Restaurant in Menlo Park, United States
Michelin-recognized Indian worth the Peninsula trip.

Eylan is the third collaboration between chef Srijith Gopinathan and restaurateur Ayesha Thapar, and their most accessible entry point yet. A Michelin Bib Gourmand and SF Chronicle Best New Bay Area Restaurants recognition in 2025 confirm the kitchen's quality. With a 230-selection wine list and easy booking, it is the Peninsula's strongest current case for Indian fine dining.
Three restaurants in, chef Srijith Gopinathan and restaurateur Ayesha Thapar have established a consistent track record across the Bay Area — and Eylan, their Menlo Park debut, earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand in 2025 alongside a San Francisco Chronicle Leading New Bay Area Restaurants nod the same year. At $$$ for cuisine and $$ for the overall experience, this is Indian cooking that punches well above its Peninsula address. If you are already a fan of Ettan or Copra, Eylan is a direct addition to your rotation. If this is your first encounter with the Gopinathan-Thapar collaboration, it is a good place to start.
Eylan opened as the anchor restaurant of a mixed-use development on El Camino Real — condos, luxury watch retail, and a dining room that aims to reframe what Indian food looks like in suburban Silicon Valley. The setting is deliberate: this is not a neighborhood curry house filling a gap in the market. It is a considered restaurant project from operators who have already proven themselves twice over, planted in a location that serves both the affluent residential community around Menlo Park and the wider Peninsula dining circuit.
The room signals ambition before the food arrives. Anchoring a development that mixes residential and retail, Eylan is designed to read as a destination rather than a convenience stop. That visual positioning matters here because the food program supports it. Gopinathan's approach at previous collaborations with Thapar has centered on ingredient specificity , the sourcing logic that distinguishes a kitchen treating Indian cuisine as a fine-dining framework from one treating it as comfort-food shorthand. At Eylan, that philosophy continues. The menu's price point ($$$ per two-course meal, over $66 per head) reflects a kitchen sourcing with intent, not simply charging a premium for the postcode.
Wine Director Andre Sydnor and Sommelier Alex James Doughty run a list of 230 selections from a 2,000-bottle inventory, with particular strength in France and California. The list is priced at $$$, meaning you should expect many bottles above $100, and the corkage fee sits at $65 if you bring your own. Star Wine List awarded Eylan a White Star as of April 2025 , a meaningful credential for a restaurant less than two years old. For a food-forward Indian restaurant on the Peninsula, that wine program depth is notable: most comparable Indian restaurants in the Bay Area do not invest at this level in the cellar. If wine pairing is part of how you dine, Eylan is a better call than most of its regional peers.
The Bib Gourmand designation from Michelin is worth contextualizing. Michelin awards the Bib to restaurants delivering quality above expectation at a moderate price , but Eylan's cuisine pricing at $$$ (above $66 for two courses) sits at the upper edge of what the Bib typically recognizes. That tension is meaningful: it tells you the kitchen is delivering perceived value that overrides the sticker price in Michelin's eyes. For a diner trying to calibrate expectations, that is a useful signal. You are not eating cheaply here, but the award confirms the cooking justifies the spend.
This is Gopinathan and Thapar's third collaboration. Their first, Ettan in Palo Alto, put contemporary Indian cooking on the Peninsula map. Copra in San Francisco followed. Eylan represents the next chapter, but it does not require you to have done the homework on the earlier projects to appreciate it. The throughline is consistent: Indian culinary tradition treated as a serious fine-dining framework, with sourcing decisions that shape the menu rather than decorate it. If ingredient provenance and cooking technique are what you are paying for at comparable restaurants , say, [Single Thread Farm in Healdsburg](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/single-thread) or [The French Laundry in Napa](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/the-french-laundry) , Eylan operates in a related register, at a significantly lower price point.
For context on where Indian fine dining sits globally, restaurants like [Trèsind Studio in Dubai](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/trsind-studio-dubai-restaurant) and [Opheem in Birmingham](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/opheem-birmingham-restaurant) have demonstrated that the format can sustain the highest critical recognition. Eylan's Bib Gourmand in its first full year positions it as the Peninsula's strongest current entrant in that conversation. Google reviewers rate it 4.5 across 149 reviews , a solid early signal from a dining room that has not yet fully accumulated its audience.
