A Desi Cafe

A Desi Café is a one of our regular stops when in San Francisco. The wait to get in (no reservations taken) is well worth the amazing fusion Indian offered on the menu. The owner often chats with the patrons. If you like to tease you taste buds, this is a must!

Quick repost. A friend asked us to take her (and fam) to A Desi tonight because we raved last week. Didn’t disappoint. It was just as good as our first impression. Yessss!

Delicious hidden gem!
What made me and my husband really enjoy this place was not just the food, which is outstanding, but the customer service. The owner/​head chef is super down-​to-​earth and hilarious.
My husband had the Hydrabadi Kofta and everything about them and the sauce were just delicious-​explosion-​in-​your-​mouth.
I had the chicken tikka kebab and it was so moist and flavorful and served on a sizzling cast iron plate! I really need to learn how to make delicious grilled chicken breast.

Seems to be a North Indian food oasis in a pretty desolate neighborhood. Décor is basic, service is average (it’s only 35 feet wide so no trouble flagging someone.) The food is OK, we tried their potato cauliflower app which was good, not over cooked. Lentil soup, spicy kind of watery. Tandoori chicken and their specialty lamb main were ok I can’t say anything special about either. medium spice was medium, not so hot like reviews suggest. What left a real bad impression was the papadum (crispy bread everyone gets) sides, the two side condiments chutney and mint were really watery and thin. Maybe the worst I’ve had, that could be a typical north India thing, i dunno, but never seen it like that anywhere else. Bottom line, pretty sure we would not return, even our 21 yr old was not impressed.

This is the best Indian food I’ve had. No layer of grease that characterizes San Francisco Indian /​Pakistani food. They prepare the food on order and they do it quickly. We especially like the lamb achar, any sag /​spinach dishes and the bengan bartha. The great father son due who run A Desi are from Delhi so the food is prepared differently than the Pakistani restaurants like Shalimar.

Not sure what the fuss is about. We ordered takeout and found the food to be bland and boring. The Veggie Korma tasted like an under salted pot pie filling, and the butter chicken was greasy and bland. Even the garlic naan tasted off.
I typically welcome any non-​Chinese/​Thai/​Vietnamese restaurant to the neighborhood, but this missed the mark on several points.

By far one of the best Indian food places I have eaten at. I ordered the lamb vindaloo and the saag paneer. Along with keema naan and garlic naan. Everything had so much flavor and the right amount of spice for me. It was perfect.

Hidden gem in quite neighborhood. Décor is decent, food is yummy !!
Tried tandoori chicken and chicken achari. Both dishes were excellent.
Plain naan was buttery and soft.
Will definitely visit again.

Awesome service! My family of four came in for lunch today. Ordered chicken masala, lamb sag, Chana masala, chai tea, roti and naan. I noticed that the food was of low-​sodium and tended to be on the sweeter side but that’s northern Indian cuisine for you. The food was extremely fresh! l and delicious! Server was awesome as he refilled my chai tea on numerous occasions. Would def come back.

Disclaimer: I never got to eat at Guddu de Karahi and try their famous tandoori fish.
I’m a fan. I’ve ordered takeout a couple of times now and the curries are quite tasty. We tried a medium CTM but it made my eyes water. The spiciness level notwithstanding, the CTM isn’t actually something I’d order again due to personal preferences – it has a thick texture and a strong tomato base. That probably makes the dish very authentic, but I like the more Americanized, watered down soup-​y Naan ‘n Curry version. However, I LOVED the classic lamb curry we tried and would even venture to say it’s a must-​order. We still haven’t had a chance to try the naan yet but based on pictures, it looks like a winner too.
There aren’t too many Pakistani places in the area so A Desi Café is a solid choice and a welcome addition to the area.

«Make ya sweat medium spicy?» Yes, please!
Although this new ownership may have a large act to follow after Guddu de Karahi, the food was great, along with a more streamlined layout, updated décor, and much improved service.
Mind you that spicy is truly spicy here, so watch yourself even if you’re ordering Medium. It does have a kick, no joke!
We tried an array of vegetable dishes and lamb curries, both ample in quantity. Flavor-​wise, it’s nowhere near as potent as Guddu, but still in the same ballpark in terms of execution. I guess we just miss the burn-​your-​eyes tandoori fish that always filled up the restaurant.
All in all, a solid option for dinner that’ll bring the heat if you’re up for it.

I’ve never given this many stars but our guys service was off the charts amazing! He earnestly wanted to know how we felt about the food and chatted with us throughout the night. I felt like we were in my cousins house just having a meal. Though I didn’t get his name he tried his best to give us something that he believed would taste good.
We ordered the… Lamb Naan, garlic Naan, chicken Tikka masala, jasmine rice, lamb vindaloo, and mango Lassi. For dessert he recommended us the Rasmalai and we scored a gulab jamun to eat with it. (my bf had a huge craving for Indian food, hence ordering the whole menu). To be honest, I don’t often eat Indian food so I can’t say I’m a connoisseur for it. I don’t know what is the best, but I can really say that I had a great experience here. And I wasn’t even hungry! The lamb Naan was pretty tasty and I really enjoyed the vindaloo. I would recommend not ordering so much though. These dishes are small but extremely filling. Another positive is that it’s only one $.
I really have nothing but good things to say about A Desi Café. Try it.

