Recommends

Contributor

Joined 10 years ago

Editorial Review. Clay tandoori oven-cooked seafood, meat, vegetables and naan bread; also delivery and an all-you-can-eat lunch buffet.

Recommends

franmirabella

Joined 9 years ago

Amazing Food, Notorious Service. There's a difference you'll get when reading this review versus most of the rest: you can trust this one. A review is nothing without experience or objectivity. I'm know my Indian. I've been addicted to it for nearly a decade (I'm 27). I only feel the need to establish this because I'm shocked by the accuracy of the other written reviews.

Consider that India Garden (9th @ Folsom) currently has a rating of 8.7 as of April 2007, it's strange that most of the reviews naysay the food (only out of spite of the delivery service, it seems). It's true, the paper Chinese cartons they use are deplorable! Hopefully they'll change it. I don't do delivery, I always pick up or dine-in. That said, eating at this cozy, well decorated SoMa restaraunt is the way to go. Go with a group of 5-8 friends and the experience is fantastic. But go there for the food, as the service is unpredictable.

The quality of this Indian food is tops. If you like India Oven (Fillmore @ Waller), Gaylord or even the Naan 'n' Curry type chains, this absolutely is better. No contesting it. However, I find that if you like a pool of grease on top of your muddy brown Indian food, you may not like India Garden. It's more gourmet. I prefer Lahore Kahari for the greasy Indian food pit stop, but for a dish that sings expert preperation India Garden is the way to go.

I could easily double the length of my review trying to convince you to go, but I urge you to objectively give it a chance. This food is great; the saag is outstanding and lamb is tender enough you'll want to compose a love song for it. Don't phone in an order and wait for it to soak for 20 minutes in a paper carton before it hits your plate. Dine in or make swift work of the take out (which almost always takes 15 minutes -- sometimes 10!).

Spicy food fans can go here for a real challenge. They use real chili peppers and if you earn their trust (or tell them Fran sent you) you'll be hurting. Buffet is good, but shouldn't be your first try.

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mvsf

Joined 7 years ago

great experience with delivery food. Just ordered the chana masala and chicken tikka masala last night.

It came in 35 minutes and was delivered hot and fresh. The naan is amazing.

I recommend this place...

Doesn't Recommend

eunnok

Joined 7 years ago

Worst Delivery Service and attitude. My order came later than the 1 hour window that they asked for. then the food had soaked through the chinese food cartons, wrapped in cling wrap. i called them immediately for a refund, but they insisted on sending replacments, promising its arrival in 15 minutes. I called when it was late (again) and asked for a refund which they were not accepting as a reasonable solution. The food actually came 40 minutes later. They really have no concern for making their customers even remotely satisfied. I will never order from them again. period. They blew it. After all of that, the worstpart was that the food was really ordinary.

Doesn't Recommend

eminamy

Joined 7 years ago

Bad delivery service. Make sure you have plenty of paper towels when you order delivery from this place. At first we like this restaurant because they make a great aloo muttar and a so so chicken tikka marsala (only small chunks of chicken, mostly sauce) but for the past three times we order for delivery, our orders came in a drippy curried soaked chinese take out boxes and food was cold! Obviously the delivery guy took the long scenic route before getting to our place (we are only about 10 blocks away...) but the worst part is that he ignores the direction to get into the building so my husband has to go down to get the food!!! If you want delivery then go somewhere else!!!

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smokeydpr

Joined 7 years ago

Good atmostphere, Average Food. This was my first time to this place. The service was average. they do have a huge menu. There were alot of selections. Good atmosphere. We ordered about 5 dishes. The mushroom rice, naan and the veggie dish were good. The curry chicken had little taste to it. The Chicken Kabab was very dry. I would probably wait a while before i will try this place again.

Doesn't Recommend

newjerseydiva

Joined 7 years ago

Horrible!. I was very excited to try India Garden. Unfortunately, I was highly disappointed. The food arrived in a chinese carton wrapped in saran wrap as the saltier than salty channa masala was in an almost soup like consistency. They gave a lot of rice, which was laden with butter and made me sick. At least the naan was hot and good!

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Joanna Currier

Joined 8 years ago

South of Market favorite for white-tablecloth Indian dining with a flower-strewn patio.. In Short
This deep, narrow restaurant with a full bar and back outdoor garden features well-prepared Indian specialties, including clay oven chicken, seafood and lamb. Despite an all-you-can-eat lunchtime buffet and an inexpensive dinner menu, an upscale ambience prevails, with elegant tables, a polished dark-wood interior, and attentive service. Take-out is available for any dish; delivery is free within a limited area. Try choosing from the range of 15 different styles of stuffed and seasoned naan.

Doesn't Recommend

jdonelan

Joined 8 years ago

Crap. Took a year out before reordering from this place after a few bad experiences a while back. Tried them again a few days ago with similar experience. Food took ages to arrive - had to call in twice. The person taking orders took down my wrong phone number and ignored the apartment number - meaning the delivery person couldn't contact me. Food was cold (freezing) when it arrived and most dishes looked and tasted like they were left overs from yesterday - certainly not fresh. Won't be ordering again..

Doesn't Recommend

pissedandhungry

Joined 8 years ago

Worst Dining Experience EVER. After 12 years in San Francisco - This is the worst service we have ever encountered. We waited 40 minutes for our food while all of the other people that arrived after us proceeded to eat and pay for their food. After we finally asked where our meals were the waiter pretended it was on its way and asked us to repeat our order (he actually forgot to put our order in). No appologies or discounts. The food was mediocre and not worth the price (there are several other great Indian restaurants in the city). My water glass was empty, we were ignored, and it took even longer to get the check. We would NEVER recommend this restaurant to anyone!