Welcome to Pasadena, Namaste Spiceland. Bhanu now has decent competition in the SGV for homestyle Indian food. While Namaste is similar to Bhanu in that both operate as 1/2 cafe and 1/2 market, and both appear to serve Punjabi meals and Gujarati street food, Namaste only prepares pure-vegetarian food presented at a steam table (about 6 choices rotating daily). On the other hand, Bhanu serves non-veg & veg items that are cooked to order in individual batches. At Namaste, the vegetarian and vegan dishes are likely cooked using ingredients sold at their expansive grocery section. The menu varies day to day, possibly depending on what the chef feels like cooking. Everything is prepared with a mild spice level but is still generally flavorful. I've had good experience with most of the dishes, with exception to the dal fry that I found to be too salty. In particular, I appreciate that the palak paneer here is not the super creamy and milky type. During my past 3 visits to Namaste, I've ordered tindora, karela, and dudhi, which aren't the typically vegetables found in the thalis at Bhanu or other Indian restaurants in the area. I like that many of the sabzi options here are the dry kind rather than gravy-based, so I've never run into the problem of ordering two items that had the same base flavor. The combo meals at Namaste can be paired with roti, poori, or naan. Roti is most healthy, poori is puffy and somewhat oily, and yes naan is an option here, but I wouldn't recommend it. It's tawa naan that is not cooked in a tandoor, so the texture is a bit softer than the ones served at restaurants. Bhanu owns a tandoor oven and uses it well, while Namaste... just doesn't have one. Despite some differences between Bhanu and Namaste, I enjoy them both. I would consider the dishes prepared at Namaste to have more of the "home made" taste than Bhanu's food, which seems to be more like restaurant food to me but somehow it's cooked extremely clean and non-oily. Namaste provides better value and bang for the buck when I'm looking for a homemade cafeteria express meal to finish within 30 minutes, while Bhanu is a better option for a more formal event like catering or an office lunch. read more

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The food is good, but I go here for fresh ingredients that I can't get elsewhere. For expats and transplants, their grocery has some snack and goodies that you likely won't find elsewhere. (Rose Syrup, Maggi, and REAL digestives) read more

Excellent food for the price you're paying! They have $1 samosas and their Gobi Manchurian (available on Saturdays) is the best! read more

This is another awesome place to shop & eat for Indian Gricery .Vegan / Veggitrain food delicious in every bite. They store has inventory to the max.Always have all the Indian grocery , spice , any thing and every thing your indian kitchen needs . Harsh is the man . Running this place . They customer service is good . The food is always fresh and delicious ..Each bite you is full of mouth watering flavors you crave for more and more . I always over eat it is so delicious . If I am in this area will always stop for a meal and pick my grocery . Highly recommend this place. Thank you Harsh Bhiya and the entire team for keeping your door open for you'r local community in these uncertain times. read more

A great selection of Indian groceries! The combination meals are very good. It's also a pleasant place to have lunch.

Their vegetarian Indian food/cuisine is the best I've ever tasted! Run, don't walk here. More please!

Workers are very rude, short/brief, they also stare which makes you feel real uncomfortable. When you ask questions they don't answer. Never once have I saw an employee smile. RUDE! read more

2 stars for something here that made myself and a family member have stomach pains for 4-7 days! Not OK! We joined some friends for a quick bite from this "Panda Express Style Meal Service (2 item combo under $8)" Indian Casual Market on a Sunday night. Our friends had been here before and said they liked it. The place was packed for a Sunday night but even so some of the food in the warming trays looked like it had been sitting a while, while other stuff seemed fresher like the rice. The taste of the food was OK, slightly salty, but not as good as Indian fine dining, more like exactly what it is...Indian Fast Food. The serve mainly vegan and vegetarian food which is right up my alley. None of our friends were affected by the food like two of us were, and the only thing we had different than them was the green bean saute and the chapati bread which looked like a whole wheat tortilla. Not sure what it was that made us sick-maybe the handling of the bread-or the bread itself? Their hot food line is a bit unorganized and people were jumping in an out of line, and they ran out of samosas and other items which typically come with the meal and we waited for quite some time to receive those. Needless to say, due to my personal experience, I won't be back for the hot food and can not recommend it based on how I felt after eating here. Side note, the outdoor sidewalk of the building is filthy. This is so gross, be forewarned, I noticed even at night time what looked like a lot of black rodent droppings adjacent to the front of the store building outside on the walkway, I was completely put off, I really hope I was wrong. read more

