Let me preface this with my background. For the latter part of his career, my father's sole occupation was to remodel Indian Restaurants in London. I am well accustomed to good Indian food. This place was hotter than a tandoor oven. Service was inattentive, food was dreadful. It actually made my wife sick. Every few years I try it again with the hope the it gets better, it doesn't. Shame the North County doesn't have a great Indian spot. Curries and More is good, but very pricey. read more

I am SO glad Bombay Cafe is in Vista! They make fantastic Indian cuisine and the service is impeccable. Always with a smile! I usually order the chicken tikka masala with naan... SO yummy! If you're not used to Indian spices tho, go with the mild at first. The medium has a good kick to it that may be too much for some people. Prices are reasonable... the dish mentioned above with tax and everything (TWO portions of naan) is about $20. You can dine in or take out. Calling ahead is best if you're taking out. I've never seen the place absolutely full so reservations probably aren't required at this point, but on a Friday/Saturday night you may want to call and check before you go. I think it's only because it's a well-kept secret! They don't have signs out by the road, and the place is back in a shopping center, so it's a little hard to find, but worth the look. Truly, the naan is outstanding. :) Made right there fresh in the oven. YUM! read more

We went for dinner yesterday and in the mood to try out the new Indian restaurant. Our favorites are KC Tandoor and 8 Elements. As my rating says, we are not coming back. We went there around 8:45 pm. Lighting inside was very dark. We ordered Pakoda, Chicken Tikka Masala, Chicken Korma and Naans. As we were waiting, our eyes settled in the dim light. The first thing my wife noticed was the carpet was really really dirty. Well, almost felt filthy like not washed for 10 years. My wife had ordered sparkling water. A few seconds later, my wife said the bottle was dirty. I did not believe it first, but later agreed. There was something stuck on the outside of the bottle from top to bottom. Our waitress returned and apologized for the mess in the refrigerator where the bottle was stored. She wiped the bottle and gave it back to us. The food arrived 10-15 minutes later. Curries and Naan tasted good. 3/5 but definitely not 4 or 5. There much better restaurants in town. We were so hungry that we ate a few bites and decided not to return. read more

The food was so good I almost cried! The nan is perfect. The beer fantastic! And the service was awesome. There was a table near us that complained about something totally crazy and the server kept her cool, made them happy, and promised if everyhting wasn't perfect she would make it right. I think it is family owned and I love supporting that kind of business but honestly, it was the best meal I have had in months and I would go there if they were a mega chain and had horrible service. So glad they are in Vista! read more

We ate here last night and the food was amazing. The naan bread was fresh and fluffy, just the way I prefer it. We ordered four different types of curry with naan and rice and we loved them all. Portions are large and the owner is extremely friendly. I'll definitely be coming back the next time I have a craving for Indian food. read more

Bombay Cafe - Indian Near Me - Vista, California

Tikka masala chicken and jalfrezi chicken were both very very good! Tastes like being in India, and the service was very personal. We would love to come back for more! Only slight negative was that the size of the dishes was a bit small. read more

Bombay Cafe - Indian Near Me - Vista, California

Okay, Yelpers. We went in here on Sunday night and we were the only ones in the joint. We had a two year old with us, so the empty place it kind of worked out for us... but the same time, I view the fact that this place wasn't packed as one of the great karmic injustices in the world. Seriously, this is like the best Indian food ever. The atmosphere can be... homey. So when I say five stars I'm talkin' food. We usually get take out, but the service in house is okay too. Check has always come immediately for us? The spice factor seems to depend on who's in the kitchen; sometimes it's spicy and sometimes it's not. Anyway, you should seriously go. read more

Went to this place a little while ago, forgot to write a review. But dang, I gotta, just to warn people. When I first showed up it was a very slow night, basically no other customers, so I thought it'd be a quite dinner for me. Nope. All throughout my time here, the owners were shouting at each other- and not even in the back. Half of the time, they were sitting one table away from me, yelling (and no, I am not kidding). I ordered the chicken korma and naan with rice- which is why I'm giving this place two stars instead of just one. The food is damn good. Only issue is, I was violently sick for about 4 days afterward. Violently. I know it was this place because there had been no other changes to my regular diet aside from visiting here. I guess with any new places there are risks, but I never plan on coming back here. read more

