Butter Chicken Garlic Nan Vegetables Biryanis but always too spicy. Samosas are good but packing should improve.

4 stars = "Yay! I'm a fan." Which I am. Lately I've noticed that Tandoori Mahal is the only place I've been calling for Indian food delivery. I simply haven't been tempted to branch out and try a new place. I suppose it's a case of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Price: Reasonable. Delivery time: Speedy. Food: Arrives hot and delicious and in nice, big quantities that I can stretch into 2 or even 3 meals, depending on how hungry I am. I've never had anything that I didn't like from Tandoori Mahal. My go-to dishes at any given time are the tandoori chicken, lamb tikka masala, chicken coconut curry, aloo gobhi (cauliflower with potatoes) and chana masala (spicy garbanzos), all excellent. The sauce-based dishes are robust with nicely-developed flavors, as though they've been simmering on someone's mom's stove for hours. Whenever I walk or ride past the restaurant it looks kind of empty, so I'm guessing they get most of their business from hungry Financial District folks at lunchtime...and evening delivery to people like me who are too lazy to cook dinner! read more

Chicken tikka masala had a flavor reminiscent of Campbell's tomato soup (that is, by the way, not a compliment). Portions of rice and naan were stingy. Would rather go to Chutney, Pakwan, Shalimar, Mehfil. Actually, can't see any reason for me to ever return here. read more

1. Review of delivery from Tandoori Mahal Indian Restaurant. 2. Easy to order on Grubhub.com. 3. For the second time in my life, I forgot to order rice with Indian food. Boo! I have to give myself 1 star in the ordering food category. 4. Chicken Vindaloo - This definitely ranks near the top of the vindaloos I've had in San Francisco. I ordered it very spicy. It did have some zip and some other spices showing up for the party also. The chicken was tender. The potatoes were cooked just right. 5. Vegetable Samosas - These were pretty good. The shell was relatively crisp. The stuffing had a nice texture to it and had a pretty good mix of spices. 6. Garlic Naan - This was absolutely horrible. It was soggy, cold, and overcooked. 7. The food was well-packed. The vindaloo was in a nice resealable plastic container. The samosas were in a Chinese carryout container. It was all in a very nice bag. There were no leaks whatsoever. 8. Delivery came in right at the hour. So, it was on-time. The service was polite and professional. 9. They did not have paper plates but, to make up for it, they game me a free Sprite. 10. Overall, I will order again for the chicken vindaloo and the samosas. I will skip the naan. If the naan hadn't been so bad, I would have given them four stars. read more

I had a slightly funny experience with Tandoori Mahal. My friend and I wanted to order in Indian food and rather than go through a delivery service, we wanted to order directly from a restaurant. The only place I remember ordering from was India Clay Oven in the Richmond when I lived much further west, but I thought I would give them a shot. And I realized they have an online ordering system - call me a nerd, but I thought that was pretty darn cool. We ordered saag paneer, chicken tikka masala, rice and naan - pretty standard fare. As I'm processing the order online, the final/order confirmation screen said something to the effect of "your order has been sent to Tandoori Mahal." What? I thought I was ordering from India Clay Oven. Apparently, they are all owned by the same owner, and they just choose the location that is closest to where you live. Hmm, that might have been better to know when I was placing my order. But figured that since they were owned by the same owners, the food was pretty comparable...and it was. Standard chicken tikka masala and saag paneer. The delivery was FAST which is pretty unusual for San Francisco delivery (at least in my opinion) - my food was at my doorstep within 30 minutes. (The website said they would call to confirm my order in 5-10 minutes; they didn't.) The food arrived on the lukewarm side but I was happy it arrived so quickly! Food was reasonably priced - about $17 per person including tip. read more

I'm quite picky about my saag. For those of you who don't know what saag is, it's spinach. And honestly that's my favorite Indian dish. That and the tandoori chicken. Oh and the rice pudding keer dish. This place does it right all the time. So we usually come here as a group and eat all their food. All 10 or so of us. Nom, Nom, Nom! read more