I have been to Namaste Spiceland a couple of times. Very rude staff and they never honor the text reward that they have as a signup for collecting points and sending text to save. I again recently received a text to come in by May 2 to redeem the 5% off reward. When I was checking out today, the cashier said that the owner has said to not honor rewards right now. I am not sure why its the case every time, when they are offering discounts with their marketing initiatives to bring in customers but not honor the same. Really bad service. I would recommend Bhanu in Rosemead or Punjab in San Gabriel over this store. No rewards program there, but very good service and very friendly people. I will not be going to Namaste Spiceland anymore. read more

Namaste Spiceland - Text Reward that was never honored - Indian Near Me - Pasadena, California

This place is incredible! I've passed by it several times and always wanted to go in. The minute you walk in your senses are hit with amazing smells and colors. The staff is extremely friendly and knowledgeable. They even have chocolate bars from England which are my favorite! Every spice that you could think of... And beautiful jewelry and sweet snacks. Can't wait to try the restaurant inside. read more

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great shop, love their mango lassi and the food is really good. However, the food is a little spicy for my palate, so I can have it but I'm sweating. Based on the number of people there it is not a problem, it is within "normal" for Indian food but I'm sensitive. I like that each day is a bit different so you can find different dishes and the prices are great! If you like indian food, you must visit, then decide if you love it or it is a backup place but for me it is on my hit list for places to visit when you are trying to show off little dives. OH and the best part, it is a supermarket so many times I take advantage and get my little herbs and spices + fresh curry leaves while getting something to eat read more

Sorry Yelpers - you've done me wrong with this one. We came by one Friday night due to all the awesome reviews. Yet we left very disappointed. Keep in mind I have no problem with vegetarian dishes and I normally love Indian cuisines. We ordered two of the 2 item combo meal. They each came with a bread that is more wheat tasting than your traditional naan bread. All the food had NO taste whatsoever. It was all very bland. The side of pakora was a blob of oily batter. On top of it, we found a small piece of rock in our food! That could had been a very expensive dental bill right there! We brought it attention to one of the worker, he apologized and offered a sample dessert. But by then, we didn't really want anything else from there. If you want delicious Indian food with a grocery store, please visit Bhanu on the corner of Huntington and Rosemead. read more

Namaste Spiceland - 2 combo plates with 2 pakora - Indian Near Me - Pasadena, California

yum, this place is delicious. It's a simple market with a restaurant. Try the Chaat, which is a kind of Indian street snack food that is typically shared with others, standing in a small group. Their Pani Puri has a wonderful sour dipping sauce. read more

My sister told me about this place when it just opened as it is down the street from her. I was excited to try out a new vegan place and wanted to satisfy my Indian food cravings. We headed over on a Saturday night around 7PM and it was fairly busy. There is a small parking lot at the location which was nice. When you walk in, the left part of the building is a grocery store and the right side is the restaurant. I felt a little bit lost when ordering and it didn't really help that there were so many staff behind the counter. After a few blank stares at a few of the staff, I caught the attention of one person. We ordered the DO combo which comes with rice, 2 sides, a samosa, and your choice of bread. I did appreciate that he explained the menu a bit as I was pretty clueless on how to order. The person helping us asked if we wanted the fried bread or baked. I went ahead and chose baked. For the sides I chose the Daal and a potato dish that was vegan. I was a little disappointed in the portion size and literally was given one piece of potato for the potato dish. My sister ordered her combo after me and we waited quite a while for her bread to come out. She went with the fried option but after waiting a few minutes, they told her it will take a while and asked if she wanted the baked one instead. She ended up getting the baked bread and we took the food home. When we got home she realized they forgot to give her an extra samosa. It seems like there is still some "figuring out" to do and making the order process more efficient. I think the one thing me and my sister agreed on was that the samosas were a pretty good deal (even though she was missing one in her order). Overall, I think the food was alright and portions could have been a little more consistent especially at the given price. Not really sure if I would come back. read more