Best Indian food I have probably ever had. The service is a bit slow but it is a mom and pop quite literally in the kitchen making everything fresh and a sweet young lady who is probably their daughter in the dining room. The sizzling plates are a sight to behold! Warning that it gets smokey and warm in there which may bother some. That is the only reason or only 3 stars. I will be back! read more

Late post but been there several times and the food was great! My boyfriend loves Indian food and he loves this places! Five slaps on bombay Cafe read more

Bombay Cafe serves up great Indian cuisine in a quiet, welcoming and informal atmosphere. Most menu items are a la carte with a wide range of choices including lots of vegetarian options. Spices are fresh and "Mom" is in the kitchen making sure it's all done the right way. Portions are generous enough that a light eater will have leftovers for later. With a window in the kitchen, you can even watch your tandoor oven bread baked right in front of you. We showed up an hour before they opened but the family insisted on serving us and everyone was very friendly. Highly recommend their hand baked breads and pakoras! read more

Bombay Cafe - Chicken masala, aloo gobhi and paneer masala - Indian Near Me - Vista, California

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Small family run restaurant. Food is great. Solid portions. The Chicken Tikka Masala is amazing. They even have some Indian beers. Garlic Naan is fantastic. Lamb Korma and Lamb Vindaloo were also fabulous. I will most definitely keep coming back. read more

This is literally my favorite place to get Indian food ever. The staff is so sweet and helpful with everything. The onion bhaji and baingan bharta is to die for. It's the BEST in vista. 1000000% recommend coming here when you're craving Indian! read more

Amazing food!! Nice atmosphere. Young waitress is super chill and nice, great personality! Huge portions too so go hungry :)

Best meal I've had in over a year!!! Chicken Tikki, Spinach paneer, chicken tikki masala, rice pudding,, garlic nann and rice

They brought a table outside for us and the service was great. We had the chicken biryani, chicken tikka, and garlic naan. All were full of flavor and delicious. Loved that it is family owned and you can tell they take pride in their food. We will be back often. read more

I live this place! Great korma, great tikka masala and served with a smile. They are currently open for take out during the Covid shutdown. read more

The food is fine. The prices are in the expensive side for what you get! Not worth going out of your way...

Honestly, I would give this place zero stars. We got here and there were only two other tables with customers. The table they sat us in had to be cleared off of their personal goods ( backpacks, bag, etc), while there were other open tables. Okay, we got sat down, glasses of water and then the girl flitters away. About 10 min later my husband has to stop the waitress so she can take our order. We put in our order, they're out of raita. Fine, whatever. Another 5 goes by after the order and the girl comes back and tells us " i need to tell you what i told the other people, our atm, and credit cards machines are down". We said nevermind and left. Complete waste of time read more

What a hidden gem in the cozy town of Vista! It was my husband and I first time trying out Indian food so we ordered the GARLIC NAAN which was AWESOME!! A side of Raita and veggie samosa-amazing! For our main dish we order Chicken Tikka Masala (level 3) and Chicken Tikka! Amazing food! I do recommend to go to this place. The service was fantastic, she was nice and always there to tend to our needs. I give this place 5 stars! We will be back soon! read more

Bombay Cafe - Sizzling Chicken Tikka. - Indian Near Me - Vista, California

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I really liked, loved the food here. I would say it's the best I've ever had, however I've been to less than 5 Indian food restaurants so I don't have the best gage. We ordered the dinner special, it's so much food. Their customer service was excellent, but I guess you would be nice to anyone raving about your food. The only things I did not like were the low lights, which I've noticed are pretty standard in other Indian restaurants I've been to. It was way too quiet! We were the only ones there until the end of our meal, background music would be greatly appreciated. read more

Good food. The service was friendly. It started out slow but picked up. They looked like they could use more staff. The hostess/waitress also helped inside in the kitchen. I guess everything is ala carte and for the price, you would get at least one side elsewhere plus rice or bread. But here it's just te main dish. You can see straight into the kitchen which is always a plus for me. You can see the chef making te bread fresh, cutting it up and handing it to the waitress right away. read more

