried my friends samosa chaat and dahi papdi chaat and they tasted great. Good value for money for the chaats and I'm getting that next time.

    Our Special 5 Paani Golgappe
    Manika N.

    The gol guppe were very good! I'd say the water was the yummy part, however the masala that goes into the gol guppet can use some more spice. It felt a little bland. The chicken tikka rice bowl was really delicious and the flavour was spot on. The pav bhaji was okay as compared to the other places here in the southbay. It lacked the basic flavor of pav bhaji masala. The rose tres leches was good, it was a little too sweet after a couple of bites so I'd recommend sharing it between atleast two people! The service was fairly quick and it is inside the SoFa market so the ambiance is more like a foodcourt. Overall, I'd say it is a nice place for some indian snack items. I will definitely come back for the golgappe and try some chaats and sandwhiches next time!

    Paneer combo plate w/ a side of samosas.
    Joselyn M.

    Food was sooo good. Flavors on point, so many diff flavors from toppings to sauces to the main dish. So happy and satisfied that I came here today. Service was ok. Once they helped me after awhile, they were nice and friendly. Not sure if they thought I wasn't ready or something, but then again you order through a kiosk. Guess it just took longer than what I expected to prepare during my 30. Took nearly half the time, so I only had 15mins to eat and then leave. Luckily I was just working at the Convention Center, so it wasn't too bad. Ambiance was cute. Great place to dine in, but the outside was even better!! It was a perfect day for it. With that said, I'll def be back and I highly recommend it.

    Dahi Sev Puri
    Keerthi D.

    Desi Express is a vendor in the SoFA market in downtown San Jose. Parking is limited, they take Apple Pay, and you can order in line, in store via kiosk or UberEats. There's plenty of place to sit in the food court if you choose, but we ordered takeout. The Dahi Puri Sev is flavorful and well balanced - it held well for takeout. The prices are also good for the quantity of food as well. I'd recommend this place if you're looking for an inexpensive Indian street food meal.

    Aloo Tikki Sandwich
    Evelyn T.

    For ~$15, you can get the following: - Aloo Tikki Sandwich ($9.99) - Chips (comes with sandwich) - Mango Lassi ($3.99) Given most food and drink combos at other restaurants would be $20, this DEFINITELY is worth your money for the quality and quantity of food. I came with a friend on Tuesday 4 PM, where it wasn't busy. Our food came out in five minutes, and we delightfully chomped away at our meal. The sandwiches are pressed, where your teeth will dive right into the crispy texture of the bread. The sandwich was filled to the brim with chutney, potatoes, red onion, tomato, and some other fillings that made it such a hearty meal! A sandwich may not seem filling, but do not underestimate how the bursts of flavors and various textures will fill your mouth. The mango lassi was a really fair size! It was creamy, rich, fruity, with a slight tang of sour. I personally am not a fan of sweet drinks, but this was perfectly refreshing to me! I finished it in minutes. Overall, my experience here is so pleasant! I would surely come by again to try their other options, as there's much to select from!

    Latest menu Jan 2023
    Anna B.

    I was super excited seeing the menu and picked a variety of sandwiches to try on a cold rainy evening. The order arrived quickly. Each sandwich came with a mini bag of lays potato chips! The bread and the toast on the sandwiches was really impressive and delicious. However the filling left a lot to be desired. Pizza sandwich - the paneer and veggies were cut too chunky, oregano was too much, sauce was too mild and the cheese was merely sliced as opposed to being grated. Grating the cheese makes the cheese hold the sandwich together, but here it kept falling apart with each bite. Flavor was 2/5, tasted nothing like a pizza. Schezwan sandwich - tasted nothing like schezwan. The veggies were too chunky and sloppy cut, they kept falling out and the slippery Mayo made it so hard to keep things in place. But I still liked the peppers and the overall Mayo sandwich vibe. Just don't call it schezwan. Mumbai sandwich - had all the right components but giant thick chunks of cucumber and bland potato. Really good green chutney. Overall I don't know. Not the best Indian sandwich, I'll not crave it or remember it. I will be back though, to try some of the chaats.

    Dahi Bhalla Papdi Chaat
    Pratima M.