When the temperature dips and the sky is gray, it's a good idea to head on over to Tandoori Mahal for some lunchtime curry pick-me-up. It's hard to beat a $10 spread, especially one that offers variety and fairly good quality food. It's a buffet so get off your high horses and enjoy it for what it is. I really like the bismati rice with lamb curry over it and the pakora. The Saag Paneer and the chickpeas aren't bad either actually. All in all, it's a very satisfying meal of fragrant spices and, "oh here comes the heat." On that note, I must admit I'm a water hose when I eat spice. Sweat slowly builds in my pores and I know a drenching is imminent. This last trip was no exception but the kind folks at Tandoori Mahal were nice enough to crack a window for me without asking. They also kept the water coming and cleared our plates quickly. It wasn't crowded when we were there and we had a satisfying lunch in hardly any time. For a little something something here and there, the lunch buffet is a good delicious bet and the folks here at Tandoori Mahal are just the sweetest. I'll be back for sure. read more

Based on the collection of restauarants called India Clay Oven. My first time to this one. I fell in love with the one on Clement back in 2004. I died for the saag paneer then and the lamb vindaloo. This time around i had the buffet. quite different but tasty for $10. Notables: HOT and FRESH naan. piping hot and buttery. loved it. Saag - creamy Lamb Curry - meat was tender, not dry and the sauce was spicey. Could have had more kick but that's just for me. Chicken Tikka Misala - standard fair. Tandoori Chicken - Fair. Not super tender but not dried out. Hard to find parking around here and it was pricey. Bathrooms - only one and kind of a throwback to the old days. read more

Tandoori Mahal - From inside - Indian Near Me - San Francisco, California

I've only been here for their buffet, but it's pretty good. They have the same items almost every day and all the same dishes you would expect at a typical buffet. The service is pretty good as well. It can get fairly busy at lunch depending on which time you go, so it can get a bit packed and inconvenient when there's a long line for the buffet, but it's usually handled pretty well. The location is great - after stuffing your face with all that heavy food, you can walk around North Beach and burn off at least some of those calories! read more

On Christmas a group of us had dinner here and the waiter was very slow and arrogant about the service. We had to ask multiple times for everything. When our food came, he dropped the tray upside down on me and it gave me second degree burns which are currently all blistering days later. My dress, bra, underwear and friend's skirt were all ruined. As the saag was burning my skin off I called out in pain for ice and he still didn't go get it. My friend had to. Then he tried to blame my other friend for tipping the tray, when all my friend had done was try to catch it after it was dropped. We asked for a discount and were given none. I paid all that money to walk out injured, have our clothes ruined, be treated disrespectfully and have Christmas ruined. read more

Delivery service is extremely slow. Do not order instant delivery from this restaurant. Order is more than 30 min late and still hasn't arrived read more

Lunch time and it is emptied. The waiters here are pissed off faces. There is absolutely no good food here in addition to bad service. Why would I want to come back. Don't touch the dessert rice pudding you will be forever be sorry! read more

Tandoori Mahal - Dinning area - Indian Near Me - San Francisco, California

Second time here for lunch and this place honestly is a hidden gem. For someone who have always shied away from lunch buffets, this place made me think twice about it. The food is delicious, fresh and the staff is super nice and accommodating. If you're in the area come have a seat and EAT!! Cheerio! read more