Feeling like Indian on a mellow Thursday night, I decided to order some takeout. I had never tried or even heard of this place before but it is truly a hidden gem. It is located in a strip mall deep in Vista this place, but this place is worth trek. Upon walking in, there is Indian style decor and the place is tiny! The food though, is the star, the chicken masala was terrific and the garlic naan scrumptious. The lady even gave me some mango lassi to try. The takeout was delicious but I am excited to dine in sometime soon! Only four stars since I haven't gotten the full experience yet....will update soon. read more

We got take out yesterday, the everything appetizer, chicken vindaloo, basmati roce and garlic Naan We both loved the entree the appetizer was ok.. great seasoning next time would like more variety and less greasy but my husband loved it. Will definitely go again for take out. .. not a fan of the inside it's very dark and drab looking looks like it needs a good clean up but food is great! Update: some we first went there on Saturday my husband ordered some food on Sunday and again Monday we got the tandoori chef special the chef special Naan and some other bread that starts with a "P" it was all delicious! read more

It's a musical ride and they did not pay me for writing this review. Started with Shahi Korma(Lamb curry) with Basmati rice, level 3 spicy goes really well with the medium hard rice. Thick creamy lamb flavor emerged after a few bite. With a sip of Hayward 5000 larger, the malty sweetness of beer recombine with the spice. Then Chicken Tikka comes in with a hot iron pan, smoke busted through the air. One of the most tender chicken breast I have in the month. Chicken tikka is cooked with vinegar based, the flavor switched my pallet to another spectrum. On top of those I order Garlic Nan and Onion Kulcha Nan to mix with two main dish. Tandoori Nan are crispy on the center and chewy on the edge. I also ordered Raita yogurt just to soften the sharp edge of the cousin. Total to be 65 dollars with lots of food in my belly and to-go box. I can't say no more, you try it yourself. read more

Bombay Cafe - Smoking hot damn tandoori chicken tikka! - Indian Near Me - Vista, California

First of all the service was amazing, I believe it was the owner who took care of us but he offered samples and explained each entree. I got the garlic chicken which was great and garlic naan bread which is to die for. Will be returning soon! Thank you! read more

They can make all dishes hot & spicy! Small place but big on taste & we are always greeted with a friendly smile. We always order our items at a level 10 (it could be a tad hotter), but we are never disappointed. For a treat order the coconut naan! read more

I have ordered take out food from here a number of times and been very happy with it. This was my first and last time eating in. First off it is worth pointing out we were the only couple in the place. There is no music so all you can hear is the kitchen. The floors, walls and carpets are filthy. There is dust on the fake roses. We ordered and the server promptly forgot our drinks. I reminded her when the appetiser plate showed up. About that, we each ate half a piece and abandoned it, it was so very greasy. Our server never once asked how it was even when she took the uneaten food away. The entree was delicious but i like it with naan and she got that wrong (again, we were the only ones in) The replacement naan was doughy and raw, completely rushed. 2 stars for a really tasty entree. With a little love this place could be so much better. read more

Came here with my wife and daughter, had another craving for Indian food. Wasn't much around my area in Oceanside but found this one. Walked in and was greeted immediately but took them forever to take our order. They have one of those windows you can look into the kitchen to watch the cooks, which I like, however whenever we looked in to see the "show" they seemed to be uncomfortable. My wife was given a glass of water that seemed to have a piece of meat or blood on it, when addressed they didn't seem to care too much and had their daughter, maybe, who was studying and coloring on the back table bring another cup of water. The food was good. Tasted like it was homemade but this is definitely a "mom & pop" style shop. If you're looking for a good home cooked meal this is the place for you, if you're trying to impress a date this is not the best option. Little overpriced also. read more

I doubted the reviews that said the sauces were too sweet, but they were completely right. It tastes like the sauce has a gallon of honey it. No spice at all and not savory in the slightest. read more

Yummmy!!!! Great mom and pops place.. the restaurant has been in the family for 33 years.. great food, great service... ooo man will be back soon.. :) awesome awesome awesome read more

I really enjoyed coming to the Bombay Cafe! It's a little Mom and Pop hole-in-the-wall joint (due to its location). It's down the street from Vista High School in a strip mall. My friends and I split an order of lamb rogan josh, garlic naan, rice, and vegetable samosas. It was so good! With the samosas, they gave us three different sauces (tamiarind, a mint sauce, and something spicy). We had wonderful and attentive service as well. I can't wait to go back and try other dishes! read more

