Indian Street Cafe
| Address: | 927 E Arques Ave #141, Sunnyvale, CA 94085, USA |
| Phone: | +1 669-246-5034 |
| Site: | indianstreetcafe.com |
| Rating: | 3.9 |
| Working: | 11AM–2:30PM 11AM–2:30PM 11AM–2:30PM 11AM–2:30PM 11AM–11PM 11AM–11PM 11AM–10PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 11
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Shivika Thapar
Visited Indian Street Cafe today. We ordered pav bhaji, chai, a beer and "amazing vegan aloo tikki burger". While waiting for the food, I read around 3 different places in the restaurant that if "the food or service is not upto the mark, please let us know and we will try to do anything possible to make it right." I was impressed they cared about customer experience. When the food arrived, the pav bhaji and tea were good. But the beer was served at room temperature, the amazing aloo tikki burger was far from amazing. The patty was just mashed boiled potatoes stuffed between the bun, nothing close to a patty. The burger typically is served with channa and rice as the menu suggested, but that dint arrive and we were ready to pay. We even asked about the missing item and they said it would come soon. Before paying, I shared the experience with the server to express our feedback. She went back to the kitchen and packed the channa and rice for us as to go. If I had to take food home, I would have just ordered. Anyway. She neither did anything about our feedback nor took burger off the bill which we left after the first bite. We paid for the entire food even after sharing the feedback and went to eat dinner at another place. Overall, terrible experience. Had a lot of expectations, but wouldnt go again or recommend to others.
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Flavia Ungureanu
I think Ill be a regular here. Its unpretentious and delicious. The black-pepper chicken curry is smoky, spicy with a slightly sweet hint. You can taste the fresh peppercorns and see a whole bunch of them on your plate and in your teeth :) The Chicken Paratha is a large flatbread filled with an addictive mix of chicken and spices, served with several types of sauces you get yourself from the bar: one was cilantro-based (best), tomato-based (OK), peanut-based (? weird texture but not bad). The main door is inside the plaza, not from the street corner. The stripped down menu, cute metal water cups, the wall posters and strategic and sparse decorations make this not just a place with super delicious food but a corner diner with vision, probably soon to be one of the best in Sunnyvale. I can see one slight downside: its high ceilings would probably amplify noise substantially at busy lunch times so either dont come at rush hours or bring lots of friends and make your own noise to cover all other. :)
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Jason Barber
I came in on a Sunday afternoon after a workout. The owner greeted me and was beyond friendly. I ordered to-go. I got my food fairly quickly and, after chatting with the owner a bit, paid and headed home. I ordered the saag, garlic naan, and ginger lemonade. The ginger lemonade was great! Just what I wanted on a 90 F degree afternoon after a workout. I was hoping for chawal, but I am not really sure if that is typical of Chennai cuisine. My saag came with a healthy portion of rice and selection of 5 chutneys and salad. The curry itself was pretty good and was very coriander heavy. Although I would have liked it a bit spicy, I am sure they could have done that if I asked considering the massive note on the wall saying that they will make anything to your palate. The naan was pretty heavy on the garlic which was nice. I will be going back for sure.
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Ravneet Mavi
Food is ok, service is good. Seems like they spent a good amount of money to import Indian auto-rikshaws to create some of the dinning tables. But I am not keen to go again, just because the food is not worth the trouble. Update - gave it one more try, and changing my review to 1 star from previous 3. Food quality was still bad - droopy salads, stale coconut chutneys ( seemed to be sitting in hot temperature for long). Chicken dishes had off- taste last time, as if not fresh. So, this time we ordered Dosa, uttapum, idli etc. But didnt realize that the menu had misleading pricing till we saw the bill. Trying to sell Dosa etc like car dealership, if you want any filling add $2 on top of Dosa pricing. Totally annoying.
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Deepak Mohanty
Most Indian restaurants in the Bay Area peddle fare that is obscenely bland. I avoid them with a fervour, but my first visit to Indian Street Cafe was a pleasant surprise. I had rice with Prawn Black Pepper Lunch Special. It was delicious. On a whim I mixed salad with two Chutneys and that too turned out to be delicious. They sure have one or more good cooks. Overall: Ambience 5/5 (I liked the open seating arrangement) Food 5/5 Price 4/5 (Pretty generous portions) Service 1/5 (They seemed seriously understaffed and it took forever to get the food even at 1:30 PM. I had to ask for something twice.)
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Kyle Henry
Loved it. The restaurant is open, with good and ample seating, and the wait staff is friendly and helpful. The food came quickly, and everything was delicious. I had their Street Cafe with chicken, my partner had coconut curry, and our friend had a potato dosa. The dosa was so homey and comforting, the curry was so balanced and tasty, and my street cafe chicken was perfectly spicy, and had nice fresh veggies. There is a self-serve salad bar with various tasty dressings. Their fresh ginger ale was absolutely wonderful. And, you can donate to a few worthy causes while youre there. Love it.
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Dave Kuhlmann
If you were to cross an indian food restaurant with a bierhaus, this is it. Pretty open seating, servers whisking around the room and answering to bell-tolls from the kitchen. The ambiance is great. The menu, albeit quite disorienting at first, seemed pretty impossible to make a mistake ordering from. We got three different appetizers and two entrees and all of the food was just delicious. It seems on-par cost-wise with other indian places in the area (not quite as cheap as some of the thali spots). Definitely worth a visit!
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Sameer Rakheja
Update (2/4/17): Third time terrible experience. At lunch time their staff is usually having lunch so you might wait forever and need to remind them that you ordered food. Just reading the other reviews seems its on a downward spiral when it comes to service. One of the few places that give you an authentic feel both in terms of ambience and food. Quality of food is great and its delicious if you enjoy spicy food. The management is very courteous but the service can be a hit or miss so taking a star off.
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Ifthikar Talha
The first thing you notice about the place is the décor. They have tried to replicate the streets of Madras and for some one coming from Chennai/ Madras I got to say they did a pretty good job. It did feel like I was home for a second. As far as the food goes, the menu was way better than the actual food. It had pretty interesting South Indian spicy non vegetarian options, just wished the taste was equally better. But the overall experience was good and the food was definitely not bad.
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Jishin Vijay
Amazing Indian food joint. Spicy O (Egg omlette) and their tea are the best!!! Cant get more closer to home made food!! Not to forget, the ambience there is worth seeing!!! Makes you feel you are at a street in India, with Rickshaws, chai wala, and movie posters around you.. :) Also, the gesture of the owner to join with Vibha (a non-profit to help the underprivileged children in India grow) is amazing! His generosity and kindness shows on the food! Amazingly tasty!!
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Sagar Manglani
We ordered Pav Bhaji and Paneer Tikka. The bhaji had no taste at all and was barely edible. For the Paneer tikka, the Paneer was not marinated into any sour/spicy mix (it was not marinated into anything) and therefore it lacked flavor. I had to box the entire food and re-cook at home to finish it. While the surroundings may look unique, ambience can only carry a restaurant so far. Most people who come here expecting good food would probably be disappointed.