"Can I get some more naan, please?" I don't come to the financial district to make friends, I'm all about the biz... but on this one occasion, I was enjoying the Bollywood action when I realized my naan basket was empty... I asked Gil for a refill and he brought me a cigar and a glass of merlot. Besides the minor translation difficulty, I really, really enjoyed the food. As we say in my line of work, "it's tasty for the price and you can't beat the smiley service". Grab some Bukowski at City Lights Books just down the street and camp at a table where you can keep an eye on the Charles Nelson Reilly inspired dancers on the TV and enjoy the all-you-cat -eat Indian buffetery. Go at nine. Eat some orange sauce on rice. Read a couple of short stories and grin at the produce guy as he carts in fresh vegetables for lunch. At 10, go for the green sauce and dip in the naan. Don't over do it. I'm speaking from experience. Drink water and just relax. It's all-you-can-eat. These gentlemen aren't in a hurry to get you out of the door. At around 11:30, it's time to plate it up. Don't hold back now. The food is fresh and the lunchtime rush of 5 people are getting ready at their cubes out there somewhere to migrate to the heat lamps for spices and boring conversations about people that aren't around. Better get it all while you can. The orange and the green and the juicy red sauces on the rice and hot as all... The toasty naan under napkin cloth waiting to be smothered with the sumptious buttery oil essence. Make a salad. Eat some milk rice. They've got a great variety... you won't be let down. You might see me there. Reading by the candlelight... trying not to laugh too hard at the music videos. I've been there since 9 or 10... I'm not leaving until 3. It's . . what . . 8 bucks? I've never got more bang for my buck. "No, I said 'naan', but thanks for the candle." read more

I really don't know what to say here, since my dining experience was more like a Twilight Zone episode than a rip roarin' buffet extravaganza. Came here on a late Friday afternoon for lunch (1pm is late for us FiDi folks) with a coworker who had a coupon from SF Daily Deals. I also made a reservation on Open Table since i wasn't sure how busy it would be if it was a sit-down establishment. Upon entering, the gentlemen at the host desk was on the phone. No greeting, no polite "one minute, please", just a blank stare after a few minutes and a rough arm gesture directing us to just go find a seat somewhere. There is no sign that says "seat yourself", nor are there any menus to grab. Only a few tables were occupied and basically on their way out the door. There was ONE waiter/bus boy on the floor. He silently came up to our table and filled our water glasses, but didn't say a WORD. I've never been there before and had no idea they had a buffet, but my friend and I were looking for specific items off the menu for our meal. We also presented our coupon and asked if it was still valid for lunch dining. He grabbed it, walked to the front and handed it to the host who was still on the phone. No words whatsoever, mute! We sat there for a good ten minutes more with no service, no menus and basically just ignored. We had to flag down the waiter for menus and physically went back to the front host desk to ask for silverware. Once another 10 minutes passed (we'd been there about half an hour so far) and the waiter came to take our order (after having to flail my arms wildly for him to see us in an EMPTY restaurant) he was gracious enough to accept our requests. Not two minutes after we ordered, a very disgruntled chef came out from behind the bar/kitchen area and gave my friend the hairy eyeball. It was as if we had tits of steel to be brazen enough to order food while-- heaven forbid--a dried out array of lentils, mushed cauliflower and an empty rice pan lay before us, beckoning us to their culinary oasis. Really. Thankfully, when our food arrived it was good, but not worth the shoddy customer service, non-existent communication and downright stink eye. The naan was great, tandoori chicken moist, spinach dishes divine and aloo gobi just right, so I was stuffed and satisfied, but I also feared for my life. There is no signage saying when "lunch" is over especially since they are open until 11pm. Surely with paying upwards of $13 a plate for food, ordering drinks and being as polite as punch, the staff could be a LITTLE bit more amicable. They may be better off as delivery only, and from the reviews, I see that's a 50/50 risk too. read more