Great food! The garlic naan is delicious. I also recommend the samosas and masala. Medium level 5 spiciness is great, but pretty hot, 3 is a good safe point. The chiken tikka was even good for a friend afraid to try Indian food! read more

I love this place! Best vindaloo and samosas around. Garlic naan is very tasty. I love how spicy everything is I usually get a 4. read more

Delicious! Everything was perfectly spiced and so tasty! We had matter paneer and a lamb dish, can't remember the name but it was so good! I'm a garlic naan lover, but everyone was raving about the coconut naan so we tried it. It was very good, but I didn't realize it would be sweet, so more of a desert for me. I'll take garlic naan next time! Cannot state deliciousness enough! read more

Definitely the best Indian food in north county, if not all of San Diego. My husband and I do Indian about once a week and the other places in San Marcos and Carlsbad have left us very disappointed. Happy to have something so delicious in our 'hood. The exterior of the building looks a little rough due to ongoing renovations, but magic happens inside the building. read more

I wanted to give this place 5 stars but I can't because of the ambiance and the fact we didn't feel too comfortable. The food however, is on point and very authentic. While I am not Indian, far from it, I grew up eating Indian food and am so happy to say this place took me back to my childhood. The taste, the seasoning, the ingredients, and the naan are all fantastic. They have a legitimate naan "oven" -which if you haven't seen one, you're missing out! It's essentially a hole that the naan dough gets thrown in and "slapped" against the side walls. It's the only way to make true naan. The very nice girl who served our table agreed to take my phone into the kitchen and snap a photo of that naan cooking in the "oven"...see photo. We had the chicken Tikka Masala (it's what I judge an Indian restaurant by haha), garlic naan, mango Lassi and stewed okra (I think the name is Bindi Masala) which is another thing I order to gauge how good or not good the restaurant is. Yes, the rice comes a la carte but between those two dishes, my husband and I shared one order of rice and we still almost had half left over. If you order naan and rice, one of each should be sufficient between two people, three even, because they're very filling. Here's my suggestion for improvement on the ambiance. We came in on a Friday evening at 7 and were sad to see we were the only people in there. We walked in, it was dark and very quiet. There were two young girls that appeared to be doing homework at one of the tables, one of them was our server. She was very nice and sweet, but we felt in a way we were intruding in someone's home. I suggest putting some light music, some candles on each table would also help, and maybe blocking the bright light that comes from the kitchen. The people who were cooking the food all seemed like they were family, and that was so lovely to see...rarely you see that. Overall, this place is AUTHENTIC and cares about customers; we will definitely be back, but the music and the lighting would make SUCH a huge difference. It also sucks that this place is located in the midst of Mexican food places in an area that doesn't seem to cater to Indian food, that's a shame. I think if this restaurant opened its business elsewhere, it would be very frequented and popular....there aren't many choices for Indian so it'd definitely stick out! read more

The food is amazing. The staff is always super friendly. This is my favorite Indian food in the area. I get the special naan, chicken saag level 8 and rice. read more

The husband and I have been there a few times and we don't like it. The portions are very small, the flavors are off, and the quality of the produce is really lacking. The meat taste rubbery and the potatoes, canned. We live less than a mile away from Bombay Cafe but would rather drive to Carlsbad for some Punjabi Tandoor. read more

All of my favorite local restaurants are in strip malls. I don't know why the best places find their homes there, but they do. When we want Chinese, it's Panda Garden (omg); for Italian comfort food, it's Mama's and Papa's Pizza Grotto. For Indian, our go-to spot is Bombay Cafe. We've tried a half dozen or so Indian restaurants in San Diego North County and this is the one that keeps us coming back. Here are some of our favorite things: Mango Lassi - always good. Naan - They're ALL good here but we're especially fond of Aloo, Garlic and Coconut (which can double for dessert, it's so sweet and delicious) Any dish with paneer Vegetable pakoras and Onion Bhaji--to die for. We've never been disappointed with any entree, the service or the dine-in experience. We love, love, love the Bombay Cafe. read more