Wow! This might be the best biryani in the Bay! I ordered online and unfortunately the location is in a warehouse type area of San Jose. It is very unassuming, but definitely worth the random location. I tried the Paneer 65 and Gongura Kaju biryanis. Both kinds of biryani were new for me. I definitely preferred the gongura kaju and it was absolutely fantastic. It was perfectly spiced and so so so very flavorful. Paneer 65 was also good, but I'm not very used to fried pieces in biryani. Regardless the flavors were fantastic and portion was great. I would absolutely come back, my new favorite! read more

I just picked up my Goat Dum Biryani 11/14/25 -- this is beyond imagination in a disgusting way. The whole rice / biryani stinks and not even a single piece in the entire biryani was edible beyond the stink itself. This is a Pulav more than a biryani and a worst one at that!! All this while I never had a bad experience with biryanis @ Ustaads at least not on the weekends-- but this is bad! If this is a one off situation-- it will take me a while to go back (if I ever decide to smell stink like this) read more

Ustaad's Biryani - Mutton Dum Biryani - Indian Near Me - San Jose, California

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We got take out from here during our recent get together with friends. Since we were a large group we got three varieties of biryani to share- chicken biryani, ghee roast paneer keema biryani and mutton biryani. They provided free appetizer and gulab jamun as we got the family size orders. The biryani also came with the usual side dishes- some kind of salan and raita. The chicken dum biryani was relatively mild albeit very flavorful. It did have an excess of a single spice which I was unable to place my finger on. The bottom of the dish was soaked in excess fat as well. The salan was extremely thin, almost the consistency of water. The ghee roast biryani with paneer had the redolent flavor of rich ghee. They didn't skimp on the ghee at all. It did feel very heavy after a few spoonfuls though. Flavors were again mild similar to the chicken biryani. The paneer biryani came with a paneer appetizer while the mutton and chicken dum biryani came with chicken appetizer. It didn't look like they used artificial color in the appetizers which was good. The smells were tantalizing(reminded me of the iconic Apollo fish appetizer) and both the appetizers were delicious though the paneer appetizer had deep fried pieces of paneer with a very thick batter that fell apart pretty badly. In a nutshell, relatively decent biryani but nothing to knock the socks off. read more

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This review is for mutton dum biryani that is available only Fri through Sunday. Been in the bay for over 15 years and tasted every popular place in south bay and east bay, I would say this is the truly authentic dum biryani I ever had. They use fresh goat meat, hence succulent with perfect amount of spices. As you open the box you get a smell of cloves and cardamom. The salan and raita is on the thinner side which is how it should be. You have option to order double masala which makes it on the spicier side. From now onwards this would be my go to place for dum Biryani. One improvement they can do is use bigger box. As you take it in the plate it creates a mess. read more

Ustaad's Biryani - Mutton Dum Biryani - Indian Near Me - San Jose, California

On the menu it was written that it would be "very mild" but was actually spicy Too much cinnamon. Every bite I have remove the cinnamon before chewing into it They could make it better Service was good read more

Ustaad's Biryani - Malai Paneer Biryani - Indian Near Me - San Jose, California

Biryani tasted really good. It had right kind of spices and meat was tender. I ordered food from yelp and they charged a dollar for using their platform to order food. Not bad! read more

IF you get meat with masala, topped off with plain rice, that's not a biryani - that's a scam looking for a victim. Ustaad's "biryani" is the typical scam of most biryani places in the Bay Area - a quick-fix, over spiced with cinnamon, chilly powder and clove masala on the meat, no fried onions (a basic step), and plain white rice on the top (ludicrous). It doesn't matter than the portion is big, who wants a big bowl of useless stuff that you will throw away (I had to trash my order as it was un-salvageable even with yoghurt). There are some generous 5 star reviews - they are probably fake (yes, it's possible to pay for fake reviews) or by people who know nothing about a biryani. Gulab jamuns from a can were the free gift ... there's your dash of humor for those who love a good deal. read more

Very nice biryani both veg and non-veg. Portion size if equally good and decently spiced. Their mixed meat biryani is one of a kind and very popular with our co-workers Would recommend any day for take out read more

Biryani was too spicy and not so great for my palate. Service was quick for to go orders.

