Ambrosia India Cafe

Wow — shockingly bad. We ordered four curries and a biryani. The biryani was awful; nobody ate more than a bite. The palak paneer was passable. Naan was actually quite good, but everything else was so salty I literally couldn’t eat it. We went with a group of four people and everyone agreed about the terrible quality and oversalted food. I thought Indian food was like pizza — even the bad end of the spectrum still pretty tasty — but boy did this place prove me wrong. You couldn’t pay me to go back.

Walked in around 4:25p and the place is empty. I looked prior to walking here for what I wanted. They have ready to go foods. I ordered chicken curry which comes with basmati rice.
The ambience is trying, and it is nicely lit. The décor is rather colorful and emphazing spices and peppers.
My chicken curry was well flavored and not hot (spicy). The chicken was tender but not too moist (my personal fav). I would come back.

Lunch specials not specified, lunch only, went in for chicken and rice and a drink $ 14!

Love this place. Obsessed with the butter chicken. Best food and great service! I like this location better than the big restaurant near Alvarado st because it’s a little more relaxed here.

Loved the food and the service was good the ambiance the music was hearable over the crowd the music really made the feel of the restaurant like you’re in India and then the food comes, it was so delish… Def coming back…

We were on a trip to SFO when we bumped into Indian restaurant and thought of trying it. Being an Indian, I was expecting some high quality stuff. A Plat of rice and 2 curries was $ 9, to me that expensive given the quantity of rice and curry that can fit into that small plate. We took Chana Masala, Jackfruit curry and Mushroom curry. Everything was so tangy. Mushroom curry was nice. The owner seemed to be a nice guy. I tried there desert which according to the owner was free — guess what? It was spoiled — had to spit it out immediately. Tea was nice.

Awesome Naans — made to order Naans and nicely sliced and brought to your table.
Creative curries.
I had jackfruit curry for the first time in my life at this restaurant. It was delicious.
Perfectly cooked tandoori chicken.
The lunch time 3 item combo is a great value — Basmati Rice plus three items for $ 10.
Friendly cook/​staff.
My only gripe is the restaurant closed sooner than the advertised time — it was supposed to close at 9 but I found the restaurant to be closed and the crew cleaning up an hour early.

Khack tuuuuu…
The most horrible Biryani I have had at this place. sambar and rice is mixed = Biryani. If this was served in India the hotel would be stoned.
Ordered for grilled chicken and butter chicken, only to realise grilled chicken was dipped in gravy and served as butter chicken.

I thought there was no Indian food in Monterey but then I bumped into Ambrosia Café and I’m happy I did. I have enjoyed the Butter Chicken, Chicken Tandoori, and the Lamb Curry. The Garlic Naan Bread is excellent. It reminds me of Mexican tortillas and they make them fresh per order. I have yet to try the kabobs but soon I will.

I took my sister and niece from Georgia to this little place for lunch. They are vegetarians but I wasn’t worried that they wouldn’t like the food and I was right. The butter chicken (for me) was very tender; the basmati rice was delicious and fluffy. While I can’t vouch for the taste of my relatives’ choices (curry tofu; fish; potatoes/​green beans) they ate every thing and enjoyed it. They even made yummy noises! The naan bread was the best I’ve had. The meal was priced fairly, the portions were perfect and the service was great. Highly recommended when visiting Cannery Row.

Dude seriously great indian food for the price and considering it’s in the middle of tourist town. The side of rice is a big plateful and they cook everything Über fresh right there in front of your eyes, even the Naan from dough to baked bread. Bam!

Walked by this place over the weekend and looked up the rating on Unilocal.We decided to try this place out.
The shop is small but homely. There’s a good number of seats but as it gets crowded there’s not that much room to stand around and wait for your food.
We had the palak paneer and tofu masala, both of which were decent by not spectacular. The dishes came with rice as well but we ordered two servings of regular nan and butter nan. The dishes weren’t the greatest Indian dishes I’ve had but it was enjoyable and we finished all the food. The nan was good as well but a few pieces were a little bit crispy while I prefer my nan hot and soft.
We didn’t get a chance to try the garlic nan or the mango lasi as they were out that day. Their business is pretty good so I can understand that. I thought the pricing was a little high for the amount of food we got but then again it is in downtown Monterey right beside the aquarium so a lot of the prices down that street are slightly higher than normal.
All in all it was good and enjoyable but I’ll probably try some other restaurants the next time I’m out there.

