California Chutney
| Address: | 45 N Raymond Ave, Pasadena, CA 91103, USA |
| Phone: | +1 626-396-6947 |
| Site: | calichutney.com |
| Rating: | 4.2 |
| Working: | 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 6
JA
Jake Miller
Ive been here a couple times and had two completely different experiences. Both times I got the naan taco trio. Im huge into Indian food and this place kills it, super delicious. The space is nice. Nice music, a little loud. Presentation of the food with the Le Cruesets is cool. But the service is some of the worse service Ive ever had to deal with. The people behind the counter just had no idea what was going on. I felt like I was dealing with children. They mischarged literally three people in a row. My receipt showed me as getting different items from what I got. Ordering both my gf and I had to repeatedly tell them again and again what we ordered, like they just werent comprehending anything. I got a beer for happy hour and they charged non happy hour prices. I even held up and pointed on the happy hour menu what beer I wanted but that wasnt enough. I was refunded for that difference after I had to explain to three different people about the mischarges on the receipt though. They dont have a clue on how to swap out a keg either. It took 15 minutes to get the beer. That 15 minutes was spent with them getting all the foam out going back and forth between a sink and the keg with a small glass. When they finally started getting beer out they would let the foam dissipate and fill my glass a little more until it was full. So my beer was warm and tasted terrible. And by the time I got my beer my food was cold. Advise to the owner would be. Its clear a lot of thought and effort went into this place and the website. Great execution on everything but the service is severely lacking. Its misrepresenting and tarnishing your vision for this. Get that under control man. Its so bad its not even worth it to deal with going there. Though Ill probably come back and try again one more time before I completely stop going because that food is so damn noms. Also, invest in a $2 bucket so you can prep your kegs faster. A little cup isnt the right tool for that job.
SO
Sonal Patel
This is what I call awesome Indian fast food. Think chipotle style ordering with Indian items. I came here for dinner last night with some friends. Ive been drooling over the idea of their naan tacos for quite some time now. I ordered a salad with paneer & kale and a lamb kheema taco. The salad portion was quite large. I probably could have eaten that alone on its own, but I was determined to get my naan taco I wanted. The lamb kheema was AWESOME. It was like a bite of heaven every single time - worth licking your fingers in public for. It had a really good spice to it...fresh and moist - yummm. Try out the yogurt chutney with some cilantro on there - you can thank me later for it. The paneer & kale salad I ordered was better than I expected. Definitely a full portion and is substantial enough for its own meal. I added some of the chickpeas to it as well. My only issues with my salad were: not enough variety of topping for a salad and the amount of kale stems I crunched on throughout my time eating it. The topping selections they have for perfect for the taco and burrito options, but I think it falls a bit short for salad. Im a person who prefers yummy veggies, textures and colors in my salad, so it was a little boring for me. While I dont love kale, the paneer with the kale leaves, tasted amazing. I think it was just my luck my plate had a ton of the stems in it compared to the kale leaves themselves. Overall, the food was absolutely delicious. For Indian fast food, there was definitely no shortcuts taken in the quality and freshness of each item. Fresh made naan, awesome protein selections - you just cant go wrong here. If you have room for dessert, definitely order the chai spiced cookie - it was hands down worth every little bit of unnecessary carbs. Youre belly and taste-buds will thank you for it.
CH
Chris Hsu
Ive walked by this restaurant many times while in Old Town and have always wanted to try it. Its a casual Indian are establishment thats gotten sort of the panda express/chipotle treatment. You get to order your meats or veggies and then you choose which style you want it such as in a bowl, plate, etc. and the price goes by which one you pick. For this, the food has already been prepared and just needs to be served. You can also order from the menu thats not already been prepared, and theyll cook it up in the back for you. I went with the tried and true favorite of Indian cuisine, the Chicken Tikki Masala. I have to say this is the worst version of CTM Ive ever had. In fact, the entire dish had problems. The CTM was entirely too salty and dependent on the rice to balance out the salt. Once you run out of the rice, it becomes a miserable experience finishing it. Also the rice itself was also not warm enough and the garbanzo beans were undercooked and too "crunchy". The naan itself was also salted which added more to my salt woes for the dish as I thought I could use the naan to balance out the chicken when the rice was out. Could just be one bad experience and an isolated incident, but I have so many other choices in Old Town Pasadena, I dont feel a second chance is warranted.
MI
Michelle Rodriguez
Healthy, Fast, Delicious, Satisfying. I went here with my mom and sister. My mom ordered one curry chicken taco, and it was pulled so high that she wasnt hungry after just that one! She said that if she lived near this place, shed come here for lunch at least twice a week. My sister got a rice bowl with garbanzo beans and kale cheese bites. They gave her a bunch of rice such is awesome. Her only complaint was that the rice tasted plain. If you are worried about that, dont be, because you can just add sauce to it. They have a dozen different sauces laid out. I ordered the chicken tandoori salad with garbanzo beans. They gave me two whole scoops of chicken. I must have gotten like 5 oz. Thats a lot for how much I paid! Only ~$7. So if youre super hungry, hey rice instead of salad.
BR
Bridget Hellige
This place has good food but strange service. When someone next to me ordered and repeated the name of their order, the server making the plate put the entirely wrong thing on the plate. She had no clue what the difference between Chana masala and paneer was. Then, it took forever to go through the line - it was so slow that other customers left. Lastly, they didnt have any rice, and let customers wait saying it would be right out but it ended up taking 15 minutes. Its too bad the service was bad because the food is actually pretty decent.
ED
Ed Hsu
Indian fast food thats pretty healthy and very flavorful. Service can be a bit slow in ordering you food, and especially when youre waiting for stuff thats being cooked to order (i.e. samosas - came almost at the end of the meal!). Many options available from tacos to regular plates. Plate options consist of a protein, side salad, rice and chana masala or soup. They give you sauce options at the end of the line, but you can opt to not get any there and help yourself around the corner where the drinks are.
