Spice Lounge

This place is awesome. I am so happy to be going back today with my family for lunch. The owner is the most dedicated guy and will make sure you have a more than excellent experience. All of the food is delicious and authentic — keeps me coming back for more.
See you guys soon.
Arian.

Ordered delivery — took 75 minutes for the COLD food to finally arrive and I live right down the street. I ordered a Chicken Tikka and Chicken Korma… the sauces arrived on the side and were EXACTLY the same… no difference between the two so basically I got cheated I believe. Overall just an unpleasant experience. Food was bland at best. Do yourself a favor and buy a couple Trader Joe’s frozen Indian meals… will be better than the quality from here.

I am very very picky about food. This place was amazing. Vindaloo lamb, veggie bryani, garlic naan, ummmm. Ordering more right now. Last time got here a little early so sat and had a delicious cocktail, too. Service was hilarious. My man friend started getting hangry and the sever told him to sit down and she would take care of it.

The food was amazing ! Great fresh flavor! clean location. And the service is impeccable. Thanks spice lounge for a great lunch I’m stuffed

Ordered from here yesterday, Masala Curry and garlic naan were so good I want it again today. For the price– the serving should have had a little bit more but overall I will order from here again.

This restaurant has a great mellow atmosphere and delicious food. My wife and I eat here regularly and have always enjoyed the food, and when we bring friends they enjoy it as well.
Most of the time we order take out as we like to spend time together at home when we are not working. But when we have the time to dine in it is always a great experience.
Everything we have tried we liked, but our new discovery was the Nirvana Curry. It is amazing! Thanks for the great food.

Really good food. Our favorites are the Masala & Jalfrezi Curry with lamb & Garlic Naan. This is our 4^th time eating take out or delivery from Spice Lounge PB. The staff is friendly and food is excellent.

Really quick delivery and really good Indian food. I always order the Nirvana and it is delicious. My only complaint is regarding their drink size vs the price. Their lemonade is so good but you pay 3.50 for a really small cup. Their naan is sometimes too burnt too. I have only ordered delivery, I haven’t actually been to the location yet. I will update once I have!

So I actually use to live in Pb and come here on a daily basis. Yup the chicken tika and cheese nane bred is sooooooooooooo good. The owners are very hospitable. There is always free parking. Hands down the best Indian place in San Diego.

I ordered delivery tonight and it arrived within an hour. The delivery fee and prices are reasonable and the entrees include rice (most Indian restaurants don’t). The food was very good. I had the Mattar Paneer and it was «extra spicy» as I requested. The naan was a little greasy and the samosas were a little smaller. I wish they included mint chutney. Spice Lounge is a solid 4 stars.

Ordered delivery, meal was incomplete and food was mediocre. Delivery person did not have singles for change? No offense, but its not rocket science: have change handy to increase your chances of a tip. Anyway, there are much better Indian restaurants in the area. Try one of those.