Oh Tandoori Mahal, the 5 star review I was going to give you after my first visit has quickly been downgraded to 1 star before I even had a chance to write my initial review. *sigh* To bad. I visited this place in search for an alternative to Naan and Curry, which is just a few blocks away. "What a great buffet deal," I thought to myself. I was quickly impressed by the quality of food for the price and was reminded how much I love Palak Paneer. Yes, I have no complaints about the food. This is why I would have given this place 4 stars, if not 5. I rushed back to work to tell my coworkers about the great place i just found and how I couldn't wait to return. A few weeks later, I returned. I was hoping there would be new food options in the buffet. But what more could I expect with the price that I paid. The food was good, but it was the same-ol-same-ol. My real WTF moment was when I was presented my check 1. before I had asked for it, or for that matter before I had even finished eating 2. with an error on the bill 3. i paid and my credit card was not returned to me --WHAT-- 4. the host refused to fix the error on my bill and insisted that I work out the math myself and use the tip line to make the adjustments --THE-- 5. the host hovered over me, finger pointed at the tip line insisting that I write $5 before he would leave me alone --FUDGE!!?-- I'll never be back. What a jerk! read more

As someone who isn't faithfully an Indian food fan just yet, Tandoori Mahal has definitely enticed me to want to try more Indian items. My co-worker and I have ordered for delivery from here twice so far each time, delivery has been speedy fast, and packaged to perfection. Ordering food for deliver can sometimes be a bit of a mess depending on what you order. Mia and I ordered the Hydradabi Chicken, which is chicken cubes, with apricot and potato straws. The flavor was great, and the sauce had a nice zing. The chewy apricots complimented the spiciness very well. I very much appreciate that Tandoori Mahal wraps their to-go containers of curry in plastic wrap to help avoid spillage from the delivery over. We also ordered the Kashmiri Naan which is stuffed with nuts, raisins, coconut and cherries. While parts of the bread seemed to be burnt, the flavor of the ingredients definitely worked well together. I definitely love the combination of spicy and sweet, and Tandoori does a great job. Overall, I will continue to be ordering here for delivery as they are very reliable. read more

This place has REALLY gone downhill. It used to be one of our favorite places to order food for delivery. Yesterday I was finishing up a long work week, which included working into the evening, so we decided to order Indian for dinner. Knowing that the delivery normally takes about an hour, I ordered early to make sure we weren't eating too late. My confirmation call came quickly, and I was told it would be an hour. While I waited, I made my own rice and raita, since the "pilaf" they sell is nothing special and the raita is terrible. After an hour and 10 minutes of waiting, I started to get antsy. I waited another 5 minutes before I called. I was told the driver was "on his way" (of course). Five minutes later, he arrived. He wasn't the slightest bit apologetic about being 20 minutes late, and in fact had a rather snotty look on his face. Still, I didn't want to punish him if it was a kitchen screw-up, so I tipped well but not as well as I would have had he been on time or apologetic. With Indian food finally in hand, all would have been fine at that point if the food hadn't all been ICE COLD. Not a little less than hot, not pretty warm, but ICE COLD. The driver must have forgotten us or messed up the order of delivery, since this food had been cooked a LONG time before we received it. I ended up having to heat everything up on the stove. I can cook pretty decent Indian food myself; I order it at high cost so I don't have to do all the work. We had: onion fritters - would have been good if not cold and soggy nan - good after being heated roghan josh - OK after being heated; not spicy-hot enough saag paneer - OK after being heated, mild rather than hot as requested. hydrabadi vegetables - not as described or as served previously. The potato straws, the the main thing I like about this recipe, were instead large potato lumps; it was served mild rather than hot as requested. While the food was heating, I called the restaurant to complain that it was delivered cold. At first the guy just tried to brush me off saying I had been told it would be an hour. Even after I made it clear the food was not just late, it was COLD, he wouldn't offer me any amount of refund off the meal but instead said he'd make it up next time. When I asked HOW he would do this, he said he'd comp us a dessert. DESSERT? I hadn't ordered dessert. I never order dessert. What I do is order $50-70 dollars worth of appetizers and main courses, for 2 people. At least I used to. read more