The management seriously needs to revaluate their approach to the organization and cleanliness of the store. Burst ice cream pints with the ice cream leaking out and frozen into the freezer racks, haphazardly stocked shelves, not putting back what customers move (though customers also need to have respect in this regard, it falls on the market staff to put things back in their place), and fridges with piles of products belonging in very separate categories just thrown in. Makes you wonder what the state of the kitchen looks like if they are not so bothered with what the exposed side looks like. It is not even a matter of them being short on staff. They had plenty of employees the couple of times I have been in. Additionally, the market shelves are placed directly under the lights, making it super dark and difficult for customers to read labels. Lights should align between the aisles. If it weren't for a specific spice I needed, I would not entertain the idea of purchasing anything else from this establishment. read more

Summary - Decent food at reasonable prices. My husband and I visited Namaste Spiceland this weekend. We used to live in the Valley and love Indian Sweet and Spice in Woodland Hills. So we were super excited to try something similar closer to the SGV. We had a 2 item combo which came with a choice of two vegetarian option, rice, a samosa and naan. They had about 5 options. We chose the aloo bhendi (mixed potato and okra) and a potato curry which was a bit salty for our taste. The food was good and prices were reasonable. We would go back. However it wasn't as good when compared with Indian Sweet and Spice which has more depth of flavor and choices to choose from with an additional side of pakora to their combo. read more

Great place to shop and grab some food while you're there. Their pav bhaji and gobi paratha are excellent.

I want to preface this review by saying I was real excited when I drove by this place on my way home last week. And that this review is strictly for the restaurant portion and not the grocery part. I went on a Saturday night and it was fairly busy. There were several groups seated at the tables within the grocery store. I ordered a "Do Combo" which comes with rice, two vegetable options, chapati or puri and a samosa. I ordered an extra samosa because I was sharing the combo with another person. For the cost of this combo, they're pretty stingy with the amount of the vegetables they give you. For example, we selected the potato masala as one of our vegetable options. They gave us a one small potato... The other reason why I'm giving this place two stars is because even though I ordered that second samosa and was charged for it, I had ended up only getting one in the bag they packed. Lastly, I ordered the puri, but their kitchen backed up and after 5 minutes was told that I was going to get the chapati because the puri was taking a bit of time. I know this place opened up a few weeks ago, but there were many things that contributed to my two star rating. read more

This place is a wonderful little unique gem, definitely worth its good reviews! I adore this place and I go there all the time. It is like entering an authentic little piece of India in the middle of California. The food is great and for a cheap price! I usually pay no more than $10 and I always bring some home with me since I can't finish it all in one sitting. The people working there recognized me and welcomed me back after only 1 visit and they always put a smile on my face :) Go there! read more

Such a nice hidden gem in Pasadena. I was referred to this spot by my cousin and turns out some of my friends new about it too. We were hosting a Friendsgiving last year and the theme was Indian food. I've never made Indian food and had it maybe once, so this was all new for me. They do have a store inside where you can purchase produce and packaged Indian foods, but I decided to order from their resturant. I called the day before and placed a pick-up order for the Samosas. When I arrived they boxed them up for me real quick and provided the sauce. I asked for extra of each sauce just in case which they will charge you a couple bucks for. I asked if they were spicy and was told they are sweet. Be warned the green one, though delicious, is spicy! Everything tasted great, but wish I had more of a warning for the green sauce. They have seating inside so it's a chill little spot. I would love to come again and try more of their items and sugar root drink for sure. read more

This new restaurant and grocery store rocks. Great food at affordable prices and very polite staff. Tastiest Indian vegetarian food in all of LA. Let the lines to the self help counter speak for themselves. Tried Samosa chaat and Papri Chaat and loved both. Free tea/chai was great too. read more

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New favorite Indian spot! Namaste Spiceland is a shop and restaurant all in one with all of your Indian produce spice grocery and food to go. A rice plate with everything ( rice, veggies, naan etc) will cost less than eight dollars. I recommend the Chana and mango lassi. read more

Namaste Spiceland - Banana chips / Tikka Masala - Indian Near Me - Pasadena, California