I’ve tried quite a few Indian places in my life as it’s definitely one of my favorite cuisines. I have had a couple of good-​great places here but have yet to really find one that is outstanding in San Diego but I was desperate. Jetlagged and lazy to drive, I decided to try a restaurant that delivered. Spice Lounge. Indian… I could definitely go for that especially since I’m still splurging and eating whatever I want! You know what the worst is? When you are splurging and what you eat isn’t even worth it! It’s like wasted calories! UGH! Not only was there a $ 2.50 delivery charge, I ordered garlic naan as a separate order for $ 3.50 and got a measly piece of sad looking naan. Apparently you can add naan as a side order to your entrees for $ 1.50. Initially I thought to go that direction but I love naan and delicious bread, so I figured, I’ll go big. Not only was the portion sad but the naan tasted so bland and awful. It tasted like old bread, overcooked with garlic. There was no flavor and it was rubbery. I didn’t even finish it! This is HUGE people… it’s a RARE day that I don’t finish carbs– something is awry!
Let’s move on to the entrees. I tried the vegetable jalfrezzi and chicken tandoori curry. The jalfrezzi was a bit sour, not sure if that’s intentional but it tasted like there was slightly bad cabbage in there. I eat sauerkraut and kimchee, clearly I have no problems with sour but this just wasn’t appealing to me. It wasn’t inedible but it definitely didn’t make you want to drink it. The chicken tandoori curry was better but again, nothing to rave about. What’s worst, the basmati rice was awful! Again, I know rice! I’m Asian! Ok, seriously, I grew up eating rice daily and have tried almost every variety you could think of: red, brown, black, white– short grain, medium grain, long grain, mixed rice, basmati, jasmine… you get it. Point is, I’ve never had basmati rice that tasted watered down and SO bland. For those of you that add butter or soy sauce to your rice, you will say ALL rice tastes this way but for those who eat rice plain, you know what I mean.
Ok, so the food isn’t my favorite but then the price tag. It’s definitely on the higher end for Indian food especially since you can go to Punjabi Tandoor and get pretty good Indian food, tasty rice, delicious naan and a couple of different entrees for $ 8 – 10 depending on if you go for lunch or dinner. I also hear Royal India is good and has a buffet option. This makes Spice Lounge seem slightly astronomical since naan is $ 3.50 and entrees range from $ 10 – 15 each. I don’t mind paying for a quality meal but unfortunately for me, this was not it.

This is maybe a 3.75 out of 5, but I’m rounding up.
TL;DR — Amazing food, cheap drinks, terrible service.
The atmosphere is wonderful, cute lounge and dining area with a cute outdoor bar area. Perfect noise level inside, plus a cute little gift section at the front entrance. We kind of stood awkwardly at the front because it wasn’t stated if we were to seat ourselves and the waitress was giving some pretty serious stink-​eye. We kind of shuffled over to a table and asked if we should sit, and she said «for two?» And kind of pointed to a table to the right. We sat.
We got a menu which had super well priced drinks, $ 2 mimosas and $ 4 draught beers, $ 5.50 cocktails and that wasn’t even during happy hour! I had a mimosa and bae had a tantric martini. Both of these drinks were divine. The waitress brought us a small cup of water each, and we ordered our meals.
I had a spinach and potato curry (can’t remember the name, worst Unilocaler ever!) but it was vegan and served with jasmin rice and was AMAZING! So tasty, I could have eaten a bucket of it. Bae had the Chicken Karma soup, which he said was delicious. Our garlic naan was good, small size but very tasty and obviously fresh. The waitress tried to upsell him at first by saying, straight up, «get the vindaloo» with complete disregard for his actual request.
The food was really good. Well priced, but suitably sized portions. The waitress didn’t refill water at any stage, and was near impossible to get the attention of, despite tending to only two other tables of two. This was the only downside.
The service was the only downside to this experience. Both of the ladies who served us were rude, inattentive and just basically poor mannered and unpleasant. Food was soooo goooooood though!

