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    Rara

    4.3 (202 reviews)
    Closed 11:00 am - 10:00 pm

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    RARA ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Casual
    Good for kids
    Dogs allowed

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    Recommended Reviews - Rara

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    Reviews With Photos

    Salmon Sizzler
    Manisha M.

    This is my first time at Rara. We found parking right at the front on a Sunday evening and they seated us immediately. Service was very quick and they have a great array of choices. We tried a Lamb Wrap which we felt was pretty mediocre, it was mostly just seasoned lamb with cabbage served with a side of thin fries and a dip very similar to thousand island sauce. I'm not sure that I recommend the wrap. We loved the Salmon Sizzler that we ordered. There was a decent sized filet grilled and served with a delicious sauce, on a sizzler plate with boiled veggies and Nepali Chow Mein! It was delicious!! The portion for this sizzler plate is quite large, more than enough for 1 person but maybe not enough for 2. I'd reorder the sizzler on a heartbeat if I'm back in the area!

    Veg Dal Bhat Khana Set (Thali)
    Kristine F.

    First time at a Nepalese sit down restaurant. My experience with this cuisine is limited to incredible chicken momos at food trucks! Alas, it was a Friday weeks before Easter and I couldn't have meat so we ordered a couple seafood dishes for protein. Easy to make a reservation on OpenTable and it was packed by 7pm. They came by several times to take our order but not everyone was present yet and the menu is extensive. Drinks: Mango Lassi Mohi (buttermilk churned yogurt) Eats: Coconut Shrimp Fried Veg Momos 10 piece Tawa Paneer Paratha Veg Chow Mein Noodles Veg Dal Bhat Khana set (Thali) Salmon Sizzler I originally ordered the salmon kebab which comes with yellow rice & veggies. Instead, we were served the salmon sizzler with noodles. I even asked the waitress if the salmon kebab comes with noodles. She said yes. They are the same price so I left it alone and the food was good. I enjoyed the sweet creamy sauce on the salmon and it was cooked well. Coconut shrimp was delicious, the sauce it arrived with may have been the same as the salmon sauce. I was surprised by how tasty the fried veg momos were. Shaped like potstickers and filled with lightly spiced minced veggies. I've had steamed veg momos from Inchin's Bamboo Garden before and those were honestly tasteless. These were great! The paneer paratha is sliced like pizza and filled with chopped paneer and I think a leafy green. Enjoyable. I dipped it in the shrimp/salmon sauce. The chow mein had spice that I wasn't expecting, probably from pepper and they served the same noodles with the salmon. Pretty good. The veg thali was interesting, had lots of flavors and textures including a sweet rice pudding, paneer curry, black eyed pea dal, lentil dal, pickled ginger, and crispy papad (dried lentil) roll on top of the basmati rice. [[HIGHLIGHT]]Great dinner with friends![[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] Street parking and garage parking available around the place.

    Sohrob H.

    This was a good experience to authentic Nepali cuisine. The food is outstanding, particularly the meat combo platter which was incredibly flavorful and succulent. Service was pretty quick and [[HIGHLIGHT]]the atmosphere is warm and inviting making it a great spot for a relaxing dinner.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]]

    Lamb Chop Sizzler
    Ankitha D.

    My friend made a reservation for us for 6 on a Saturday evening. There's a parking garage nearby so we walked over. At first they sat us for 4 people but my friend made it for 6 so they took us to a bigger table. We sat down and we were waiting for some friends who came like 10 mins later. the waiter didn't come to ask for drinks until about 30 minutes into us sitting down... so that was a little annoying. We ordered a mix of chai and We ordered mango lassi and chai, but they brought out all the chais and completely forgot the mango lassi. No one checked on our table, so I eventually had to get up and ask about it. When we finally ordered food, I got the thali, my husband got the lamb chop sizzler, and we ordered veg momos for the table. The veg momos were honestly not good -- very dry -- though the sauces were great. The entrées came out and I liked my thali, but they forgot the chicken curry that's supposed to come with it. Everyone else's food came out except one of our friends (who is vegetarian), which was surprising since that should've been quicker. When their dish finally arrived, they forgot the naan that was ordered with it. Overall, the service was extremely slow and disorganized. My appadum was also stale, which was disappointing. I personally liked the lamb chops (especially the noodles that came with them), but no one else at the table thought they were that good. [[HIGHLIGHT]]The ambiance is actually fine, but the service really took away from the experience.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] Maybe it's better when it's not busy, but based on this visit -- good luck with the service.

    Non-Veg Dal Bhat Khana Set with chicken curry
    Julie M.

    PLEASE ORDER THE CAULI 8848 IF YOU LIKE CAULIFLOWER! This takes the cake for my favorite cauliflower ever. It's fried cauliflower coated in a delicious curry-like sauce that looks spicy but is very minimally spicy. The outer texture is vaguely like orange chicken? Whatever it is, it's absolutely incredible. I'd come back just to get the cauliflower again. We also got the dal bhat khana set with chicken curry. I appreciated the variety, but I was less impressed by the flavors in the set. It was solid still and very filling, but the flavors weren't particularly strong nor diverse within the set. I'd probably try other dishes next time. I'd been here once before and I remember enjoying the chicken momos! Service was good! [[HIGHLIGHT]]The restaurant is culturally decorated and the chairs are pretty comfy too.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]]

    Cauli 8848
    Apoorva R.

