Shalimar Food and Cafe

New Chef…
Food nowhere as good, sigh…

|| B A C K G R O U N D ||
Bummer that I had to come back to Berkeley during spring break, baller that I got to catch my weekly lunch with my friend without swarms of Berkeley students all over the place, getting all up in my lines. So peaceful 8)
For a Tuesday lunch on spring break, there was no one ahead of us, and one person behind us. You walk in and order to your right at the counter. We then took a window seat at one of the 12 or so tables in this spacious place. Since this is a restaurant and café, there was no complimentary chai tea (because they can charge for it, derp).
They have lunch and dinner specials at $ 5.99 each, which include your choice of an entrée (chicken tikka masala, chicken curry, 1 piece seekh kebab/​tandoori chicken leg, and chana masala & saag), with sides of saag, basmati rice, and naan.
Food took 7 minutes to come out, and no joke, I was a bit alarmed at how little the portion was. But at the end, with the side of basmati rice and the naan (which is actually a half piece, but it’s big!), I left pretty full!
I ordered the Cal Special, total after tax was $ 6.51. My friend ordered the Paneer Tikka Masala with an order of plain naan, total after tax was $ 8.67. And the lady was gracious enough to give him an order of basmati rice too!
|| F O O D ||
CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA: strips of white chicken cooked in cream sauce with herbs and spices [$ 5.99 in Cal Special]
— The cream sauce is thick and creamy! Not better than Indian Flavors Express, but still very good! Better than Naan N’ Curry and House of Curries for sure.
— The white chicken is a bit dry, but edible: P
— The naan is thin, crunchy, and airy! Good dough too!
— The basmati rice is rice. ’nuff said. c:
— The saag is good! It’s boiled spinach, but I can’t quite describe the flavor. It’s definitely not straight-​up spinach.
PANEER TIKKA MASALA: cheese cubes cooked in cream sauce with herbs and spices [$ 6.99]
— The cheese cubes tasted like tofu?! To me at least. My friend said that they taste tangier than tofu… but it seriously tasted like tofu to me… bland and a bit soy-​ish in taste.
|| C L O S U R E ||
Good food for a decent price! The portions are on the small side, but the starch suffices. Also, no free chai tea, but at least there’s water?
$ 5 credit card minimum.
If I were to rank the Indian places I’ve eaten at, it’d go:
1) Currylicious (in Oakland)
2) Indian Flavors Express
3) Mount Everest Restaurant
4) Shalimar
5) Naan N’ Curry
6) House of Curries

decent food and good value. friendly staff.

Three and a half stars! It’s not fancy or smoothly run, but I’m adding it to my roster of cheap, local lunches.
I had a moment where I didn’t understand that I was being asked to choose between chana masala and saag– I thought the lunch combo was set. It’s nice to have options, I guess. I got the saag with my chicken TM. The chicken was not dried out. The TM sauce had a nice, rich, caramelly flavor. The saag was tasty without seeming super oily or overcooked.
I agree that the owners (I presume) are super nice. The daughter that another Unilocaler complained about was well-​behaved the whole time I was there. There was no Dora the Explorer playing. It was all fine and tasty and cheap and friendly. (Yes, a little drafty. I think that’s just the way that place is built.)

$ 6 special and the staff was very friendly and the place had a whole family feel: wife takes order, husband serves food, child comes in and out… very sweet.
Tikka masala was perfect and the chicken just right… it has been one of the better ones that I have tried. the naan was piping hot and fresh, the rice was perfect and the saag spot on.

Grabbed a tandoori chicken wrap here one afternoon. Bread was very fresh, filling was tasty enough.

Pretty bad customer service. In fact, I ordered two items and only got one… of course I had to wait 15 minutes before I got my first order, had to figure out they didn’t give me both orders, then wait until the cashier took another order on the phone before I ordered again. The food was nothing outstanding so I will not be coming back here again.

Best naan I’ve had in a long time. Fresh and tasty food. Amazing prices. I eat Indian a lot and this was very good. Friendly owners too.

I didn’t think it was possible, but this was quite simply the most bland, absolute worst Indian/​Pakistani food I’ve ever eaten in my life. I was hoping this might be the same Shalimar they have in SF … it was very clearly not.
With all the great Indian/​Pakistani in town (like Kabana and all the other spots around University and San Pablo), this place has no business being in business in Berkeley.
Blech!

Shalimar opened about a month or two ago. The grand opening special was $ 4.99 for the 4 item rice entrée but now has upped the price by $ 1 and renamed as the lunch specials. $ 5.99 is still a good deal for chicken curry or chicken tikka masala, naan, garbonzo beans, and basmati rice. I really like the chicken curry with the rice. Don’t be surprised but the na’am is half a large piece, so a semi circle but still a great amount.
There is free wi-​fi available and a bunch of seats and tables like the library. This is a great study space or a palce for groups to meet up to discuss projects and whatnot. Support local business! Oh yeah, there is a fee for debit card charges of $.50.

