Restaurant Review: A Sentimental Last Meal at Rasa

Last weekend, I had my last ever meal at Rasa Contemporary Indian, an upscale Indian restaurant in Burlingame, California. This restaurant has a special place in my heart because it was the first ever Michelin starred restaurant I ate at, back in 2018. Since then, I’ve gone back more than 10 times, which is an absurd number of times for me to return to a restaurant. The flavours and presentation of the dishes are amazing, and eating there holds many memories for me.

Unfortunately, the reason we ate there last weekend was a sad one. After several years operating as Rasa, the restaurant will be temporarily closing and turning into Saffron, operated by the same owners (There is a second Saffron location in San Carlos which has been open for a while). Obviously this means the review won’t be that useful to a majority of readers, but I hope it will be interesting to read.

Rasa Contemporary Indian Food

For starters, here is what was Rasa’s menu as of early May 2022, which of course is no longer relevant. For what its worth, the dish that made me love Rasa, Crispy Idli Chaat, had been off the menu since the start of the pandemic and sadly never returned.

We started with the Bombay Sliders and Indian Railway Peppers, my second and third favourite dishes.

The sliders were as great as I remembered them from all my previous dinners here. With just one bite, you can taste the strength of the tamarind chutney, and enjoy the textures of the grilled pav bread. The side salad isn’t just like any boring caesar salad – it complements the rest of the dish perfectly.

The railway peppers were equally as good, and well deserving of the popularity they had. The sweet banana peppers and the sour greek yogurt balance each other out, and the crunchiness of the carrots and radishes also contrasts nicely with the yogurt.

For the main course we chose to split the Genovese Basil Dosa. It comes with two chutneys and sambar, and is filled with spicy mashed potatos. I repeatedly ordered this dish as my main course here since I love the taste of the crispy dosa dipped in the basil chutney. Again, the flavours were incredible.

Rasa Contemporary Indian Drinks

We both ordered a mango lassi to drink – the lassis here contain cardamom and mint, which accents the drink perfectly in my opinion. I don’t normally order drinks at restaurants because I want to save room for the food, but sometimes I’ve had seconds of the mango lassis at Rasa.

Rasa Contemporary Indian Dessert

We both ordered the same thing again for dessert – the Cardamom Crème Brûlée. My dad absolutely loves it, and apart from the texture, I find it good too. It’s accompanied by vanilla ice cream and fresh fruits, which helps make it less plain. I also love the presentation.

Rasa Contemporary Indian Ambience

If you ask me, the ambience at Rasa was perfect, because it had something for everyone. There’s both an upstairs, quieter seating area and a downstairs which has the bar. Then, at the beginning of the pandemic they opened up an outdoor dining area, which never closed.

I simply love the decor here – although it’s definitely changed a little since my first visit.

Overall, the ambience at Rasa was very nice, it was never too loud but also not dull.

Rasa Contemporary Indian Service

In some ways, service is Rasa’s weak spot. It’s not super over the top and personalized, like you would typically expect at a restaurant of this caliber. However, they take care of the little things like coming around to wipe your table and changing your cutlery in between courses. The staff are polite and friendly, just not particularly warm.

Final Thoughts

I’m pretty sure I nearly cried when Rasa announced on Instagram that they were closing. I’m super happy we were able to snag a last minute reservation for the night before closure, and it was a wonderful last meal where I was able to eat almost all of my favourite dishes. It’s sad that I’ll never get to eat a Crispy Idli Chaat again, but I must thank Rasa for opening my eyes to the world of Michelin stars and fine dining (for better or worse). I plan on eating at Saffron one it opens and will provide a review of that meal as well.