For the past 5+ years this has been one of my favorite late-night Indian restaurants, primarily because of the quality of the kebab (chix tikka, boti and seekh were all great), and because of the creamy, almost tomato-y tikka masala, which was somewhat unique among Indian restaurants in the city. The saag's and such weren't bad, either. I never expected it to be great, but it was consistent, and unique. Something over the past 3 months has changed dramatically - literally every dish has changed, and not for the better. I've called the restaurant to inquire about whether a new chef had taken over or whether there has been an ownership change, but nothing helpful. If I'd wanted to eat Indian food that tasted like it came off of a shelf at Trader Joe's or that came from Naan'N'Curry (read: disgusting), I would simply get it from those places. Such a shame. read more

They catered a Diwali cultural festival where I'm working today. Wow! Indian buffet right here in the building! As Indian buffets go, it was just fine. Chicken Tikka and lamb kabab were great, I could eat this stuff all afternoon. Samosas were hotter than I'm used to, but tasty, too. Palak pakora, vegetable pakora, and cheese pakora rounded out the plate. There were several desserts that didn't show up on the menu -- of which they provided plenty of copies. Mango lassi on site, too! Yum! It's good to know that Indian food travels well. read more

So a couple of my work buddies and I were walking around in North Beach for lunch (with the intention of getting some Mexican food). Anyhoo, so we stumbled on this place, and we decided to pop in and give it a shot. Turns out that they have an all-you-can-eat lunch buffet - DING DING DING.. magic words to my ear. There was the usual goodies you expect at an Indian restaurant including: chicken tandoori, lamb vindaloo, basmati rice, chicken masala, veggies, and of course hella NAAN!! For a buffet meal, the meats were surprisingly juicy and not dried out. I ended up eating 3 plates (I got knocked out from food coma later on in the office that afternoon - oh wells) The service was very pleasant and gave us plenty of icey water, food was already piping-hot so didn't have to wait. The meal came out only to be $12/person (including tax & tip). Delicious and well worth it. Definitely going to go here again for lunch. read more

For $10 I don't have the highest expectations for an Indian lunch buffet. I also don't think it's fair to judge a restaurant solely on a lunch buffet. However, after one trip here for lunch I am positive I will not be back. When I walked in I was greeted by no one, and eventually frostily ushered to a table with a very stained tablecloth. The buffet didn't have any naan (what?!) and some of the tables around me had naan in baskets, but since I was never served any I have to assume it's extra. Pretty much unacceptable. None of the dishes on the buffet are labeled, so while I can recognize sauces it's impossible to tell what meat or veggies are in them, which is how I ended up with a really unpleasant mouthful of unexpected seafood. I thought I got some chicken tikka masala but the meat wasn't like chicken at all and it definitely wasn't lamb so I had no idea what I was eating and it wasn't very good. The pakora was visibly freezer burnt and the tamarind chutney was thin and runny. Before I'd even made it halfway through my plate a check was plunked down on the table, I took this as a sign I was unwelcome and promptly paid and left. Will never be back. I made a mental note of all the other restaurants listed on their business card (Clay Oven) so I can avoid those as well. read more

Lulu and I decided on having an Indian buffet at Tandoori Mahal, and we realized this place should be called Kama Sutra Mahal, or pervert Mahal. After walking in, Lulu pointed to a picture on the wall, and the following discussion ensued: Lulu: "Holy sh..t, that guy his hands on her tit." Srini: wait a minute, all the pictures tell a story, look it continues on the other wall, she's wearing less Lulu: pervert.... Srini: no, seriously, look(waiting in line for the buffet). The first picture is of the girls mom thinking "Oh, I hope he takes good care of her (said in Indian accent) Lulu: pervert Srini: look at the next picture. The guy has taken the girl away and he has some booze he's feeding her. He's trying to get her drunk so he can f$%$k her. Lulu: Pervert Srini: And then she starts dancing, and he puts his hand on her tit, and then she takes some more of it off. And then look, they're in some sort of Kama Sutra position. Lulu: Pervert Srini: And then look at them, he's like dragging her on his shoulder after they bathed in the river. They had to bathe because of the sweaty sex, and he f$%$%kd the shit out of her so she looks exhausted. Lulu: You're such a PERVERT(hits me). Somebody definitely placed those pictures strategically. Go check it out after you read my review and you'll see. read more