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I recently visited Namaste Spiceland on my recent trip to Pasadena. I had heard amazing things about this restaurant/convenience store but never actually went before today. The first half of this store front is an Indian market. This is a great place to shop if you're looking for spices, tea, vegetables, and other specialty items. Unfortunately for me I was on the vacation and did not have room in my suitcase to purchase any of these items. Next time I would definitely bring a bag just to buy things. The other half of the storefront is a restaurant. I believe everything here is vegetarian, definitely options for vegans as well. When it came time to ordering my food what I asked for and what I received were totally different. Honestly, I should've made more of a fuss about this but instead I let it happen to me. The paneer was good but very spicy. This is an ongoing thing with the food from Namaste Spiceland. I was informed that some dishes were not spicy, mild, and very spicy. I honestly thought that everything I tried was spicy. As someone who doesn't handle spice very well this is very unappealing to me. I couldn't help but be unhappy with my food. The first issue was it wasn't what I initially ordered. The second was the spice level. The one good thing about my order was a got a mango lassie, I would probably come back just for this drink. It was so smooth and creamy I wanted to order another one. If you like spicy food and are more assertive than I am this is probably a good option for you. The food is decently priced and the portions are relatively big. Six dollars for a plate of Indian food is a great deal, especially in California. read more

Nice Indian market with a large variety of produce foods. The restaurant food is tasty and portions are pretty good. The samosas are huge and at $0.99 each, they are a great value! Friendly staff makes this place a nice market/restaurant to visit. read more

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Quantity is a joke. Taste underwhelming. To go order was missing samosa. Hope this helps. read more

Namaste Spiceland - 8.99 plate - Indian Near Me - Pasadena, California

Food was good customer service was ok. The bald guy working at counter should learn some customer service skills the T.O location better overall read more

This Indian grocery store doubles as a to-go food establishment. The food here is really good. Most of it is really spicy but you can overcome that with the rice or the naan (the bread). The garlic naan is my favorite! I usually get different food items each time i go, just so that i can try everything and plus the assortment changes day by day. The menu is not always the same. The staff here can be mistaken for unfriendly but i think it's just a language barrier sometimes. The staff is really helpful especially if you don't know what something is and you want to try it. I recommend going here for a quick filling meal that is all vegetarian. read more

We ordered delivery and it was just not very good. Samosa - good! Very similar to other area places that do it well Paneer Paratha - fine. Very salty. Paneer Dosa - this was ok. Pretty boring. Def could have used more sauce thru out. TE3N Special -- two veg dishes, one with paneer (boring) and potato (decent taste, could have used more sauce. Gulab Jamun was good if course. Bhalla Papdi Chaat -- admit we don't order chaat much,and delivery time frame prob takes a toll but this was just not good. Gelatinous boring mess. Mango Lassi -- good read more

This Indian market has a small casual sit-down vegetarian and vegan buffet style food selection. The food is spicy and delicious. Some of the dishes are a little salty, but so delicious! The samosas are good... everything is good. You just pick the hot items they have already prepared in their case and they can make a fresh roti or naan bread for you. The staff are all very kind and friendly. I love to buy Indian snacks here and have a tasty vegetarian lunch with a Thumbs Up Cola. Thumbs up for this market and restaurant! read more

As others have stated, this place is in decline. Used to be good, but now the service has gotten worse. There is one guy on cashier with 9 in the kitchen? read more

Delicious food and super friendly service. This is a great alternative to India days and spices in Atwater. If you like that place, give this one a try! read more

Great parking and location. A fantastic grocery and quick restaurant. I would love to love this place. But here are the problems: Grocery - A really great variety of products which we really appreciate. - Absolutely NO organization at all. You can never find anything. The same spices/grains are in various places, with stuff blocking it/random stuff plunked down, strewn about in the aisles. Maybe for that reason it's kind of a fun scavenger hunt every time we go. You kind of have to spend a lot of time digging around and you MAY find something. - We have found weevils (?) and maggot-like things in some products. Once we spent $45 on various spices and groceries and had to throw away $12 of spice powder because it was rancid. - We've had many instances of having to throw stuff away because it was expired (by a year) or was totally rancid/moldy. Restaurant - Since they changed their cooks/recipes a while back, everything tastes great. I honestly have never had anything that tasted bad there, and I try to get something different every time. - An amazing selection of menu items. Everything you would want is there! - Though, definitely not vegan but yes it is vegetarian - $1 samosas can't be beat! - They always forget at least one thing from our order. One time we were missing a bhatura. Another time (dining in), I didn't get my roti and though it was partly my own fault for forgetting/not checking. Friends have had the same happen to them. - CRFC health code violations abound. I don't know how this place is getting away with it lol! Hey, that's what makes food taste great isn't it. The staff are really nice though! read more

