All Spice – San MateoA culinary experience..Went with my wife for our anniversary. Having been to a few Michelin star rated restaurants lately, I wanted to try Allspice to experience what they do. Each dish had a special flair that reflected a chef who cares not only about the taste, but also the visual appeal of his creations. The quality ranged from very good to excellent, and the overall experience was just right. My wife was really taken by the experience. She wants to make sure we drag out friends and family to Allspice in the near future... .6/11/2013 12:00:00 AMelegant setting, excellent tastesa mix of Indian traditions, worldly fusion and California fresh, the food is delightful. Service level is elegant but not obsequious. this is SF quality fine dining in san mateo. My only complaint is that the restaurant is completely inaccessible to handicapped people w/ no accommodation. The food and settings are perfect, I just wish they were also inclusive6/11/2013 12:00:00 AMExplosions of flavorExplosions of flavor at every corner - a unique experience marrying complex spices and textures in a creative and satisfying way. Menu has just undergone changes and the unusual combination of items on your entree list will surprise you positively/6/1/2013 12:00:00 AMOut of the world!The food is simply amazing! Dish after dish we were blown away! Starting with the amuse bouche (chaat with goat cheese), appetizers - ode to my wife and salmon 3 ways (their special for the day), Entrees - Short rib and Lamb loin, followed by desserts - snow globe (Absolutely out of this world) and Chocolate kulfi. Yes, we ate all that!!! The portions were pretty big too, so we were stuffed, but it was all totally worth it!
Definitely going back :)6/1/2013 12:00:00 AMTruly "ALL SPICE"First, what we did not like about All Spice. The heat. On a mild San Mateo night it was probably 90 inside. I could feel the sweat dripping down my dress shirt. Second, we sat at a 2 top right behind a LOUD, RUDE, party of 6 which diminished the experience.
The food. Truly ALL SPICE. From our tuna tartar with the firecracker pop at the end to dessert & everything in between was exceptional. The wait staff, including the bus boy knew AND CARED about the food. My main was the lamb with the safrone flat bread, wifey had the shortribs and we both, quite frankly wanted to lick our plates clean. This was not a foofoo portion. I am a big guy and I was very satisfied with my portion.
Dessert: The snowball with the olive oil melting the chocolate6/1/2013 12:00:00 AMFabulous as always.This is definitely my favorite restaurant for wonderful dinner.
They never disappoint.5/30/2013 12:00:00 AMA gem of a reastaurantThe food and the service were both top notch. I would have no problem suggesting others to dine at this special little place.5/23/2013 12:00:00 AMSuperb dining experience!I've been to All Spice twice now and my 2nd visit was just as good as the 1st. One of the best restaurants I've been to and I love food! This is my new favorite restaurant for a special occasion & is worth every penny spent (very reaonably priced for the dining experience)5/23/2013 12:00:00 AMGreat food and great service!The food here is delicious and unique, you won't see dishes like these anywhere else. Everyone who works here is friendly and knowledgable about the menu. A fantastic restaurant!!5/23/2013 12:00:00 AMAll good at All SpiceHad my Birthday Dinner at All Spice.
The Food was delicious and unique. Despite the name, none of the dishes were firey hot.
Between the four of us we sampled mutliple appetizers, the bison, lamb, halibut, vegeterian entree paneer with spinach, and short ribs. My companions loved the chocolate dessert.
My only recommendations is to ask the waiter if you can keep the menu while you eat so you can keep track of what you are eating.5/23/2013 12:00:00 AMLovely experience.Intense flavored, nice interplay of textures, and beautiful presentation.
