Tandoori Oven

Tandoori Oven will be shut down on July 15 :(

As a kid I had a terrible experience with Indian. But my friend decided that I def. needed to give Indian a try, that a bad experience shouldn’t stop me from experiencing the wonders of Indian food. Now I’m a huge fan of Indian food. Moral of the story: If you don’t like something, you should give it another chance.
I’ve been to Tandoori Oven a few times, since it’s close to campus. First off, Stanford students get an awesome discount on wraps and A la Carte dishes (their curries). Which is pretty awesome!
Last night, after my friend and I were studying we decided to grab something to eat, since Stanford had a football game that meant that El Camino/​Town and Country area was a huge mess with fans, cars, etc. So Tandoori Oven was the place to go for a quick bite.
Their chicken tikka masala wrap was AMAZING!!! The chewiness of the naan was just awesome. The only thing that keeps it from from a 5 star is the proportion of chicken, and potato inside the wrap. If it only had more chicken, this place would be my weekly habit!
Their garlic pesto naan was good, I just wished the middle part was a little too burnt for my liking. Though it may just be me, I love chewy naan a lot. When it’s not chewy it’s just very meh for me. Which is why I LOVE the wrap!
It’s a good, clean, fast alternative to Indian food when you have a real craving. It’s also very close to campus and friendly servers! Will def. be back!

my indian boss said he hates it.
but i like it, maybe am not an expert on india food, haha.

Been here for lunch with colleagues on weekdays. It was on the california ave which was very near by my office. This is the main reason people in stanford and palo alto quickly get into this place. Food was average, staff were attentive, service was good.
I’ve ordered paneer curry and naan and rest all in the group ordered chana batura/​veg
biryani etc. Food arrived a little late than expected. I felt food was a little overpriced and it was not an authentic indian food place.
This is a Indo fusion place and menu is mostly fusion too. I will go back for their paneer curry and veggie wraps.

This is a great place for cheap Indian food, especially for a Stanford student with the $ 6 discount. I have gotten the chicken tikka masala, paneer masala, and saag paneer. The paneer masala is my favorite; the chicken tikka could be more juicy and the saag paneer was a bit bland for me. They also offer chai with free refills for just $ 1.47 — a great deal since I typically get 3 – 4 cups of it.
The restaurant is fast casual style, where you order and pay first and then a guy brings the food to your table, while you get your own utensils, napkins, drinks, etc.

Naan is not very naan-​tasting, maybe they are using the wrong type of flour. It has a pretzel-​like taste rather than the nomal flavor.
Curries vary between mild and spicy but are always relatively flavorless. Several of them have the same base curry, which explains the lack of flavor variety.
The only positives are the Stanford discount and the lack of a line to order food (for good reason).

Oh! I finally get to use the «mediocre at best» line and that’s just what it is. I’ll give it another star because of the Stanford student discount.

I stopped by for lunch and had the Chicken Tikka Masala dinner plate (the option that includes more food). It includes rice, naan, cucumber, and a small bowl of eggplant and potato (can’t remember the name). It was all just OK. The naan was warm and tasted good, but everything else was just ordinary. I don’t think it’s worth returning to, esp not for $ 13+. I can find other places on California Ave that are the same price or cheaper that are better.

I came here for lunch on a weekday. I was looking for something that wasn’t too heavy and could be finished in one sitting. I ended up getting the Chicken Tikka Masala a la carte meal. It comes with either 2 pieces of naan or rice, so I opted for the naan. The naan went pretty well with the chicken tikka masala and there was a good amount of chicken included. The entrée meals come with more items if you’re feeling hungry.

Like the person below reviewed this restaurant — Meh.
+
clean tables
quick service
good chai very hot and strong
garlic naan was very fluffy and not overbearing with the garlic
good quantity and serving style
— (not really a big minus but more of a «meh»)
Chicken Tikka Masala was made American-​style. It didn’t have the aroma, strength, and that kick that traditional Indian Chicken Tikka Masala has. It seemed like the flavor was lessened overall and was almost bland.
Not spicy at all — which might be a plus for some people.
This place will be a safe bet and appeal to people who are not big fans of Indian food.
The review is mostly for the chicken tikka masala — didn’t try any other dishes.

We love love love Tandoori oven and have been going from 2009. We use to frequently go to Campbell location and swing by their other locations as well. As this is closer by our house and in downtown PA we prefer going here now. I almost always never deviate from my order of paneer wrap. My husband is a fan of their veggie wrap, samosas and malai kofta. Malai kofta and naan are some of the best in indian restaurants I’ve had. Try their mango lassi its so rich and exactly how a lassi should taste. You can try their deal that combines a free samosa with an order of masala tea. On cold days your sinus will thank you for drinking a soothing tea and a hot platter of samosa.
Tip: If you are a fan of potato salad, when asked for a choice to choose your salad go by potato you’ll be glad you did. Previously Groupon used to offer some good deals and we used to be here quite often. But this doesn’t stop us from coming here. All locations so far tried have been consistent in their service and they have one loyal customer in me and my family.