I've been here many times now within the past 2 weeks for both grocery and cafe food. I wrote an updated review recently praising how the food has improved, but based on recent events I had to go back and change it from 4 stars to 2 stars. The cafe food has gotten a lot better. The grocery section has more selections, but....the chubby fellow behind the counter intentionally overcharges at the register. He has done this to me 3 times now. This is for both cafe food and grocery items. Pay attention to the prices, what you are getting, and what he actually types into the register ! How do I know he overcharges? My 2 male friends bring home food from this place. Depending on who has time, we go there separately. Sometimes we order enough for just 1 person, sometimes 2 or 3. Depends on who's turn it is to pick up food and who's hungry. For both the cafe food and the grocery stuff, my receipts compared to my 2 male friends' receipts clearly show that I was charged $1 more for the exact same items. This happened on 3 very recent visits ! In total, I was overcharged $8 !!! Not only that, this chubby fellow skimps on the hot food when I order it. He levels off the rice and stews so that they just fill the to go box pockets. My 2 male friends come home with to go boxes packed with food. Because I'm female, you think I don't eat??? If so, then charge me less for the less food you give me dude! If you want hot food or grocery from this place...send your mean-looking burly male friend. He will get better service and not be cheated. read more

I'm giving this place 3 stars because, as an Indian grocery store, it's worth 5 stars. But as a restaurant, it's worth barely 1. The dosas are thick, not crispy. The chutneys are pretty bad, the sambhar is generally decent but randomly will be so spicy you can't even put a spoonful in your mouth. The prepared foods served cafeteria-style are really not good. The samosas have a great crust but the filling is utterly terrible. Some of the mithai is excellent and some is just awful, mostly because it's terribly stale. I've bought pav (dinner rolls) that turned out to be moldy. The whole place leaves me feeling torn. I want it to be better! For Indians, Namaste's food is often disappointing. I imagine, for goras (white folks), especially vegans, it's probably considered epically excellent. read more

Quality of food has degraded over the time. Portions are not that good . Food is not fresh

I cannot begin to tell you how delicious this food is my mouth is alive from all the Delicious spices ..Very friendly staff very knowledgeable and all of their Indian entrées I had a nice conversation with the gentleman helping me which he was from India and he helped me along trying new things I've never tried we talked and introduced ourselves I feel very at home here I will definitely going back I had the greatest dinner tonight the garlic Nan everything was mouthwatering delicious read more

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we loved this place! best food in town and best service. employees are very friendly and helpful. we loved the food there. it's yummy and fresh. will visit this place again in one year. we are out of state but please try food if you want good fresh food. Thankyou so much!! I wasted few day ordering online. i wish i saw this place as soon as we landed here. hey but no worries!! next time...... read more

Namaste Spiceland has everything you'd need for Indian food you'd want to make at home, but also a cafe where you can pick up a full on meal or snacks to enjoy. The rasmalai was delicious, and so were the pakoras, vada and the samosa. We also purchased Badam milk. It was my very first time. Also, if you're in the mood for the best Cadbury chocolate, you can find some here. read more

Namaste Spiceland - Outside. You can't miss it! - Indian Near Me - Pasadena, California

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I have eaten the food here three times, and i doubt I will go back ever again. First visit the food was marvellous - just right, with all the subtle flavors as well as fresh made, and fresh chutney and raita. Second time my wife and i visited - i got food poisoning. Not nice. We decided to give it one more go today - and to our surprise - the intensity of salt in all the vegetable dishes this time was enough to burn my throat and Im literally frothing at the mouth an hour later. It was basically unedible, with this amount of salt in the meal the chef has either been drunk or had a bad accident and nobody was told so they are still serving this evil fodder now. Truly bad. Its a pity because there are some great things to buy and eat there. I wont be back for the buffet ever again. read more

Great fir a takeout plate with different vegetarian Indian dishes. Saag. Palak Paneer. Etc. plus their naan bread is excellent. Pre-COVID I'd go in often with a friend. I went in fir takeout in mid October recently. Price$ went up. Not shocking. But service lacked. I'm waiting and a customer is chatting with the guy behind the counter. I never like to wait extra long when I'm inside and not everyone is masked. Could've been more attentive to the customer. But that not withstanding, the food and the value is very good. It's convenient because I live about a half mile away so it's a good walk for me. They just need to keep the customer satisfied! read more