Booking is rated Easy. On a weekend basis, you should be able to secure a table without the weeks-out lead time required at comparable San Francisco destinations like [Lazy Bear](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/lazy-bear). That accessibility is part of Eylan's current value proposition: the cooking and wine program are operating at a level that would require more planning effort in a denser market.
For wider planning around your visit, see our full Menlo Park restaurants guide, our full Menlo Park hotels guide, our full Menlo Park bars guide, our full Menlo Park wineries guide, and our full Menlo Park experiences guide.
| Venue | Awards | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eylan | If two’s a coincidence and three’s a trend, then [Eylan cements chef Srijith Gopinathan and restaurateur Ayesha Thapar as power players](). Their third collaboration, following Ettan and Copra, opened early last year as the anchor of a suburban Menlo Park development that mixes condos with luxury watch retail.; Eylan is a restaurant in San Francisco, USA. It was published on Star Wine List on April 24, 2025 and is a White Star.; WINE: Wine Strengths: France, California Pricing: $$$ i Wine pricing: Based on the list\'s general markup and high and low price points:$ has many bottles < $50;$$ has a range of pricing;$$$ has many $100+ bottles Corkage Fee: $65 Selections: 230 Inventory: 2,000 CUISINE: Cuisine Types: Asian, Indian Pricing: $$$ i Cuisine pricing: The cost of a typical two-course meal, not including tip or beverages.$ is < $40;$$ is $40–$65;$$$ is $66+. Meals: Dinner STAFF: People Andre John Philip Sydnor:Wine Director Wine Director: Andre Sydnor Sommelier: Alex James Doughty Chef: Srijith Gopinathan General Manager: Shane Martinez Owner: Srijith Gopinathan, Ayesha Thapar; Michelin Bib Gourmand (2025); San Francisco Chronicle Best New Bay Area Restaurants (2025) | $$ | — |
| Madera | $$$$ | — | |
| Camper | $$ | — | |
| Flea St. Cafe | $$$ | — | |
| Café Vivant | — | ||
| Yoeobo Darling | — |
Key differences to consider before you reserve.
Yes, for what you get. Eylan holds a 2025 Michelin Bib Gourmand, which specifically recognizes good value at its price point, and the San Francisco Chronicle named it one of the best new Bay Area restaurants of 2025. Food runs $66+ for a typical two-course dinner, so this is a mid-to-upper spend for the Peninsula — but the Bib Gourmand designation means the quality-to-price ratio holds up against pricier alternatives.
The venue database does not confirm a tasting menu format, so it would be worth checking directly before booking with that expectation. What is confirmed: dinner is the primary meal format, cuisine pricing sits at $66+ for a typical two-course meal, and the kitchen is led by Srijith Gopinathan, whose prior collaborations (Ettan, Copra) have a track record the SF Chronicle and Michelin have both recognized.
The venue data does not specify a dress code. Given the context — anchor restaurant of a mixed-use development on El Camino Real, $66+ dinner pricing, Michelin Bib Gourmand recognition — a polished casual approach (no athletic wear, no beach clothes) is a reasonable baseline. If you are going for a special occasion, dress one step up.
Bar seating is not confirmed in the available venue data. Eylan has a wine program with 230 selections and a wine director (Andre Sydnor), so a bar area is plausible — but call ahead or check the website before assuming walk-in bar dining is an option. The restaurant is located at 500 El Camino Real, Menlo Park.
Specific dishes are not available in the venue record, so no menu items can be confirmed here. What is known: the kitchen runs under Srijith Gopinathan, the wine list leans on France and California with 230 selections and 2,000-bottle inventory, and corkage is $65 if you bring your own. For food specifics, check the current menu before visiting.
Flea St. Cafe is the long-standing Peninsula option for farm-driven American cooking with a very different register from Eylan's Indian-led menu. Madera at Rosewood Sand Hill skews higher price and more corporate-hotel in atmosphere. Camper in Menlo Park offers a lighter, more casual format. None replicate Eylan's specific combination of Michelin-recognized contemporary Indian cooking and a serious wine program at this price point on the Peninsula.
Yes — it fits the special occasion brief well. Michelin Bib Gourmand recognition, a 230-selection wine list overseen by Wine Director Andre Sydnor, and $66+ dinner pricing place it clearly in occasion-dining territory without requiring the spend of a full Michelin-starred room. It is a stronger choice than a generic upscale steakhouse if your group is open to contemporary Indian cooking.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.