We walked here after visiting the aquarium. We all built our own plates of food. There’s a good amount of variety so you can enjoy many flavors. The price wasn’t bad for this being a tourism street.

I just want to start off this review by saying AWESOME! Cause this place is! I was a little skeptical cause it’s a franchise own place, but when I tasted it, this place automatically one of my favorite Indian restaurant. This place is somewhat hidden from the attraction of Monterey Bay and not a lot of tourist goes to this place, but the locals know what’s up! Locals that live or work at Monterey Bay goes here for lunch and I can tell they are frequent goers.
The combo meals are so cheap as well. My girlfriend and I just shared on a 3 meal combo consist of their crispy naan bread, rice, and 3 different dish. The first dish is chicken tikka masala and this is the dish that hooked me. So creamy and full of flavor with tendered spice grill chicken (I’m actually drooling right now for just describing it). The second dish is a spinach paste, it is delicious when you scoop it up with naan bread. And third, chicken curry; you cannot order Indian food without ordering a curry dish, everybody knows that! So tender and melts in your mouth sensation. I will definitely find an ambrosia place near me real bad.
PS: If you’re a tourist, go eat what locals eat :)

The naans are decent and fresh made, but the pre-​made indian dishes are pretty bad. We got the 3 dish plate — butter chicken, fish, and garbanzo beans and they all were high in salt and low in fresh ingredients/​flavors. Perhaps I’ve been too spoiled in the bay area, but I don’t understand all the great reviews this place gets. It was so bad we ended up tossing much of it rather than have to finish it. I’d only go back for the naans.

Decent place with good price. Great location in downtown Monterey! Open kitchen is good, could work pricing on samosa and tea better.

Loved the smell of the spices as I walked in… made my mouth water. Fresh naan with every order. The garlic and cheese naan were tasty and fulfilling. Tried the chicken curry and butter chicken… the best. The curry could of been a little MORE spicy but it was still yummy. The rice was dry and flavorless but everything else was satisfying.

Really large portions for an excellent price. Literally the best value we got during our whole trip while up in Big Sur and Monterey. We really lucked out.
We both got 2 wraps to go, as we were leaving Monterey after a day at the aquarium and had to get back to our cabin in Big Sur. No time for sit-​down restaurants so we quickly looked up Unilocal reviews on places on Cannery Row with good reviews. Checked out Ambrosia India Café and it was a great find.
We ended up getting a chicken sweet curry wrap, and a chicken spicy curry wrap. The wraps were enormous. Possibly at least 2 lbs each, not kidding. We waited a while, about 15 minutes or so (group of 3 were getting their food prepared ahead of me, they were sitting down to eat there) but it was worth it. The man literally made and cooked the giant flat nan-​wrap-​tortilla thing, and pan-​cooked the chicken with the sauces basically from scratch. I watched it all. It took a while, but I was so happy with the results. Both wraps tasted great, a lot of meat, flavorful, savory, very well spiced.
The two giant burrito-​wrap things ended up $ 19 after tax. They are basically two huge dinner plates worth of food, wrapped up to the brim in a tasty flat bread sheet. The cook was shoving the food into the wrap while rolling it, trying to get it all in there. That bread-​sheet was amazingly pliable and had major tension strength. What I got for the price is crazy to think about after eating at Nepenthe and other restaurants in the Big Sur area. I had to write a review for this place because I am just so grateful it exists!

Great Indian food at great prices. The staff are friendly and I love to come here. What more can I say?
The menu varies by the day so they have a great variety. Today I had a beer, garlic naan, butter chicken, a lentil soup and chick peas with rice.

Indian food has become a favorite for us and we seek it out in nearly every city we visit. the reviews brought us here but I wouldn’t say it 4 star food but it’s better than 3.
The quantity and price are really great. I could never eat that much rice and the portions of side items were really good.
The butter chicken was yummy and the thing to get here… they tried desperate to pedal the saag and other dishes but I just couldn’t do it.
We tried the samosas and the garlic naan which were warm and tasty. The chutney and plum sauce were perfection. Extra seasonings to really make you smile.
It’s a paper plate and plastic fork experience for sure.