Date of delivery: 9÷10÷2015
I’m not usually a big fan of delivery since it’s sometimes faster for us to walk over to the restaurant and pick up food or just eat there. However, since Cam was in a hit and run accident, I decided to quickly order on the Eat24 app so we could take care of some things at home. This was probably the worst idea since we ended up getting even more stressed out because the delivery person couldn’t even find our apartment. Note that we don’t live in a multi-​story complex and we have had pizza for parties delivered without problem before. I’m extremely unhappy that we ended up having to stand out in front of our place for 15 minutes while taking calls from the delivery person and the store because they couldn’t complete a simple Google search on our apartment.
Enough said about the delivery. I would normally rate Spice Lounge at 3 stars since there are way better Indian foods available in other places of San Diego and they are expensive for what you get. Unfortunately, they are only one of two Indian restaurants in the PB area (unless you count the awesome Indian food stand at the Farmer’s Market), so when we want Indian food, but don’t want to leave the area, it’s a toss up between Spice Lounge and World Curry. Spice Lounge usually wins because it’s closer.
Samosas. This is probably the best dish on the menu. I love the flaky wrap and spice mix with the potatoes and peas. Their red dipping sauce is on par with other Indian restaurants. Unfortunately, since we got delivery, these were a little soggier than getting them in the restaurant.
Mango Lassi. The mango lassis here are pretty standard. Nothing to write home about, but a great drink with the curry and samosas.
Garlic Naan. The naan was super soggy due to delivery and kind of flatter than usual naan. We’ve had it at the restaurant before and it was pretty good, but nothing outstanding. Again, I would normally rate Spice Lounge at a 3, but I’m really irritated about the poor delivery experience.
Chicken Masala Curry. Ordered this for Cam and he seemed to really like it. I got it mild for him since he’s not really into super spicy food. Luckily we got naan because there wasn’t a lot of rice that came with the curry.
Chicken Jalfrezi Curry. I got this spicy for myself because I was looking for something different. The spice level was perfect, but the taste was kind of lacking. There are assorted vegetables in the curry that give it a nice texture, but the chicken was pretty dry and the only thing I noticed was spice. I guess that makes sense since it is the Spice Lounge? –bad pun–
Overall, Cam and I only come back here when we’re really craving Indian food and don’t feel like leaving PB. There are definitely better Indian restaurants in San Diego that I highly recommend, but this’ll do in a crunch. Spice Lounge is also pretty expensive, but lacking in quality that I normally don’t mind paying more for. Everything mentioned in my review plus delivery charges, tax, and tip (yes, I still tipped for terrible service) ended up being about $ 60.

Found a gem in Pacific Beach. Not many Vegetarian places around here but this one is a must. Great atmosphere and service. Food is healthy, non oily, and flavorful! Nirvana curry is a must if not THE best.

This place is my favorite spot for
Indian Food. I’ve been to a couple
other places but I think this place
is by far the best and tops the rest.
Today my mom and I decided to pop
in for lunch and it was such a treat.
I had the Chicken Masala
and my mother got Shrimp Masala.
When we walked in we were greeted
with a warm welcome and was told to
have a seat.
The first time we came in
here I really loved my moms dish
and decided to order that.
Plus, we upgraded the Naan Bread
to Garlic Naan Bread.
GOOD CHOICE!!!
It was nice and crispy
and has a delicious garlicky
flavor to it. I loved dipping it
in the flavorful Masala sauce.
MMMM!
Next on the menu:
Complimentarily Aloo Tikka’s!
They looked absolutely gorgeous
and were just delicious!
Next time I’m getting my own
Aloo Tikka’s. MMMM!
The curry sauce I chose was:
The Masala Sauce!
A flavorful mixture of spices
simmered in a rich tomato
and onion purée with a touch
of cream.
I added chicken to the Masala
So it’s basically called Chicken
Masala.
MY FAVORITE DISH HERE!
You can add chicken, fish or
shrimp and quite a few other
choices to any of the other
curry sauces they have here.
The Chicken Masala has a really
good tomato flavor.
Some of the Masalas I’ve had
have either been too tangy because
of the tomatoes or too bland
because lack of seasoning but this
place is spot on.
We had excellent service today.
Our waiter —
(I think was actually the owner).
I will have to clarify
that next time we come in.
He was a genuine nice person that
takes his job seriously and is very
attentive to his customers.
The cook makes bold flavors that
come to life. Complimentary to the
cook who makes outstanding
dishes that make you want to come
back for more and more.
We will definitely be back!

We went to a wedding reception a couple of days ago that was catered by this restaurant and were so delighted! Indian food at a wedding reception — what a treat! (The bride and groom weren’t Indian.)
While awaiting the bride and groom, delicious samosas were served, with two dipping sauces. Maybe the best samosas (pastries stuffed with yummies) that I’ve ever had!
And then, the buffet of Saag with Tofu (ground spinach with spices and tofu) which was EXCELLENT! Spicy, but just right! The rice and Chicken Tikka Masala (chunks of chicken in a blended tomato, onion, and cream sauce) was good, but the chicken was a little over-​cooked and dry — sauce was delicious! Naan (like a delicious, soft, spiced flatbread) was also delicious.
Food was served hot and plentiful, and servers were nice and accommodating.
I can’t wait to go in and try their restaurant!