    A tasty chaat spot tucked into the back of SoFa Market! I stopped by with some friends for a Sunday lunch and the food came out super quickly. The servers were really sweet and brought the food to our table. I got a Dahi Bhalla Chaat and it was really solid! The lentil patty was unique and the dahi was SO good. There are obviously a lot of chaat options in the Bay Area, but this one was pretty decent despite looking unassuming. The portion sizes were large and filling, and my friends got the sandwiches which looked delicious too. I would definitely come back if I was in the area!

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    6 months ago

    Best customer service and the food is amazing. So many veggie options and drinks. Dev was soooooooo good

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    Ritika D.

    Thanks for visiting Amanda! We hope to see you again.

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    Thank you for trying our food Sunil. We hope to see you again.

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    Desi Express Reviews in Other Languages

    Ask the Community - Desi Express

    How does the catering for a party work? If we order chaats like bhel, papdi chat and pani puri. We wanted something like a stalls in our backyard.…

    Hey Suchitra, we do accommodate the chaats as catering items. And are you looking for live catering for pani puri?

    Can these dishes be made without onion and garlic?

    My grandma follows a Jain diet which includes not eating onions and garlic. We just ordered one item for her (Dahi puri or sev puri) and they were able to accommodate her.

    Do you have Vegan options?

    Yes we can always make vegan items as per your request

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    Lacàphê - Banana matcha

    Lacàphê

    4.3(1k reviews)
    1.6 mi•Roberts-Walnut Woods, East San Jose
    •$$

    I came here one weekday morning for their avocado latte and their eggspresso hanoi. It's decently…read morebusy but drinks came out pretty soon after ordering. I have never had their avocado latte before, but got it 50% sweet, less ice.The avocado added a nice creaminess in it with a subtle hint of avocado that wasn't overpowering for the drink. Would get again. For the eggspresso hanoi, honestly this is what I get almost every time I come here. Always get the 50% sweetness with less ice. Flavors are always the same when I get this drink which is nice.

    ordered the lychee fruit tea, egg hanoi coffee, and coco mango smoothie…read more 1.) ordered online and the tracking bar did not work. It was just left at "order confirmed" and I walked in at the time it said it word be ready expecting them to not have started due to the tracker and they pulled from fridge when I arrived. 2.) all 3 drinks tasted watered down. Not sure how early they made these. 3.) lychee fruit tea was flavorless. Absolutely no lychee flavored and taste like sugar when I ordered 0%. Paid a $1 for aloe Vera and was pretty skimpy on it. 4.) coco mango is literally blended coco milk and ice and mango syrup left at the bottom. Just so artificial. 5.) egg coffee was ok, but again watered down. Would not order online again since their tracking bar didn't work or workers chose not to update. The cups/serving was pretty big, so if you care about quantity vs quality- you'll enjoy this place.

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    Lacàphê - Lotus Milk Tea

    Lotus Milk Tea

    Lacàphê - Ube matcha, strawberry matcha, banana matcha

    Ube matcha, strawberry matcha, banana matcha

    Lacàphê - MUỐI*  Salted phin-dripped milk coffee, cloud cream

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    MUỐI* Salted phin-dripped milk coffee, cloud cream

    The Orange Tabby

    The Orange Tabby

    4.6(118 reviews)
    4.0 mi•Fox-Ridder Park, North Valley
    •$

    Drinks are very delicious and I love the eco-friendly mission. I brought my own re-usable cup and…read morewas able to get a discount. I wish more stores in the bay would do this. It makes it super worth the price too. Because I felt I was getting a higher quality drink for the same place as elsewhere (about 8$ with taxes) For location, it's inside of a bigger store, so don't get confused. Also if you're in a rush, they make the drinks per order and the matcha takes a while. You'll generally have to wait 10-15 minutes, so not great for a quick lunch stop during your break or something like that (that's when I initially went ). But I would definitely return when I have the time.

