Punjab Cafe
| Address: | 322 E Santa Clara St, San Jose, CA 95112, USA |
| Phone: | +1 408-295-5470 |
| Site: | punjabcafesanjose.com |
| Rating: | 3.9 |
| Working: | 11AM–3PM 11AM–3PM 11AM–3PM 11AM–3PM 11AM–3PM 12–4PM 12–4PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 10
KR
Kristine Morgan
I made a last minute order last night through Eat24 when my roommates all decided to cook pork (Im deathly allergic) Not realizing that when the app said the menu hours were u til 10, the restaurant actually also closed at 10, I placed my order in at 9:52. (It didnt occur to me to check the restaurants hours until -after- I had placed my order). But, a short 25min later, I had my order delivered. I was somewhat shocked. I was expecting my food delivery to be rejected for it being so last minute. But a very nice man delivered my food. I gave him a $10 tip as a thank you/apology for being such a jerk for ordering so late/last minute. My food was much more delicious than I expected. I love love love the lamb dish I ordered. Its in a creamy sauce with nuts. And boy is it creamy. The rice is decent, flavorful and not mushy. I also enjoyed the paneer naan (aside from my aversion to cilantro. But thats not their fault Im picky). All in all, the service was excellant, and the food was superb. I will be ordering food from them more often, and maybe visit their standing restaurant sometime in the future.
BO
Bonnie A
According to the Indian (not Indian-American) in our group, this is one of the best Indian restaurants hes been to in the S. Bay/Peninsula area. Theres a variety of north and south Indian dishes on the menu. They have a buffet at dinner too, in addition to their lunch buffet. However, we ordered from the menu and they seemed unaccustomed to that. Ex: We had to ask for flatware after receiving plates and napkins, among other little things. Also we brought a birthday cake with us and when we asked for a knife we received a butter knife. We made it work anyway. But the food is fantastic. I ordered the chicken coconut, one friend ordered saag chicken, another goat curry, and another the navratan korma. No one was disappointed. The rice came in a communal bowl, instead of individual bowls, but not a problem for us. Dont expect anything fancy in the ambience, but I love that they have a Purell dispenser right by the cash register so you can use it after paying and before visiting the buffet.
AB
Abhinav Maurya
I visited this place yesterday for dinner. I had the papri chaat which was delicious and well-presented as you can see from a couple of pictures posted on this page. Based on the positive experience, I also ordered chefs special biryani and a chai. The biryani portions were large and I took around half of it to go. Both the biryani and chai were good but not specially memorable. I think the place is great for Indian snacks and some tea. With lunches and dinners, you mileage may vary. They also have lunch and dinner buffets. The dinner buffet starts at 8:30pm and I have heard is pretty cheap for the quality and variety. I arrived early at around 7:30pm after shopping and therefore did not wait to try the buffet. I would definitely recommend this place. It wont however be everyones favorite go-to place for dinners and lunches. Its also slightly removed from downtown, and is located on santa clara street between seventh and eighth avenues.
JO
Johann Naylor
The food is solid, and the wait staff is helpful with menu selections for the amateur so youll do well with dinner and friends. You should also be aware that like many other Indian and Pakistani places, no alcohol is served here. My biggest problem with this place is that the ceiling tiles have been painted over, the walls are solid masonry, and the seating area is like a large hallway so its impossibly loud. Its quite ridiculous actually, like a bunch of drunk people in a marble bathroom. In my party of two seated one table away from a party of three (who werent being particularly loud) my friend and I could not only hear every detail of their conversation without effort at times we had to shout at each other to have our own conversation (rising voices cause rising voices . . .). The street wouldve been preferable, and they do offer takeout.
FR
Freda Grace
After a tiring journey, we stopped at Punjab Cafe eager to try out some tasty dishes since the reviews looked promising. We ordered Chicken Biryani and Chefs special Biryani. To our utter disappointment, both the dishes tasted so bad that we could not eat beyond few spoonfulls and had to ask the waitress to take back the dishes. They had no spices, no nothing. They were not even close to what an authentic Biryani should be. We had also ordered Veg Pakora and Chicken tikka masala which tasted good though. Try the biryanis at your own risk. Also, I agree with the other reviewers, the place had a peculiar stench! A quick edit: The manager was kind enough to not charge us for the 2 Biryanis and treated us to 2 complimentary dessert which tasted great...so 4 stars from 2 stars just for Manager!
HA
Hardik Shah
This is one of the most pathetic restaurant I have ever come across!! Wish could rate in negative stars. They discriminate in serving food and on the top of that, they just cant see people taking food in their supplied ToGo box!! They ask you to not fill the ToGo box and even worst, they ask you to bring the earlier given Togo box again and again (very low quality plastic box) Stale food, no guarantee when they run out of buffet dishes..Refilling of any item.in buffet takes hours for them!! also they unwelcome and disrespect their guests as if they are eating free!!! I would prefer to pay rather few more bucks to get hygienic food and good service.
FR
Fredrik Blomqvist
Small and simple with a genuine feel to it. We had the Tandoori chicken and Mushroom chicken, together with milkshakes. Unfortunately we had to wait forever for everything, and they gave us one of the dishes almost ten minutes before the other one. They also told us that they did not have enough berries for one of the milkshakes -- 30 minutes after we ordered it. All in all, the service was pretty crappy, but the food was good (can recommend the mango milkshake!). I would have given it 3 stars, but since I have only been there was, I feel like that is not fair. Maybe they had a bad day.
HA
Harish Sethumadhavan
Best all-you-can-eat Indian buffet for $8 !! The courteous staff add to the popularity of the business. One weekend, me and a couple of friends were driving back late night. I had called up the restaurant to check if they were open. We reached exactly on closing time - 11pm. But, they had kept the restaurant open only because we had called up. Also, the buffet food was over. But, they cooked fresh chicken curry and butter nans for us, even though it was after closing time!! Best restaurant experience ever. :)
PR
Pravesh Nikhare
If you are seeking authentic Indian food with great taste and ambience, you are at wrong place. I had dinner buffet here. Unlike other buffets in the city, buffet main course items were limited to 4. For appetizers, they just had onion pakoda. For bread, they were serving naan only. The quality of food and preparation was below par. Chicken in the chicken curry tasted very hard and stale. It looked like a small Indian college mess with lots of students inside. They offer discounts too if you pay in cash.
YO
Yogirajsinh ZALA
Place seemed good going by rating hence called up, to do a take out.After knowing the menu online called back @ 09:45 PM local time(Restaurant was suppose to close at 11.00 PM, still on call I was told 10.30 PM). Called multiple times no one picked up nor it seemed like willing to receive phone. On reaching restaurant was told cannot take orders any more nor can I dine-in. Only buffet was available (:p) and that too limited items in buffet which seemed not fresh.
