Great atmosphere. The bar is nice and long. Lots of tables and space, also…read more Service was good.... Having their burger, which is new to the menu. Outstanding - great flavor. Cooked perfectly. The fries with their in house ketchup - so good. Cocktails are perfectly amazing, Had me an Adult Happy Meal. So good. Cheers.

The ex-Palmetto / Flora space is now a cute, friendly space for casual cocktails and Pakistani…read moreinspired bites. I've been here a couple times (once for food, and once for drinks) and both times have been charmed by the friendly bartenders (shout out to Haya!) and the cheerful vibe. Don't be intimidated by the exotic sounding food. I wasn't sure if I would like it, but everything was delicious and not too overpowering. We had daal, samosa, and rice bowl. I unfortunately failed to take pics, but the dishes were all so cute and pretty! The cocktails are excellent as well. (Side note: My friends were really impressed with the flattering lighting in the bathrooms here. If you need an ego boost or a nice selfie, take a peek!) After drinks at Gold Palm, we went to their speakeasy, Moon Glow. Entry is through the left side of the bar, in what was formerly Fauna. It was a little too dark and narrow for my taste, but some people might like the small club vibe. Their drink, Clover Club, was my fave. I'm so glad the people of Bar Shiru revived this beautiful Uptown space. Will def come back!

They have a great lunch special--$16 base price for two dishes with rice and a bread. Everything…read morewas fragrant, flavorful, and hot! Especially the veggie samosa. Really nice staff. Love that they partner with a program that donates a meal to the local food bank with proof of purchase! I can tell they are very intentional in their practices Also smells amazing inside!! Highly recommend.

I was looking for somewhere to eat with a friend who was visiting out of town and came across this…read moreplace on Yelp. We were in the mood for Indian food. When we arrived, we noticed the sign outside above the door said "Lumpia Factory", but another sign on the ground outside said the actual name of the place, so it was a little hard to find. Unexpectedly, when we walked in, we noticed it was just their kitchen and not actually a restaurant. They have some tables and chairs for you to eat at, but they are not serviced. The food they were making smelled too good, so we decided to just stay and order some food. We got the stuffed onion naan, stuffed cheese naan, samosa chaat potato vindaloo, baingan bharta (eggplant), and bhindi masala (okra). My favorite dish was the potato vindaloo as it had the perfect flavor and the samosa chaat. The stuffed naan isn't really anything by special, but the naan itself was good. Next time, I would just get garlic naan or plain naan. Overall, the food was great and very flavorful and tasty. Would definitely come here again!

Excellent Food, amazing customer service. Shilpa is so good…read morewith customers and made it feel like home. I am happy that I decided to come here for my dinner with family. The ambiance is good too.

A hidden gem in downtown Oakland for late night curries and naan!…read more First time we dined in we tried their Malai Kofta, Lamb Tikka Masala, and Honey Cheese Naan. I got really excited to try out the honey cheese naan, I had never had that combination before but it just makes so much sense and works super well with the curries! The dining area has got a lot of tables for larger parties which is nice. Definitely a great spot that I can't wait to bring more friends to! My favorite dish was the Malai Kofta. Veggie fritters sitting in a smooth and creamy tomato base. It almost reminds me of a sweet tomato soup with some fluffy fritters! It can take a little bit for your food to come out, but trust- it's so worth the wait and everything is made to order! Biryani Kabab has become one of my go to spots for takeout after work.

Enjoyed a nice family lunch at Kamdesh. The restaurant is large but we were one of two diners on a…read moreSaturday. The restaurant was pretty warm from the oven and no ac was on, there is a fan near the door. We ordered many appetizers, the best was the potato bolani, and eggplant borani. Unfortunately there was no pakora but they had samosas, which were ok. For mian dishes, we had a variety of meat and vegetables. For veg, I recommend the sabzi challow and green beans. And heard the lamb chops were good. Food came out hot and delicious but it did come out slowly. There was only one cook in the kitchen. Service was friendly, they allowed us to eat an outside cake in the restaurant. Would come back to eat again, maybe take out!

Recently I hosted a multi-day work event in Downtown Oakland where I was offering lunch each day,…read moreso instead of big chain restaurants or Doordash or EZ Cater, I actually called restaurants and spoke to managers/someone who could work with me on catering orders (talked on the phone? wow, shocking! But working with them directly helps them earn more than when it's through one of the delivery sites). I've always liked Kamdesh, sometimes during a busy lunch rush I've had to wait a little bit, but I felt like getting them a shot. I worked out a menu for a buffet lunch with different items and they delivered to my office in downtown. We had folks with dietary restrictions, and the person I talked to was able to walk me through some options. There were able to work within my price range per person and I could choose different items like kebabs, borani, etc. and they included cooked veggies, saffron rice and salad. It probably ended up being too much food but that's a good problem to have. Everyone enjoyed the meal, and we had leftovers in the fridge for a couple days.