I ordered mutton biryani and ghee roast chicken biryani along with chicken 65 They come with good portions . The mutton biryani flavors was pretty good and would say feels like home cooked instead of restaurant style which was a positive for me :) (didn't have extra food coloring) Ghee roast chicken biryani (don't mistake this for the Indian coastal ghee roast ) . It was alright Chicken 65 was a miss for me compared to other places but not bad It's a Food truck , there was ample parking around and food pickup experience was pretty seamless and didn't have to wait too long Staff was polite and prompt to hand over food . read more

I ordered the ghee roast paneer keema biryani family pack, and it had way too many cinnamon sticks in every bite--definitely overkill. I also tried the complimentary paneer 65, which had a nice flavor, but the paneer was raw and chewy. The biryani had a good flavor overall, but it didn't taste very authentic to me. Service was a bit slow; we waited about 15 minutes even though no one else was in line, but I don't mind waiting for fresh food. Lastly, they didn't honor the free biryani Yelp check-in offer, which was a bit disappointing. There are few tables near the food truck which are good enough for sitting down and having a meal. read more

Ustaad's Biryani - Store didn't honor this offer. - Indian Near Me - San Jose, California

Wholesome food. The biriyani portions were generous. I would recommend this place. Its a must try. read more

We ordered two biryanis for takeout. Each spoon we ate had some solid spice like cinnamon, red chili or cloves in it, which was an overpowering taste when we started chewing. The food was extremely spicy, to the point where my friend started choking and coughing with the heat. The small raita with each biryani was watery, and tasted sweet. Really bad experience, basically uneatable food. read more

Tried Paneer Biryani, tasted great but had a stomach upset next day. Dasher sent a picture of their kitchen, what is Synthetic motor oil cans doing in their kitchen? See the pic read more

Ustaad's Biryani - Kitchen. What is synthetic motor oil doing there ? - Indian Near Me - San Jose, California

DO NOT ORDER HERE Ordered on Grubhub and the owner kept telling me to wait for him to get his ingredients and made me wait over an hour just for him to tell me he can't make it. I tried getting a refund by canceling but he marked the order as ready to steal my money. Save yourself the time and energy and don't do business with this place. Worst experience ever. read more

Ordered Chicken Lollipop and Mutton Dum Biryani 1. Chicken Lollipop was over fried and the batter was thick. It's a no for me. 2. Mutton Dum Biryani - Mutton pieces were slightly hard and looked dark/burnt, biryani was dry. It felt like Pulao instead of Biryani. It needs to be little juicy and have a little bit of masala. Salan was not great. Raita was good. Overall the Biryani was flavorful. So I'll try their other Biryani's. read more

Best bang for your buck in the Bay Area! The Chicken biryani offer authentic flavors with unbeatable quality at a great price definitely a go-to spot. read more

The best Biriyani in the Bay Area period. They are friendly, courteous and have a very healthy, pure Ghee based Biriyanis and very tasty appetizers. They are a food truck in a special food truck lot, so nothing much to expect in terms of seating, but there is a shade area to enjoy your lunch or dinner. Must try spot for anyone looking for a different take on Biriyanis. read more

Best Biryani so far in Bay Area. Should try !! The taste is very good with spicy kick. I like it ..

Search for authentic Hyderabadi biriyani in Bay Area is over. This is your Vizag's Alfa, Hyderabad's pista house. This place my friends, has the most authentic Hyderabadi biriyani. read more

awesome Chicken dum Biriyani, awesome food, I order the chicken dum biriyani a lot, its super tasty, this is the best biriyani place

The food was really bad and over cooked rice with very few pieces if meat! The whole biriyani was like a paste kind! Over masala and no flavor at all. read more

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Worst indian food that I ever ate! I seriously can't comprehend how one can make such a food without basic ethics that they are spoiling people's health! Greasy, spicy, not fresh and stale meat! Tasteless rice just covered in food colors and marketed as biryani ! The county officials should close this business. read more

I ordered biryani, I know they will just reheat and serve it to me but they took more than 20 min. Zero hygiene and worst taste, I could not eat and wasted time and money. read more

Tried this place over the weekend. I ordered Ghee roast paneer biryani, ghee roast kaju biryani and paneer 65 biryani. Ideally, Ghee roast biryani should have the smokey flavor but the taste was on the burned side more than the smokey. In Paneer 65 biryani the fried paneer was bit on salty side. Had high hopes but it didn't standout from other biryani places. read more

I ordered a Boneless Chicken Biryani. This was way too spicy and not good flavor. Too many better places to try Biryani in the Bay Area. AVOID read more

No meat, bland rice. Not really biryani, poorly made "meat" pulao. Hope they can do better if I take another chance.

Ordered a chicken biryani. Did not taste bad , but definitely less salty and less flavorful compared to any other biryani I have tasted in the bay. read more

Tried paneer 65 briyani and it tastes amazing. The spices were well balanced. More than enough quantity for the price. Highly recommended.

Great food but the food truck needs to show up on time well prepared. Punctuality is really important.

Perfect place to grab a good/proper DUM or GHEE ROAST biryani's. Also don't forget to grab samosa's while you place the order

Proper Biriyani spot. No bullshit. To the point. Really love their ghee roasts. Food was fresh and I think made to order. Would definitely recommend. Been here twice already. read more