I can’t believe I haven’t given my review of Spice Lounge yet!
I’ve been coming here since November, 2012, about the same time when they opened. It has always been a place I go when I want to de-​stress and enjoy a wonderful Indian meal. It takes me back home.
I’ve been here several times with several friends, and even once on New Years Eve with an old ex. Lol.
This time I wanted my daughter to enjoy the experience, and I had been talking about going for weeks. So when I suggested it, we got excited for the experience we wanted and here we goooooo!
First, it’s a small, cozy and comfortable restaurant. It has none of the usual tacky red 70’s décor often associated with Indian restaurants (also Chinese, etc.). Spice Lounge is tastefully and beautifully decorated. You won’t see any tacky pictures on the walls, but you will find a TV on it, (with very low sound), above the bar, showing Bollywood movies. There are subtitles, so no worries about the lack of sound. Soft music plays in the background, if not somewhat unusual, but that just adds to the charm and makes the ambiance even more appealing. I’ll even dare to say it has a romantic atmosphere, with all the candles, the low lights, and the wall lighting in assorted colors.
I have never had a bad meal here. They use cloth napkins, and that’s a big plus for me. We sat down and were immediately offered free stuff, and we were graciously thankful for that. They were delicious! They were mini potato pancakes named aloo tikka. They were topped with onions, chili and tamarind chutney. They were fried very crisply, and had a soft center. Wonderful starter.
The nice young lady was very helpful, brought water to us right away as she took our drink orders and never once did she ‘bother’ us or interrupt our conversation. She was cheerful and polite, efficient and helpful. When I had a question about their teas (which are all brewed daily), she presented a wooden box that contained all the teas, labeled, and displayed for me to examine. I chose Spiced Iced Tea. Next, I ordered a Masala Curry, which was rich, perfectly spiced as it hit the back of my tongue, tender and flavorful, with just a touch of cream smoothing it out. I also ordered some Roti (off the menu) to scoop it all up with :) The Roti was good, and an order contained two large pieces. My Aunt’s is better lol… Still, theirs was pretty good. My daughter ordered Tandoori Chicken Tikka, which she liked a lot. As we usually do, we shared our meal family-​style. Loved it all.
Afterwards, when paying the check, I spied a gorgeous bracelet that I had to have to add to my bracelet collection.
Did I say the owners, cooks and wait staff here are awesome? Well, they ARE!

I’ve been here a few times now, and it’s a good spot. They have a great-​value lunch deal and I’m really impressed they offer tofu as a paneer substitute in various dishes.
They also have a check-​in offer for free aloo tikki which are lovely! The bhel puri was sadly pretty bad — the puffed rice had gone all soggy/​stale which means basically it wasn’t prepared to order, (which is weird because it took some time coming out.)
I would come back and order the coconut milk curry because it was yummy, but be aware that some items are not 5-​star… so order judiciously!

I meet a «foodie buddy» of mine for a late lunch, and instead of ordering entrees, we ordering a variety of small bites including two orders of buttered garlic naan bread, wings, fried calamari, and some vegetarian soup.
First the vegetarian soup came with a mixed vegetables and lentils with ginger, chilli, tomato and cilantro, which was very well season with a variety of spice (
). The soup was thick and came with a very good amount of tender lentils (
). Next, I started in on the chicken wings which were marinated in yogurt mixed with spices of the far east then BBQ in hot clay oven; as a result, the chicken had great color and flavor (
). The unfortunate part was that only four came with the order at $ 4.95, but they did have a great exterior with scrumptious flavor (
).
The calamari’s breading was made from chickpeas which I found rather interesting. Interesting in that they packed a great crunch and a pretty good flavor. However, I did feel they were over salted and the flavor of the calamari inside was hard to taste, due to the thickness of the chickpeas breading (
). The naan bread was bliss. It was buttery and filled with a mild garlic flavor throughout, but most importantly, the bread was moist and soft and perfect for dipping in Masala sauce (
).
All in all, a successful visit with good service.