    Good appetizers and himalayan/ nepali flavored food. The cauliflower app was amazing - must try!! Lassi was decent and the momo sizzler was okay. I wish the momos had some more flavor to the filling. Overall its a bit pricey but worth trying once!

    Chicken Nepali Jeera Pulao / Rice
    Farhana M.

    Mango lassi was very, very good. Would definitely order again Ordered the chicken pulao. The food isn't spicy, but there aren't any sauces on the table. [[HIGHLIGHT]]It was busy on a Wednesday night, there looked to be only one server but every table was full of people.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] It took a while to get the waiter's attention, and then for him to give me hot sauce for the food

    Hershey C.

    I was so excited to learn about this Nepalese restaurant that's been around for two years in Palo Alto. We had dinner last night to celebrate our anniversary, and it was simply amazing. [[HIGHLIGHT]]New flavors, new textures, good service, a cute venue, and easy parking.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] I would definitely come back and am super excited that there is a truly authentic Nepalese restaurant in the neighborhood.

    Cauli 8848
    Bhawna J.

    I went for lunch with a friend here. The service is really good. We ordered the momo sizzler , cauliflower appetizer and their special lassi. The momos were decent ( not that great) but the chowmein that came with the sizzler was really tasty. The lassi was good portion and delicious.

    Derek S.

    Came by for dinner the other night and it was a tasty experience. Made a reservation and our table was ready upon arrival. Parking is available in the parking garage next door or on the nearby surface streets. [[HIGHLIGHT]]Dining is indoors exclusively.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] Rara is a Nepalese restaurant that took over the formerly Michelin 2 star Baume. [[HIGHLIGHT]]The interior of the restaurant is quite pedestrian.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] Started off with the cauliflower that the waiter recommended and it was a touch spicy. Well put together. Moved on to the mushroom small plate and it came with a side of crispy rice along with a dipping sauce. Flavors were bold and a touch spicy. The momos were phenomenal. We did a mix of chicken and water buffalo and they were both tasty. They were a Nepalese version of xlb with a dough wrapper and soup inside. Opted for the goat small plate as a main and it was also decent. The goat was well done and tasted more like goat jerky. Staff came around throughout the evening to check up on us.

    Cal C.

    Awesome Nepalese restaurant and friendly staff. This is the first time we tried Nepalese cousins and enjoyed very much. If you like gingers you will like this place. I feel every dish has tons of gingers. Their menu has changed so don't rely on the menu you see on the website.

    Gorkhali Lamb Shank
    Yikai L.

    Came here in a really large group for a Thursday business dinner. We ordered a whole bunch of food and drinks. The menu has a nice variety of vegie and non-vegie options. Plenty of street parking nearby. Service was wonderful. I can't tell however if they were intentionally pacing serving the food or if there were too many orders, but I felt food came pretty slowly. Onto the food, I can tell the food is pretty authentic, but several items were too heavy for me. For instance, the potato was really salty, almost bitter. The lamb shank was not the most tender I've had, but decently flavorful. The cauliflower appetizer was pretty good. Momos are also pretty heavily flavored, I couldn't really taste the chicken to be honest.

    Chicken thali
    Jason X.

    Good service and an expansive menu. We got the chicken and vegetarian thali sets. I thought it was a 3 but my wife loved it so im bumping it up to a 4. I liked the variety, which even included a bit of lightly sweetened rice pudding. The chicken was very tender, but some of the other dishes were quite salty (like the black eyed peas) so I mixed in the mound of rice they give you to help balance things out.

    Momo Sizzler

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    Ask the Community - Rara

    Hi - allergic to dairy here. Do your dishes use dairy (milk/butter)? Eggs is ok but curious otherwise?

    Hi Crystal, we are so sorry for the late response. Some of our dishes use milk/butter. However, we have a lot of dishes that are vegan and do not have any milk products in them. Please let us know if you have any additional questions. Thank you!

    What business was in this location before this one?

    Hi Marjorie, there was the Bistronomie Baumé before Rara.

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    Ettan

    Ettan

    4.1
    (1.6k reviews)
    1.6 mi
    $$$

    5/5 for food, service and ambiance! We celebrated a friends milestone birthday and everything…read moreworked perfectly. The food and drinks are made with fresh ingredients. The dishes have a twist to it. The servers are so attentive and helped with our guest who had allergies as well. The decor is out of this world! So classy and gives you a glimpse of India with the artwork displays - whether it's a Vespa Scooter or a hand cart at the entrance. Go there for your milestone celebrations for a multi course meal or cocktail and appetizers. They have sister restaurants in Menlo Park called Eylan and Copra in SF city - all of them are incredible!

