ARK Grill

I ate at this place several years ago, and never got around to leaving them a shining review. I loved the personal attention and excellent customer service. The food was also excellent. And there was a Bollywood movie to watch as well! It was also reasonably priced. I remember being very satisfied with my meal, and have recommended the place to several people.

We were lucky that my friends and I visited the Half Moon Bay on a very bright and clear day. We were looking for something to eat on our way back home until we stumbled upon this place. A little congested but a perfect place to go on a date with candle light and bollywood movies on a projector.
Here’s what we ordered. Masala papar for starters was okay with the Sula brand of Chiraz wine. Veg Makhanwala and Dal Fry were tickling the taste buds. Spinach Dal and Cumin Rice were a perfect combo. For Tandoori breads, we ordered chapatis and cheese-​garlic naans which soft and less-​oily. However, the Biryani missed the touch of a spicy edge.
Ambiance was light and pleasant. The lady that served us was hospitable and made us felt like home with complimentary Shrikhand (yogurt dish) she served to bring a sweet end to this amazing journey of flavors.

Worst Indian food, I ordered chana masala and what I got is a tomato purée with white rice and they charged $ 10 for it.

Delicious Indian moonside? Yum. Good prices for quality food, beer is pricey. Great service in nice space.

I should have known from the non existent lines that this was a bad sign.
Normally food trucks are packed.
Not this one.
Can’t believe I paid $ 15 for a small plate of saag and nan.
The saag has a weird vinegar flavor to it. It’s really acidic and not very appetizing. The nan for $ 3 was the worst. Cold and hard like a frisbee.
I couldn’t even rip it. I had to cut it with the scissors at my desk which kind of pissed me off because I couldn’t chew it, it was really chewy and dry. Was it a day old? It wasn’t even warm.
The rice was okay, but once again combined with the saag with really bitter tomatoes and undercooked red potatoes I was wondering if I was going to be on the toilet for the rest of the day.
And yep, I was… I know, TMI, but I thought you all should know.

Out in HMB golfing. Hungry for dinner. Did Google search on restaurants in general. ARK showed up nearby. Love Indian. Was Fri night around 6:45. Seated immediately. Service faster than any Indian restaurant I’ve eaten in. Food was great. A bit different than what I’m used to back East but very good. I recommend this place.

I live blocks away from this place and it’s consistently good. They can crank up the spice like in their shrimp vindaloo (it has a pepper sign on the menu signifying it’s hot… and I’m pretty sure I started to sweat the second I tried it). I don’t know if this was their special, but I remember they had a naan with cut up serrano peppers on it that was just too insanely hot for me (this might be the «chili cheese naan» they have on their printed menu but I’m not 100% sure as I had that serrano pepper I think 2 years ago). Aside from their spicy stuff, the rest of their dishes all come with wonderful flavor. The price is reasonable and you’ll always leave extremely full. It’s the best Indian place I’ve been to in the bay area, but I haven’t tried everything out there. When I do feel like Indian, I will not hesitate to go here!

A friend brought me here after telling that it was the best Indian food she had in the Bay area. I was not a fan of Indian food but this place rocked when it came to flavor. Beautiful place and owners. Thanks Jay.

Some of the best Indian food we have had in a long time. The chili-​cheese naan was amazing. I’ll be dreaming about that for a while.
The service was great. The proprietor was a gracious lady and attentive.
Go and eat well!

My wife and I have now been there 3 times and appreciate the food, service and atmosphere more each time.
I need vegan, gluten free meals and this place takes it over the top. The fare is traditional Indian but I think healthier. I left there today after having lunch and realized that it’s the healthiest Resturaunt in HMB. Our lunch dishes were tasty and simple.
There’s this cracker type flat bread type thingy, sorry I don’t know the name, but it’s made of lentils and is awesome!!! I had the chickpea dish with rice and my wife had the Vegas and rice. Way tasty and eat healthy!

We love Indian food and was excited to try this place since we moved here. It’s was underwhelming… i guess we are a bit spoiled by the good Indian options we had in the Peninsula. The mix tandoori platter was dry and the lamb dish had jalapeño in them for spice? Naan and chicken tikka masala were average. Pretty Americanized flavors… Not sure if I will go back.

I’m reviewing the food truck, not the restaurant. Generally the food trucks parked at my office have a crowd in front but there was no one there. It was odd and I commented to my friend «this can’t be a good sign». I was right.
I ordered the Chicken Tikka Masala with Rice and 2 Samosas. The Samosa’s were delicious. Very full of filling and a light shell.
The Chicken Tikka Masala was not good at all, however. It was watery as if they had run out of cream or yogurt and just substituted water. My understanding is it should be a cream/​yogurt and tomato base, but it was like garam masala spices and water. The chicken took on a pink hue which made it kind of unappetizing.
The two samosa’s were $ 7. Worth it. The Chicken Tikka was $ 11. Not worth it.

