Ruchi, San Francisco

welcome to Ruchi

The core of the weirdcombos tasting crew met the other day for lunch at Ruchi, a hole-in-the-wall place in the South of Market neighborhood, quite near where I work. It is popular at lunch, undoubtedly for its tasty foods at very reasonable prices. In fact, “ruchi” or “taste” is the name of this place, as a small flier at our table proclaimed. It went on to describe six tastes or flavors from Sanskrit literature: “sweet, salt, sour, chili hot, bitter and tart,” which collectively are known as “shad-ruchi,” or the six tastes. We were getting quite an education for a short lunch.

Ruchi is sort-of cafeteria-style. You stand in line to place your order and pay in advance. Then as dishes are prepared in the open kitchen, a server will deliver them to your table. The three of us all opted for the vegetarian thali. If you’ve never tried a thali before, you’re surely missing out. These usually come in metal trays filled with many little metal containers featuring numerous tastes of different yummy foods. Analogous to Spanish tapas or perhaps more like a Japanese lunch box with all those little openings in a large tray, these are smallish bites with lots of exciting flavors and textures. The word “thali” itself apparently means “plate” in Hindi.

vegetarian thali at Ruchi

Ours had dhal, basmati rice, naan, a potato dish in a green sauce that we thought must be spinach-based, a tiny cup of salty lassi, a carrot and pea dish, yogurt, some spicy chutney and a sweet rice dish. The presentation is lovely. This was not the best thali we’ve ever had but very nice nevertheless. We detected all six tastes, though I’m still hard-pressed to distinguish between sour and tart. Hegui thought that the meal might be Ayurvedic. I’ve no idea myself.

Ruchi isn’t much to look at, but it is pleasant. I’ve been several times before and always enjoyed myself. Whether or not you make it here, I highly recommend that you try a thali sometime soon.

Ruchi interior