    Second visit to Orange Tabby, and the drinks are still the reason I'd come back. They're strong in…read morethe best way: you can actually taste the tea or matcha, and the citrus comes through bright and fruity. So far I've tried the yuzu, mango cloud, passion fruit, and hojicha brown sugar, and there wasn't a miss among them. Plenty of flexibility on sugar and ice levels too. The setting is a nice bonus. It shares a space with a small market, another café, and a food stall, so there's plenty to eat and browse. It's tucked in the back of the complex, which keeps it quiet and low-traffic, and there's plenty of seating. Parking is easy too, with a lot right there. The reason this isn't five stars is the cup system and how my return was handled. If you're staying in, you can borrow their cups for free, but for to-go you need to bring your own vessel or pay a $2 deposit on one of their jars, refunded when you return it. I get the idea, and it's nice for the planet, but in practice it's a hassle. When I brought my jar back on this visit, the staff member inspected every inch of it, then discussed it with a coworker right in front of me, who then said something along the lines of "we can't sell that, but it's okay, just take it." It wasn't said to me directly, but I was standing right there, and it felt uncomfortable. I'd run the jar through the dishwasher, nothing unusual, and friends who came in afterward returned theirs the same way with no issue at all. They also didn't apply the discount for bringing my own vessel until I asked. Between the pushback on the return and having to ask for the discount, it was a frustrating experience. Honestly, I'd rather a café just use compostable paper cups. Great drinks, but I'm on the fence about coming back.

    Photos
    The Orange Tabby - Interior

    Interior

    The Orange Tabby - Strawberry Matchas

    Strawberry Matchas

    The Orange Tabby - Strawberry matcha, matcha latte with einspanner

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    Strawberry matcha, matcha latte with einspanner

    Chromatic Coffee - Mushroom & Havarti Savory Pie

    Chromatic Coffee

    4.3(483 reviews)
    1.4 mi•Sunol-Midtown, Downtown
    •$

    Really lovely little coffee shop that leans into that industrial warehouse vibe in the best way…read more The coffee was great--I ended up trying both on-tap cold brews on the day we went because I didn't realize that buying a bag of whole bean coffee came with a free coffee drink. With some coffees a second cup will give me a stomach ache (especially since I drink my cold brews black and bitter like my soul), but I had no problems with their cold brews! I also got the vegan stonefruit scone (baked by Sweet Dragon) and while a little on the dry side (common with scones), paired extremely well with the coffee and had good flavor. Husband got a cappuccino and a strawberry mini pie and was extremely pleased with his order. The service is friendly, but some things may have been new on the day we went. They almost forgot my cold brew until we asked at the counter, as well as stating that they didn't have anything to heat up my husband's strawberry pie (which seems odd, since a little toaster oven seems like a simple fix for that), but apparently it was fantastic at room temperature anyway. Seating was absolutely full when we got there and we were lucky to snag a table as another couple left, so it seems like a popular Saturday morning spot. Several folks were working on laptops, and it seems like a kid-friendly place. The decor is a clean and modern/trendy industrial style, which works well for the space, and the windows provide nice daylight. Overall, a good coffee shop and I am really happy to see vegan pastry options! My husband is getting into pinball, which was part of the motivation to come out and try Chromatic, so I am sure we'll be back again next time he wants to hit up Slingshot (in the same building), and I look forward to the coffee and treats!

    Chromatic Coffee has convenient parking, though the space itself had a bit of a grunge, industrial…read morelook during my visit, likely made more apparent by ongoing construction nearby. The seating area is quite limited for the large crowd it attracts, making the atmosphere inside feel a bit chaotic at peak times. Fortunately, the baristas are super polite and work fast, keeping the long lines moving efficiently. The coffee menu and the retail bean selection are both impressive. I decided to try a dulce de leche coffee. While I was expecting a strong caramel profile of dulce de leche, the flavor turned out to be fairly subtle rather than prominent. It added a significant sweetness, but without knowing the order beforehand, identifying the exact flavor would have been tough. That said, the coffee itself was still refreshing The high quality of the coffee bean really shone through, delivering a rich aroma and the ideal caffeine kick for a breezy morning. Great coffee beans and fast service make it worth dropping in, even if the indoor seating situation is a bit tight.

    Photos
    Chromatic Coffee - Found the entrance

    Found the entrance

    Chromatic Coffee - Mango raspberry pastry

    Mango raspberry pastry

    Chromatic Coffee - Entrance

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    Entrance

    Desi Express - indpak - Updated October 2026

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