Junnoon - Palo Alto

I don’t give two stars a lot and I’m surprised to give it to a restaurant that I wanted to eat for so long and even had to dine on someone else’s tab, but I was really let off by the three Tiffin’s I tried on my lunch. Service was very slow, although it was not that crowded and Dessert was the only saving grace. I came here with a group of six employees and we all have different Tiffin plates $18). I got the halibut on the waiter's recommendation and would have been hard to be disappointed. The Tiffin’s are described as entree, appetizer and salad, a seemingly good value for $18 in a restaurant like Junnoon. But the salad was just a handful of mixed greens with a Vinaiigrette, the Halibut was a few small pieces without sauce and not much taste, and the accompanying chickpea was decent, but something I would expect to taste at Leas as well as everywhere. The halibut was cooked in a tandoor and dry as bad make Tandoori chicken. It really didn't offer much to enjoy. It came with two diving sauces that were interesting, but nothing that could save the dish. The chickpeas were more tasty in a curry sauce, but not writing home. An employee got the lamb that really sounded interesting. It was a small can of rice and a few lamb cunks cooked with a bread top. But the dish consisted of mostly rice, which was smokey, but not noticeable as the lamb. It wasn't small because it was mostly rice, but it still remained incomplete. The only dish we all liked was the chicken that was in a creamy coconut sauce. Once again, nothing that corresponds to my expectations, but much better than the other two. The Roti was pretty good, but not as spicy or tasteful as I prefer. To dessert, I tried the ginger of molten chocolate cake. I had a lot of it and that was definitely up there with some of the better. Many of these desserts are quite similar, so the ginger-drill was a nice change, but I liked the ginger aspect more in the first half than the second. While we were not in a big hurry, the whole meal took about 90 minutes, which is a fairly long time for two courses. The desserts took a while that is probably needed for the cake, but it would have been nice to know that in advance, if your there are on business and not likely to have as much time to sit like couples in the evening. After I went to Mantra a week earlier and feel like their options were really interesting, but somewhat overpriced, I have doubts what restaurant I would recommend to anyone looking for a great Indian experience in Palo Alto. Since this place has received a good number of prices, I assume that dinner must be better than the tiffins. I hope so.