DON'T ORDER TAKE OUT! We ordered dinner for two at 5:35 p.m. on a Saturday. On the phone they told us it would take about 45 - 60 minutes. At 7:00 p.m. I called back and the man who took my order said he would check and call back. I never heard back from him. At 7:20 p.m. I called again and he said that the driver left "a long time ago, and should be there in 5-10 minutes." At 7:55 p.m. I called again and spoke to a woman, who put me on hold to call the driver, and then came back to say that she could not reach him and did not know where he was. I asked what we could do about this, could I cancel and just forget about it. She said that our credit card had already been charged. The food arrived cold after 8:00 p.m. On top of that the driver was very, very rude to us. He started to yell at us when we checked the food to see if it was cold. We weren't even thinking he was the issue, but when he got so nasty we wondered if it was. After delivery t called the restaurant back to say the food was cold and the driver was yelling at us. They told me they were sorry and that they would credit us the next time. Next time? Of course, he then started to say goodbye without knowing who we were to credit us. Trust me when I say that it is not worth it to order from here. Slow, rude, and on top of all that, when we re-warmed the food 3 hours later it was just o.k. read more

I like this place... I know, it's part of a chain, Clay Oven Restaurants, etc. But it's a good thing, really! Quality = fantastic. Flavors = delicious, savory, spicy. Service = friendly. I come here for their lunch buffet...it's worth the $10.00! And their kheer, pretty damn good stuff, especially with more cardamon than sugar. Excellent! And I like this location because it's close to my work. :) read more

If you do anything other than the buffet, you are wasting your money here!!! Almost $20 for a lamb preparation and naan, that was not even that great. Service was horrible, and they insisted that my yelp coupon needed to be printed (though there was no mention of it on the offer-including in the fine print). The food was so average, and the service so horrible, that even a single star is more than I would willingly award them. Ya it that shitty! read more

The lunch buffet is a fickle and flighty beast. To hungry men whose eyes are perennially larger than their stomachs, they seem like an amazing idea. However, an hour later, they are shitting in their pants and need a nap, may have uttered "never again!" and crawled under their desk to sleep off that gut rot, over eat coma. Tandoori Mahal is not ostensibly different, but fresher than a standard chinese buffet. All the na'an you can eat, plus an array of 8-12 lunch items,. typically composed of 2 or 3 chicken, 1 or 2 goat/lamb and a variety of veggie curry dishes and salad. All for about 8.75. Tasty stuff, doesnt kill your GI tract if eaten in moderation and not a bad bang for the buck. I cant do it more than once a month, but I am never in that bad of shape when I decide to sail down Ganges and get my Tandoori on. read more

A couple of days ago I had almost hit that crying part of hunger, and the fact that I have a cold made me that much more petulant. I wanted Thai food like nobody's business, and was saddened to discover that pretty much no Thai restaurant will deliver to my office, even if they are close by and claim delivery. Thinking that there must be a non-sucky alternative to delivery.com, I stumbled upon grubhub.com, and by extension, Tandoori Mahal, which came up as Thai/Indian in their results. Placing an order online made me instantly a little less pouty, and the food was delivered quickly after receiving a call from the sweet owner(?) to confirm my order. My chicken coconut curry was excellent, amazingly flavorful and well-spiced, a fact which was echoed by the bf as he snacked on the leftovers at home. Onion bhaji is also really good, and spicier than most. And the dal? The dal is transcendent. I got two containers of that bitch today for lunch and dinner, because mama has a cold that only gossip blogs, shirking work, and delicious dal can cure (and she also needs to meet the $15 delivery minimum, holla!). This would be a five star review if a) the wrapping of the delivery items weren't so ghetto (some containers don't seem to be designed to hold anything hot or liquid, not good for chicken curry) and b) it weren't for the fact that even after I requested utensils, they still did not include them in my delivery order. I am not an animal, damn it...give me that spork and I give you five stars. read more