    We planned to go here for our anniversary celebration. We booked a table for lunch and although…read moremany tables were empty, we were given a small table for 2 near the far wall. The table was pretty small and constantly required moving dishes to adjust space. Now coming to the food: 1. Ananas pani puri: Was ok and had little taste of pineapple(ananas). 2. Kofta: was good, very soft and flavorful gravy. Disappointing that the kofta seemed to be made of potatoes (not vegetables) 3. Vegetable biryani: was served with gravy(sad that it was same as kofta gravy!!) and raita(yogurt). Biryani itself was good, topped with fried onions. 4. Naan: This was the best dish, surprisingly! Very soft and fluffy. It paired well with the gravy. The server did not give us a menu of accompaniments to choose from. Even upon asking what would go well with the kofta, we were recited a short list of garlic naan. So we went with that. Although the ambience is pretty, the tables are so closely spaced that we could hear conversations happening on both the tables next to ours. The guests on the adjacent tables had to excuse themselves to be able to get off their tables and move in or out (once almost toppling my bag kept next to me!). Underwhelming considering the hype and popularity!

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    Ettan - Downtown Palo Alto, CA
    Ettan - Downtown Palo Alto, CA
    Ghee Roasted Superior Farms Lamb Chops ($54)
    Ghee Roasted Superior Farms Lamb Chops ($54)
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    Cauliflower ($16)
    Namaste Nepal Food Truck

    Namaste Nepal Food Truck

    4.2
    (325 reviews)
    4.1 mi
    $$

    Very chill and quiet in this area of the neighborhood. I just needed a quick bite to eat within…read morewalking distance. I originally wanted tacos (which was unavailable) but noticed this food truck instead. For reference, I've never tried Nepalese/Indo-Chinese food, so I figured I would give it a shot. The guy running the food truck is soft-spoken but was able to provide suggestions. When I asked what was popular, he told me that people try the dumplings, so I ordered one (1), which come in a set of 8. Each one is about the size of two quarters in diameter (for scale). It comes with sauces on the spicy side. I figured that alone wasn't enough to alleviate my hunger pangs, so I ordered the Paneer Chow Mein and Mango Lassi, too. My order came out after 15 minutes. In the meantime, I waited under the tent that was stationed with a dining table next to the truck. Paneer Chow Mein - 6/10. Tastes like your average standard Chow Mein. I didn't know what paneer was, but after a quick Google search, it's cheese with the look, texture and taste of tofu. I ate enough to send me into a food coma. The guy packed plenty into the container (and I barely made a dent), so I rated it higher. Chicken Momo (Dumplings) - 7/10. What you'd expect of a chinese steamed dumpling but with a slight twist. I don't have a diverse culinary palate, but there was a hint of a curry(esque) flavor in the filling. Delicious with the sauces. Mango Lassi - 1000000/10. I am a sweet tooth and woah....I absolutely love this drink. It is an Indian mango yogurt drink that is not too thick or sickly sweet. It has a thick consistency and was perfect to have during the summer as a dessert. It was about $4 for 12oz but I had to order another one for the road because it is exactly what I needed. Overall, I would stop by again if I needed something to curb my empty stomach.

    It's been years since I have been here, but wanted to share the latest experience of a to go order,…read moremy tolerance for the spice has definately gone down as I can't do the spicy even level 1 is too much, but the momos are delicious. Overall this place is goo d

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    Namaste Nepal Food Truck
    Egg fried rice and veg chowmein
    Egg fried rice and veg chowmein
    Paneer fried rice

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    Paneer fried rice
    Amber India

    Amber India

    3.6
    (581 reviews)
    2.9 mi
    $$
    Locally owned & operated
    Outdoor seating

    The food was delicious. We got the Manchurian to start, then two paneers and garlic naan and butter…read morenaan. Everything was yummy and the portions were good too. It was a little expensive though. The service was great here. It wasn't crowded on a Sunday evening. The ambiance is nice inside although it's a little cold.

    We got the unlimited option which allowed us to try many different dishes including:…read more- the Peshawar Chicken Tikka 6.5/10 - Lamb Seekh Kabob 7/10 - Cauliflower Bezule 9.5/10 - Chicken tandoori 9/10 - veggie kabob 6/10 - Fish curry 9.5/10 - Palak paneer 8/10 - Miloni Takari 7/10 (spicy!) - Dal bukhara 8/10 - Naan 8/10 - Gulab Jamun 6.5/10 - Mango lassi 9/10 They managed to seat our very large group. Service was good at first but then it took a very long time between the appetizers and mains to come out. The servers also did not check on us much between that time. I liked the food and the variety. I would get everything I rated an 8 or above again. The menu they gave us said we could pick any dessert but the didn't do that and instead just gave everyone Gulab Jamun. Technically we could have had unlimited plates and ordered more of all the other food but the servers didn't come back to ask if we would like that. It was ok though because the amount of food that they brought out was plenty for our group and I appreciated that they brought out boxes for us to take back leftovers.

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    Amber India
    Dining room
    Dining room
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    Tandoori Chicken

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