Good takeout / self serve type of service. Water out front and extra cutlery and plates too…read more The food was pretty good and super filling as expected. I really liked the naan here, it seems house made! Also huge. Curries hit the spot. Chicken saag was a bit too heavy / oily for my liking but the chicken was super tender yummmmmmmmm. Really awesome prices for the amount of food you get and the quality of it. For dine in it does get pretty hot since the restaurant lacks some ventilation. Theres a few outdoor tables which are awesome to eat at on a nice day. Great place to drop in after a long day for a super filling meal

With so many choices in the mission this standout for Pakistani food draws crowds for a reason…read more Upon entering, que up to the register and place your order. Tonight's selections were Lamb Biryani, Chicken Tikka Masala, and samosas. Once issued you buzzer, spin around to collect beverages, sauces, plates and silverware. Find a seat till the buzzer does its thing. Our food was prepped within 5 minutes and piping hot. The volume of food was amazing for the cost. The lamb was large pieces in a mix of basmati rice, herbs, spices and perfectly tender. The heat from this dish alone didn't require much. Samosas were serviceable and could stand more crispiness. The garbanzos were flavorful and tender. I'm

Lovely " Fresh Goat Paya Curry " w/Fresh Hot Kalonji /Black Seed Naan str8 outta Hot Tandoor Clay…read moreOven... Was privy to dat " Freshly Sourced Halal Meat from nearby Halal Grocery as opposed to Jethro or some other Imported Halal Frozen Meat from Australia or Wherever. Fresh Hot Chai to Wash It All Down !!! 3 Cheers to their Jewish Lady Mgr. n Helper Mr. ' Jolly Singh ' a.k.a. " Shahrukh Khan " !!!!!! ... Despite limited hours for Lunch then Dinner - closing @ 9 p.m. One can rest assured of Excellent Attention & Service. Crockery & Cutlery always Clean n Shiny + Doordash Spill Free Packaging within appointed Deadlines !!! Cilantro & Slivered Ginger Garnish makes their Dishes Ultra Appetizing !!! Reminds me of Grandma's ' 60's Cheffing back in India ...thus Homestyle Punjabi - Muslim Cuisine !!!!!!

Cozy place and good food and street parking. Servings are fair portioned. :)…read more They have been in business for 30 years and not much has changed just the location.

Love Pakistani Halal spot Al-Maida…read more Tucked in residential area of North Oakland, I usually get some takeout if I'm feeling like I need some hearty and warm curries or Oakland's best naan. I really like their lamb curry and garlic naan. I've also had their falafel wrap which was tasty, but naan by itself is elite. It's like as big as a plate placemat. HUGE. Curry is so flavorful, can't go wrong with any protein or any base. You can call to order. LOVE the lil market as well. You can get delicious treats like saffron ice cream and non-Israeli dates. I tried Ajwa dates for the first time here and they're my favorite type of dates now. Way less sweet than Medjool and much better for those who need to control their blood sugars. Shoutout to the chef and the sweet man who's always washing endless silverware. You guys are the goats, serving the community while fasting during Ramadan! Shop local, support small biz, protect our Muslim communities. Al-Maida is an Oakland gem.

I love a place where I have something to do while waiting for my food. I walked in and put in my…read moreorder with the grandson/grandfather duo behind the counter. The grandson was super quick to let me know that the garlic naan was the go-to which I highly appreciated and listened to his sage advice with no regrets. Understandably with just the two of them, the food didn't come super quick. But I got to walk around the aisles and explore all the different foods and ingredients they sold. They also have a huuuge frozen dessert selection which was enticing but I will come back for that another day. The food came out fresh and piping hot. I devoured it in the car and it was all delicious, wonderfully seasoned and so so filling.

YUM. Ordered:…read moreShrimp taco, fish taco, chicken quesadilla, chips Highlights: honestly everything. The seasoning on both were great, the tortilla was a bit on the crunchy or thick side but I liked it bc it didn't get soggy while I was eating. Their salsas were all delish (the hot is spicy but also flavorful). Fish was a little crispy and tacos were pretty full. Notes: we came on a Monday at 7 but they ran at of tortas. Will be back to try though. Parking was pretty easy and there are two small tables under their awning. We were able to sit and eat while it was drizzling out.

Maya Halal is located around in the Oakland Downtown/Lake Merritt area. I went on a Sunday so there…read morewas a lot of street parking available which is probably different from any other day of the week. The process is easy, customers order at the window, pay, and wait outside where there are a couple tables to sit at while waiting for their orders. The main problem I found was the time it took to make a couple burritos. There were no customers in front of me and it took nearly thirty minutes to make two burritos. The other thing I noticed is the add ons really raised the price. The guacamole, etc are all extra charges on the the super burrito which in my eye makes no sense. Either it's a super or regular. Not super needing to have a ton of add ons to make it a super. But how was the burrito? Overall I thought the taste was good. Burrito was on the small side. But the ingredients seemed to be solid, and blended together nicely. Decent quality but for the price and wait time, I won't be rushing back.