I guess the new owners at Desi café don’t want to get their stars lowered (which were earned by the amazing food the old owner used to make) because they got my review taken down.
Basically the old owner made absolutely amazing food — the naan was the best, and the tandoori oven made the meat tasty.
With the new ownership, the naan is no longer anything special, the cuts of meat used are poor quality (and there is barely any of it in the curry, which might actually be for the best because it’s not good) and there is no tandoori oven anymore — definitely not authentic. The flavour just isn’t there and the 4.5 star rating is not accurate for this place anymore. Once ownership changed they should of started with a clean slate instead of riding the high ratings the previous owner earned.
Needless to say, we don’t eat here anymore.

Love this newish North Indian café!
Lamb achar curry was so flavorful! Ordered mild and it is truly mild, not spicy but still very flavorful. Chicken tandoori was also moist and nicely grilled.

Northern Indian cuisine is my favorite cuisine and this is my #1 go-​to spot. I first became aware of this restaurant in early August when I found out that the previous place which I loved closed down and this one opened in its place. I came here on August 9 with two buddies to check it out. We ordered chicken tikka masala, sag paneer, yellow dal, regular naan and mango lassi. Dinner took about an hour as we enjoyed the delicious food. We also had the pleasure of meeting the awesome owner, Devender. We spent an extra hour chatting with him and listening to his adventures in Delhi.
For the next ten days, I went back thrice with different friends each time to celebrate my birth month. I wanted to try other dishes on the menu as well as help them spread the word. Aside from the above-​mentioned dishes, I’ve had the butter chicken, tandoori chicken, chicken achar, lamb coconut curry, sag prawns, and garlic naan. Out of all the dishes that I’ve sampled, my least favorite are the tandoori chicken and lentils. However, it’s not because they’re not good. It’s due to the fact that the other dishes taste better. My goal is to savor everything on the menu at least once.
It’s my hope that business will be so successful in the near future that Devender can hire someone to manage it full-​time so that we can go on his next trip to Delhi together.

It seems like this place is new, there is no health score available yet. I could see the kitchen from my table and it was pretty clean.
They offer solid India food.
We ordered samosas, pickle, chicken Korma, lamb vindaloo, garlic naan.
Everything was quite delicious and I’m glad to fine a decent indian place.

Two stars is being generous and based on the atmosphere, how clean and new it is, and how friendly and attentive their staff is.
The cheese and vegetable balls in cream sauce needed actual cream or salt or something! They give you 3 of these balls but you won’t taste any cheese, you won’t really taste any vegetable either, but you will taste some sort of mashed lentil hush puppy. :/​ate one and then decided I can’t possibly leave on this note so I ordered a sag paneer. The sag paneer was flavorful but they don’t really add that much paneer. I ordered garlic naan and it doesn’t taste as good as all the photos on Unilocal show. It’s just regular naan that they make and then brush butter and garlic on top of as an afterthought. Within minutes it was just like any other naan.
An earlier reviewer that I once questioned seems to be spot on. If you’ve never really had Indian food or you only really like chicken dishes then I guess you could be happy here but if you REALLY eat Indian food this might just be a place you come to when you really have no other option but this is San Francisco and I expect way more than this.
The tastes here leave so much to be desired.
This place can be great, they have a good location, the area is starting to pick up with spots that are trending but the food is meh. .
I think all these positive reviews have to be for their chicken which was something I didn’t order at all because ANY Indian restaurant can make those.
you have a great spot, take the time to work on improving some more staples on the menu. I would love to update this review some day to much higher.

As a «Black Belt Unilocal Elite, «I try really hard not to dish out the 5 star reviews without investing time and effort into trying the business multiple times and interacting with the staff each time. You know, it’s the «they just had a bad day» or «they just got lucky on that one time» possibility.
Well Devender at A. Desi Café, you have impressed a not easily impressionable food dining experience aficionado in this Unilocaler!
The food rocks on all counts.
FLAVORS! taste, texture, and temperature all have the right amount of spice, and execution.
Here are some quite outstanding dishes, I recommend:
1– Spinach with Tilapia (#32 on their menu) the creamed spinach sauce must be eaten with rice and naan
2– Butter Chicken — tandoori chicken with an Indian spiced tomato red sauce. the medium heat is perfect for me. heat but not make you sweat burn the roof of your mouth spicy. lots of flavor.
3– Chicken Tiki masala — boneless chicken is a garlicky tomato sauce
4– garlic naan and the cheese naan (made fresh to order !)
5– Saag Paneer — spinach and farmer’s cheese
6 — more to add as I go through the menu
The vibe is very friendly and the restaurant is very clean.
Location is convenient and parking is do-​able. although with the influx of new spots like this place in the neighborhood, you may have to walk a little.
and make sure you do NOT block anyone’s driveways in the Sunset.
That would be just RUDE!
JYW highly recommends A Desi Café

Food was delicious. Loved the Chicken Masala and Aloo Gobhi. They’ve got the right amount of spice, not overly salty, and plenty of chicken in the masala.
Menu is similar to Guddu de Karahi. While food might not be comparable to the taste of Guddu, what stands out in particular is the service. Waiters are available and food comes out at a timely manner! Can’t give them 5 stars though, cause I can’t get over the fact that the naan costs $ 1.50.

Although I am somewhat biased because the owner is one of my closest friends, in all honesty (and my stomach never lies) A Desi is one of the best Indian restaurants in the city. A Desi meets all standard
requirements for a restaurant… it’s clean, delicious, reasonably priced, friendly with excellent service. While meeting these standards it exceeds in taste with its beautifully seasoned food that warms your heart and soul. My personal favorites are the samosas, butter chicken, chicken achar, the mixed vegetables, the coconut curry shrimp, and the delicious garlic nan! With authentic roots in northern India, A Desi will send your taste buds across the world to the remote place where these recipes originated. So if you believe me or not, there’s no harm in trying out A Desi Café, the only harm would be missing out on some delicious food!