Very friendly and unobtrusive service. For those who don't mind an adventurist menu.5/17/2013 12:00:00 AMAwesome foodThis is our second time at All Spice, and it was just as wonderful as the first time. It's our new favorite restaurant.5/11/2013 12:00:00 AMOverall excellent food andOverall excellent food and a wonderful experience. A slight ding for service because our waiter didn't inform us of the dessert special and didn't come back to check on us after our main courses were served.5/9/2013 12:00:00 AMAlwsys a treatI rarely am filled with so much joyous anticipation about returning to a restaurant. I have taken several relatives and frinds over the past two years and sm never disappointed. The chef and his lovely wife, the hostess, work as a perfect team. The food is besutifully presented, delicious and slways with a surprise twist. A truly delightful experience!5/7/2013 12:00:00 AMBest indian fusionThe chef Sachin is very good with creating new indian dishes. His special touch in indian drinks like lassi to entrees to dessert are truly a very refreshing experience.5/3/2013 12:00:00 AMIndian fusion in a Victorian HomeAll Spice is offers terrific food in a wonderful, old world house in San Mateo. I started with the chilled English pea soup that was fabulous. Limited quantity. Delicious non-creme based starter. Next, the best dish was an Indian spice infused sauteed sweatbread apetizer. The spice was very subtle and fabulous. Then I moved on to the venison main course. The quantity of the starters was limited. This main course had 5-6 medallions of venison, a substantial main course. The venison was excellent, although I think that my friend's sea bass was better. Overall, this was an excellent dinner. Highly recommended.5/2/2013 12:00:00 AMVery creative and sophisticatedVery creative and sophisticated cuisine with influences from India, America and Europe. Prepare your palate for a whole new array of flavors. Wine list including finds off-the-beaten-path. And all at a moderate price for this level of sophistication. A real gem!4/27/2013 12:00:00 AMNOTE: not handicap accessible WeNOTE: not handicap accessible
We had an excellent meal at a very reasonable price, service was top-notch. Place is reasonably quiet, even when full.4/25/2013 12:00:00 AMOMG- foodies delightI've been to a ton of Indian restaurants all over the world. I can tell you unequivocally that this is the best "modern" Indian restaurant on the West coast that I have eaten at.
What does "modern" mean. Well, many Americans (sorry guys/girls) have a stomach that is paper thin with it's robustness for atomic Indian nuclear spices... fear not. This modern Indian restaurant is for YOU! The purveyors of this very fine establishment have taken a very delicate and romantic view of Indian food. I bought a good friend, who hates strong spice, to this restaurant and now he wants to come back..again and again... the delicate, nuanced, multi-layered complexity of the spice astonishes. The wine list incredible. The service: unbelievable..hurry here!4/25/2013 12:00:00 AMThe food was amazing! CaliforniaThe food was amazing! California cuisine with a touch of Mediterranean-Asian fusion.4/24/2013 12:00:00 AMThis is truly a hidden gemThis is truly a hidden gem in San Mateo. A recent recipient of a Michelin Star, this is a must try restaurant for a romantic date night. Definitely will be coming back.4/23/2013 12:00:00 AMA cozy table for two placeThis is a fun place to dine in San Mateo. I do not believe there is anything else like it. It is in converted house so the ambiance gives that nice home cooked feel, and service was excellent. From a menu perspective nothing really jumped out, yet but I want to give this place a few more tries - the menu changes. For the price range the food is good, but none of the items are outstanding that we tried. The flavors were a little weak. The by-the-glass wine menu is also a little on the week side, the bottle selection is not bad, so my recommendation is bring a bottle or two with you instead and pay corkage.4/23/2013 12:00:00 AMAmazing as always! The combinationAmazing as always! The combination of flavors, textures and visual appeal make for a wonderous meal. The wait staff is friendly and treats you like family... Always a truly memorable experience.4/20/2013 12:00:00 AMWhat a GemI saw this restaurant reviewed on check please and everyone loved it. I thought the menu was interesting and could not wait to try it. Although it took a while to get a 6 to 7 reservation it was well worth the wait. I had a guest in town and they loved it. I will defiantly be going back and I cannot wait to tell my friends. Service was great!!4/6/2013 12:00:00 AMNot " Curry Now " type foodOff the Hook Good