This review is for the food truck that came to Menlo Park.
The overall rating is based on the lamb curry (3 stars) and the amount it cost (2 stars). Overall, the prices from the truck were pretty high. The lamb curry was $ 15! I still went that route since I have not had lamb in some time. Portion wise, it was decent. But for $ 15 I could have had more at the restaurant. Flavor wise, it was okay. I would recommend a bit more spice to the dish.

Ive not been to the restaurant in HMB but i hear it’s highly regarded. Was at a food truck gathering and realized there were too many choices. I had already a meal but samosas were too hard to pass up. For two large ones it’s $ 8, so a tD on the high side. But theyre hefty and tasty. Next time ill try some of their other fare and hopefully hit the resto one day

TLDR: Honestly, just read the management’s response to get a feel of their attitude.
Edit: In response to the management’s response to my review:
My party did finish our food. Which is weird since we usually don’t and packing food to go is normal. The portion size seemed smaller than average and we left hungry. The mango lassie was not as good as some others I’ve had but still good enough for me to not waste.
Lastly– something I failed to also mention. We had four people and we each ordered a dish with naan. They asked if we were fine with have all the naan served in a communal style on one plate. That’s fine. The naan was cut into fourths for us, which was nice. But there were 12 pieces. Pretty sure there should have been 16.
— — –
They saw us hovering outside at two and opened their doors for us (even though they were closed). Plus one star for that.
Had their chicken masala bowl, which comes with a bowl of rice and naan. Paid a bit extra for the garlic naan. In terms of the chicken masala, it was pretty dry and didn’t seem authentic. It actually just tasted like bbq chicken. There was no sauce to dip my naan in. Ultimately the food tasted good, but it wasn’t chicken masala.
The mango lassi was below average. I’ve had much better elsewhere.
The garlic naan was good though. Had a generous amount of fresh garlic.
I’d skip if you’re debating between places. If you’re thinking something quick and easy, sure why not.

Even though I live in North Carolina, I have eaten here 3 times in the past 2 years as I make a point of stopping in every time I visit my family in Half Moon Bay. It is a standout as an «ethnic» option on the coastside.
They offer a full dinner menu, but my most recent trip I had lunch. For lunch, they offer a considerably scaled down menu — chicken tikka masala, chicken curry, chana masala, and one other option. You can get one of those plus rice and naan for $ 12 or two for $ 15. So, it’s not cheap but nothing on the coastside is anymore.
The food was good, though I did note that the flavors were more sweet than spicy — perhaps a concession to the average taste of diners. Of the tikka masala, curry, and chana masala, only the chana masala was spicy.
We also had samosas as an appetizer, which were a nice surprise since many Indian restaurants we eat at seem to use frozen samosas. These were fresh cooked and tasty, especially with the spicer green chutney.

Not bad for half moon bay but does not compare to the likes of naan and curry in east bay.
Food quantities smaller taste not so great

My bf brought me to this cozy North Indian restaurant in Half Moon Bay. I have the chicken korma and he had the lamb vindaloo. Both were amazing, fresh, perfectly balanced in flavors and spices. Both meats on the plates were tender and delicious. We had a order of basmati rice and garlic nan bread to compliment the man dishes. The nan was fresh and piping hot slightly glazed with a little oil and semi crusted from the hot baking over.
We also had an order of potato samosas which were perfectly deep fried. The 2 large portions came with a sweet and tangy tamarind sauce as well as a mint spicy sauce. Our meal came to less than 50 $
This was one of the my best North Indian meals ever.

I could give zero stars if I could! this place sells frozen Indian food! I ordered veg thali and my bf orders meat thali. His thali was ok. But veg thali was crappy. Vegetable of the day was cooked out of frozen bag of beans carrot and peas. We also ordered shrimp biryani. that biryani was not made of long Grain biryani rice which is usually what you get when you order biryani. Any six year old can make better biryani than this.
Food was very americanized and bland… They can not fool a seasoned Indian with their crappy so-​called Indian food.

Strolling around the Pumpkin Festival, we saw a sandwich board advertising Pumpkin Masala & we knew this was a must stop during our staycation
ARK North Indian Grill was offering a buffet-​style setup w/​ready-​made items like channa masala, some meaty dish & the treasured pumpkin!
Ordered 2 servings to go plus some naan & took it back up to SF w/​us
Only downer was that we hadn’t ordered more! It was *incredibly* tasty! The pumpkin was just a bit sweet & nicely tender while the masala sauce had a lovely kick to it & added just the right amount of bite… it was the perfect combo of sweet & spicy!
The naan was nicely charred & doughy like all the best naans are… we will definitely make ARK a must-​stop on every HMB trip & are very much looking forward to a return visit… and soon!