Not sure what happened to Tandoori Mahal. My firm uses them on a regular basis for late night meals, and it's always been delicious. The spice level is exactly what you ordered, the grease factor is negligible, and everything tastes fresh and tasty. Until yesterday. I ordered several different dishes, plus bread and rice, to take home for dinner. A very unfriendly guy delivered it at the appropriate time. After he left I noticed that the bag was absolutely dripping with grease. Fortunately I manged to find another bag in the office to pack it in since the current bag never would've made it home. Once I tasted the food, I was really disappointed. The samosas were spicy and full of potatoes and peas, but were incredibly greasy. Oh - no sauces were included either - WTF? The lamb tikka masala that was supposed to be extra spicy was as bland as could be, and contained about 4 big chunks of very tough lamb. The chicken dish tasted exactly like the tikka masala, even thought it was supposed to contain completely different spices. No heat contained in this dish either, despite requesting it. Fortunately the saag paneer was good, as was the rice. The onion kulcha was, again, completely greasy and disgusting. A waste of $56. read more

This review is for their lunch buffet. Pretty good selections of curries and their chicken tikka masala is delish! It is the creamiest ever and I just love it. I also love their lamb curry, ohhhh sooo lamb-ey and flavorful. The spinach curry is the bomb too, and the one with cheese bits in it ohhhh... i also love their traditional rice dessert, soo creamy, ricey, and delicious. The price is definitely good for the great selection of food. The only problem is.. this place gimme a food coma every single time i eat there and i would be zzz-ing at work (-__-) ..zzoooo... read more

$10 indian lunch buffet, hard to beat. Not as tasty as naan&curry around the corner, but for less money you can get all you can eat! The buffet in the emnbarcadero indian place was $15 a person (when i went there a year ago) and the food is about on par. read more

I think they put crack in their saang paneer. I've never eaten here but regularly order from here off Grubhub. One week I got on a weird kick and ordered from here 3 times in a week. The delivery guy must have thought I was preggers. Or nuts. I keep meaning to eat in, but trust me, I'll def continue to order out from here. Add some Aloo Paratha and some wine and I'm good to go for the rest of the night. Ahhhhh. read more

Tandoori Mahal is basically across the street from my job so I go here for their lunch buffet. It's very inexpensive at $9 per person and is generally a pretty decent lunch. The selection is very limited with only a small handful of items that never seem to change. But for what it is (A cheap indian buffet) it's not bad. read more

Tandoori Mahal - Indian Near Me - San Francisco, California

Naan and Curry was too crowded and even though I really wasn't in a buffet mood, I was in an Indian mood so I waked over to here. I have a feeling others did as well, because it was empty when I went in but nearly full as I left. $7.95 buffet is not bad considering if you want naan, rice, tandoori chicken, some other chicken in orange sauce, a bit of fried fish and a little salad, you'll have a tough time ordering that all for a reasonable price. So, it turned out to be a good move considering I was eating alone. I liked everything I had. Nice napkins, water service was good, and they offered to refill my naan basket, but I didn't need it. Only negative is that a long line can form by the one serving station if your timing is bad and a big group comes in. Not the best Indian food I've ever had, but certainly good enough for an infrequent eater of the cuisine such as myself. UPDATE 6/29/06: I'm lowing one star. The Naan is now at the buffet table and was greasy and not fluffy. Dissapointing change. Rest was ok, but whole experience was just average. read more