Summary: Quick decent lunch place, nothing to write home about.
Crowded-​ness: This place stands out for me because its the only lunch place without a large crowd before noon on a weekday
Food quality: I tried the Angry chicken (two pieces) with Naan. The Naan is served hot, and its actually quite tasty. The chicken is small in terms of portion but the flavor is good. There are some greens served on the side as well. Overall, the food is enjoyable for a work lunch.
Price: The item I order is about $ 7, which seems high for the amount of food I got. I guess that’s Palo Alto pricing for us…

Meh. This place was alright. I’m still a little bitter that my friends and I went here instead of Darbar but that wasn’t really the restaurants fault.
Anyway, I wanted to go to Darbar last night on a wonderfully warm summer Palo Alto night, but one of the people in our party thought it was too expensive. So we went here instead.
It was alright. Not bad. Just kind of meh. Like, if the meal was water it would be some shade of lukewarm.
I got a beer (which was $ 4, seemed a bit steep for beer and the casual atmosphere of the place), the chicken tikki masala (seemed like a safe bet, I didn’t want to go too adventurous at this place) and some naan. The tikki masala was decent but didn’t have a whole lot of flavor to it. The rice was alright. Honestly, a bit oily in a tastes mass-​made with cheap and processed ingredients way. Naan was decent. Just cold.
The atmosphere was nice — we sat outside and people-​watched on California avenue and enjoyed the warm evening. Honestly though, I’d take Darbar any day.

I come here when my friends and I are starving and want a relatively fast, inexpensive, and very filling meal. Plus, parking on Cal Ave is much less of a pain than on University.
I finally got down the perfect order — chicken tikka masala with paneer naan. The paneer (Indian cheese) is tucked inside the naan and somehow makes the chicken tikka taste that much better.
The food usually takes 10 minutes to arrive, and if you’re really hungry the mango lassis are pretty good (a little sweet). For students, the a la carte entres are $ 8 (still comes with naan or rice).

It hit the spot when I was craving Indian for lunch!
The Stanford discount is great: $ 6 for any dish a la carte or any wrap, or for dinners: buy one, get the second one for $ 2. Plus a discount on beers.
We got the paneer masala and the kofta curry, as well as two samosas, with some naan. I think the samosas were the high point of the meal– super potato-​y and flavorful, and they come in a bed of a sweet garbanzo bean stew. Smush that samosa around in that stew. There you go. That’s the stuff.
Both the curries were hell of spicy, and they weren’t the typical masala/​kofta that we’re used to. Maybe it’s just us, but the paneer masala I’ve had in the past is very creamy, and the koftas are usually very doughy/​cheesy/​soft and come in a similarly creamy sauce. These were both more tomato-​based sauces, maybe? Definitely not creamy and quite hot! Next time we’d definitely get some raita to go along… Very necessary!
Good portion sizes– I just wish there was one curry that was in that creamy, comforting style that I’m used to. I’d like to try a wrap next time– maybe the extra bread will help stave off the tears!

How can you call a place Tandoori Oven and mess up Chicken Kabobs and Tandoori Chicken… the Chicken tasted like marinated rubber. I was close to spitting it out.
The one star is for the palatable Aloo Tikki we got. Would NOT recommend this place unless you absolutely have an apocalypse and NEED to get food.

Most affordable dining establishment on California Ave. My longitudinal favorites are the Chicken Tikka Masala dinner plate (I get this one for lunch, no big deal) and the Chicken Tikka Masala wrap. The wrap is palatable — not too spicy, but still packed in with flavor.
I bump up the restaurant one star for it being absolutely trolling for Stanford students & alums. Used to be buy one get one free — now it’s buy one get one half off. Go cardinal!

Only three stars, but it’s kind of my own fault! Unilocal shows me a bunch of reviews from my friends, where my intelligent, articulate, adoring friends basically say «get the palak paneer» — but I stupidly walk up to the counter and say «what’s the best» and ten minutes later I’m eating some pretty flaccid «chicken tikka masala» which doesn’t seem to be made with the good stuff — coconut cream.
Fortunately, I came here with someone who got the palak panner, and someone else who got the chicken version of that, I think called chicken saag. Both were better than my CTM but believe it or not their chicken saag was the winner for me.

Not your typical Indian sit and order restaurant; nor is it a buffet; it’s an order-​at-​counter, take-​a-​number, then sit… place.
My advice: Stick with the wraps. My tandoori chicken wrap was tasty, for a reasonable price of $ 7.67. The chicken was tender and nicely spiced, and it was wrapped in very good naan; Delicious! (One nit: I would have liked some yogurt sauce on the side for the few dry spots). 4 stars.
Not as successful was the chicken tikka masala ($ 11). This came with tiny sides of potato curry stew, naan, rice and cucumber salad. The chicken itself was ok — fresh but far too mild. And I could taste the dairy, which was off-​putting. The naan, again, was excellent. Everything else was fine, but it was overpriced. 2.5 stars.
Where most Indian places have complimentary chai tea on the side, Tandoori Oven has decided to charge customers $ 1.50 for this. It doesn’t seem like the best way to set themselves apart, but maybe that’s the price of doing business on California Ave.

I love Indian food! When we were one Ca Ave and passed by here I was just lured in by the thought of curry and naan~ And with the crowd of people eating here it seemed like a happening place.
ATTENTION ALL STANFORD STUDENTS AND STAFF show your ID and get special deals like buy 1 a la carte entrée and get a 2^nd for $ 2 OR wraps for $ 5. Great deal~ My co-​worker and I both got the Chicken tikka masala — one with rice and one with garlic naan. The dish tasted good, but seemed to be missing one key spice to make it taste authentic. Couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Oh well, still a good deal and satisfied my cravings for something savory. The garlic naan was really good, crispy and fluffy on the inside.
Great for lunch!