I have so many complaints about this place. I’m sorry but their coffee is horrible. It is cold and windy in here, and super noisy. The owners have a child who runs around and they play her TV shows over the speakers! If you want to run a successful business, pick either food or coffee, and if you can do both, great, just don’t fake the coffee! Please install heaters and close the windows and doors, it is freezing outside and inside (when I leave 2 of my jackets on, that is bad sign!). Please turn off the TV and tell your child not to run around the café.
Pros: in a great location. They really make a lot of money if they focus and spend a bit more on things like heating and a babysitter for their kid.

I have come here on numerous occasions over the past couple months, and even brought friends, its a great quiet clean place to grab a decent bite to eat and do a little studying as well. Its got free wifi thats pretty quick and the family that runs it is pretty nice. I really like the guy who owns the place, he’s always really nice and welcoming, his wife not as much.
Food wise its actually pretty good, they made piping hot Samosas once for me and they were brilliant, great sauce as well.
As for the specials they are having now, (it used to be just $ 5, now its $ 5.99 but you get more options) I’ve tried both the chicken tikka masala and chicken curry and both are really good, it also comes with rice, naan, and chana masala. The chana masala isn’t my favorite, but I usually just mix it with whatever chicken I’m having and its totally perfect. The naan is always warm and yummy, and they always allow me to substitute an extra piece of naan instead of rice when I’m not in the mood for rice.

I came in for their daily special which was chicken tikka massala and rice and chickpeas. Overall, I was very disappointed at the service that I got at this location. The food wasn’t particularly good either. They took a very long time to give me my order, I even had to go and remind them that I had been waiting for a long time before they gave me my food. Apparently they forgot about my order.
The food was way too oily, The chick pea side dish seemed to be floating in oil, it was very unappealing. I have no idea if its an Indian food thing because I don’t eat it too often but that much oil did not seem normal. The chicken was ok, it might have been better spicier because it tasted a bit too much like tomato. I left the restaurant dissatisfied.

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this place. Was it a store? A coffeeshop? A restaurant? Is it connected to the grease-​pit that is Shalimar in the Tenderloin?
The super-​nice Uncle-​type running the joint (we’ll call him «Thumbs-​Up Uncle») set me straight: yes, they serve food; yes, they also serve coffee; no, they are no relation to the SF grease-​pit. «We are only connected to ourselves and Berkeley,» he said.
Well thank goodness for that, because the food was really yummy, and the service from Thumbs-​Up Uncle was fantastic. I especially loved the Chili Paneer. Everything had the right amount of spice, and tasted fresh.
I will definitely be back, perhaps to try this $ 5 special I’ve heard about, and, of course, to say hi to Thumbs-​Up Uncle and his adorable family.

Shalimar Indian and Pakistani Food. Delicious! Don’t be fooled by the informal casual order-​at-​the-​counter approach to Food Service! The prices are well below what one would expect for such great tasting food! Plenty of veggie choices served fresh and piping hot, spiced just perfectly! The paneer pakoras would win awards if compared to other local restaurants! Staff are friendly and food is quickly cooked and brought to your table or bagged for take out. A new, more delicious, much more wholesome interpretation of Fast Food!

$ 5 special and great service! the staff was very friendly and the place had a whole family feel (wife takes order, husband serves food, child comes in and out)
sooo much food for $ 5! the tikka masala was on point (it had the butteryness of butter chicken but the smooth tomatoeyness signature of tikka masala) and the meat was not dry. they claim it’s the «best tikka masala,» i might have to partially agree. it has been one of the better ones that i have tried. the naan was piping hot and fresh, the buttery, slightly sweet naan went well with the chicken. the rice was not dry and the garbanzo beans were were decent.
come to get the $ 5 special if anything. there is also a hot muscular cook in the back, if you were wondering.

This place went from being the highly popular Sufficient Grounds to the highly unpopular Zanzibar Coffeehouse and now, Shalimar Food and Café. Food and café meaning, there is a menu of Inidan and Pakistani food as well as a menu of coffeehouse drinks. I think that’s a good thing they have going on, which lets its former predecessor live just a bit longer. What drew me in was the introductory special. For $ 5, you can get chicken tikka masala or chicken curry. It comes with rice, naan, and chana masala. It’s a little deceptive because the amount of chicken tikka masala or chicken curry is the same as the chana masala. Portions are not huge, but remarkably decent for $ 5. It’s not just a lunch special because plenty of people eat here for dinner straight out of the plastic clamshell container. It’s a pretty quiet place to study because it’s not that well frequented and it’s roomy with lots of natural sunlight.