I wanted to order togo and didn't want to order a full meal. I opted for the chicken pakoras for $4.95, I get the bill and it's $7.56. I told the waiter the Pakoras said $4.95, he then says it was the tax when clearly the TAX was $0.61. I asked him again and he went and got the menu and admitted he gave me the old menu and quickly gave me $2 refund. :). The Chicken Pakoras were cooked to death but at least the chutneys were good. read more

Tandoori Mahal - Chicken Pakoras w/ Imlee & Mint Chutney - Indian Near Me - San Francisco, California

Inside the restaurant you will see the archetypal, overdone, Indian-esque decor, that like so many other mediocre Indian places, has collected layer upon layer of dust to the point of a permanent blackened discoloration. Decor aside, this restaraunt is hit or miss -- and more often miss. The first time I went to this restaurant I have to say, I was happy with the food and service. The price was, well, as expected for the location. I shared a nice meal with a Vegan friend, all was well. However, more recently I've returned to what I thought to be a solid lunch / dinner spot -- unfortunately the food came up WAY short. I ordered a cauliflower dish that was prepared MUCH too dry with not even a smidgen of sauce left over for the rice. Was it overcooked? Was it supposed to be? I have no idea. All's I know is, I did not feel good -- and a few minutes after arriving at home a few blocks away, I was smitten with nausea and succumb shortly thereafter. As a disclaimer, I only ate half the portion -- so I certainly wasn't sick from over-eating. I love Indian food, but not Indian food that makes me sick. read more

Ordered from Tandoori Mahal via delivery.com the night of the Olympics opening ceremony. We ordered right as the show was beginning 7:30 and didn't see our food until 8:50. One star down for the wait. By then we were each a few glasses of wine in and needed our food. Not sure if delivery would have taken as long if we had just called but next time (and there will be a next time because the food was darn good) that's what I'll be sure to do. We had: Samosas Garlic Naan Chicken Coconut Curry Chicen Curry Vegetable Masala Rice I would order all of the above again except for the samosas. They were too dry for my liking. The Chicken Coconut Curry was delish! Similiar to tikka masala from other restaurants but didn't leave us feeling like we wanted to throw up or pass out from all of the cream and grease. read more

First a warning, the 10% discount mention on Yelp, the waiter says did you print it? Manager not here, I know nothing about it as we tried to show him the Yelp app discount. So, no manager but a waiter at 7pm on a Wednesday night. And you have to print what, an app? Hmm..... That's OK, the waiter would have gotten the 10% discount added to the 20% tip anyways so not like we would have saved anything. Now for the positive. Cleanest Indian restaurant in San Francisco. Note, I said San Francisco, not anywhere else. Best garlic naan, still good spices for medium heat. Yeah, I hate sweating when eating so no hot for us. Best Indian Beer ever tasted. Date place Indian restaurant, nice decor when you want Indian and not feel like eating hole in the wall places that's cheap near Chinatown. read more

Lets play a quick game. You order a Chicken Tikka Masala, a Saag Paneer, and Naan for delivery. Your total comes to over $30 with tip. Your food arrives promptly, is the proper temperature.... Would you expect a meal, or appetizer-sized everything? I read a lot of reviews about the buffet, how cheap it is, blah blah blah. Seems they make up for it by delivering snack-sized "entrees" to delivery customers. Good food. Just want more of it for what I paid. read more

Found this place as we drove by intending to go somewhere else. We were so hungry we really couldn't wait to locate another place to eat lunch. Being stuck in city traffic can really increase your appetite. Came in for the lunch buffet and was weary about the lack of customers. We were pleasantly surprised though after the first round. The chicken makahni was my favorite. The chicken is spiced well in a creamy curry sauce. It was delicious! I think the chicken was grilled before being put the sauce and that made it extra tasty. I almost licked my plate clean, but had to control myself in front of my current company. Service was extremely lacking considering there were only 2 tables in the whole restaurant. Not surprising though. Overall a pretty good little place to stop by for lunch. I wouldn't mind coming back if I was in the neighborhood again. read more