food , one of the best meals I have ever had.4/2/2013 12:00:00 AMNothing but the BESTI took my wife their for a surprise anniversary dinner. From the call to confirm our reservation to the time we left. We received nothing but top shelf service.The food was amazing and the wine selection was perfectly paired with everything on the menu.We'll be coming back again and again.3/30/2013 12:00:00 AMWhat a delightful experience.What a delightful experience. Beautiful and cozy environment, wonderful staff and great meal! This was our first visit, but not the last.3/30/2013 12:00:00 AMAllspice is fantastic! MyAllspice is fantastic! My friends and I want to try to get a reservation once per quarter -- the food is outstanding.3/23/2013 12:00:00 AMFirst, forget any supposedFirst, forget any supposed links to Indian food at All Spice; once I did this, I really, really enjoyed my dinner. The staff are very responsive and the environment is cool (although it's easy to drive right past the driveway on El Camino). The scallop appetizer was spot on, but not particularly innovative. However, the special quail appetizer really knocked my socks off. As our waiter indicated, the venison was absolutely stellar (so much truffle!) and the osso bucco was a very well-balanced and delicious dish. We had a lot of fun with the ice cream trio and the chocolate kulfi. Definitely will return.3/23/2013 12:00:00 AMFantastic food with subtleFantastic food with subtle Indian flavor profiles. Everything was genius.3/23/2013 12:00:00 AMSuch a wonderful dinner!Such a wonderful dinner! The service was attentive and friendly, the food was unique and delicious, and the restaurant itself is adorable.3/22/2013 12:00:00 AMFood was great. Wine listFood was great. Wine list selection is somewhat limited. Service outstanding.
Their Indian food is similar to other Indian restaurant but their Western dishes are outstanding.(probably due to some Indian influence)3/21/2013 12:00:00 AMAbsolutely outstanding. SophisticatAbsolutely outstanding. Sophisticated, layered flavors in incredible sauces which marry with profound respect to the ingredients they enhance.3/21/2013 12:00:00 AMThe food was incredible andThe food was incredible and the service was beyond friendly. We wanted to come back as soon as we'd left.3/21/2013 12:00:00 AMThis was my 3rd time diningThis was my 3rd time dining at All Spice since December... just a great place for perfectly prepared food and dining. Will likely to go again... soon.3/20/2013 12:00:00 AMFood was very creative andFood was very creative and presentation was outstanding!3/19/2013 12:00:00 AMAll Spice is an unbelievableAll Spice is an unbelievable find! The food was totally fantastic - all four of us had a different appetizer and different entree and were all "wowed" by every dish. I won't know what to order when I return because it was all truly outstanding. I would pass on deserts as they aren't even close to as tasty or original as the appetizers and entrees -but I would put this restaurant on your "must visit as often as possible list". The prices are incredibly reasonable for what you get as well - the portions are plenty and the flavors unique and yummy!3/19/2013 12:00:00 AMThe chef has an impeccableThe chef has an impeccable taste for subtle flavors and unusual combinations. Every menu item that was laid before us was delicious, beautifully presented and unusual.
The noise however was just short of unbearable. The tables are close together and the clientele just got louder and louder as more people were seated. What a shame. The chef is hindered by the awfulness of the noise.3/14/2013 12:00:00 AMAllHaute cuisine with just a touch of Indian flare. Amazing: scallops, wild boar, pork loin, soups, hamachi, desserts (all of them so far), sunchoke soup. Just Good: Samosa, wine selection.3/13/2013 12:00:00 AMWhat a wonderful spot. TheWhat a wonderful spot. The cheapest Michelin star food I've found. Amazing.3/13/2013 12:00:00 AMCreative, but UnevenHigh marks for creatively using traditional indian spices & techniques to create amazing food combinations; some work better in concept than execution. Our starters were wonderfully prepared and delicious. Our mains were not. The lobster was uneven- tough on one end, not on the other. The boar was very nicely flavored, but some pieces were not tender, many too fatty. The "edible silver" was pretentious, and because it stuck to the lid of the terrine, made for a messy presentation. Service was uneven. They served our desserts, telling my wife they were out of her choice, simultaneously providing her with an 'on-the-house' selection that THEY picked without even asking her preference. Not sure we'd drive all the way to come again.2/2/2013 12:00:00 AM