Muskaan Cuisine of India

12/30/2015

It's like the owners are the servers and they're more concerned about minimizing costs by limiting the portion sizes than about providing quality food. $10.25 for a two item combo?!! Panda Express gives bigger portions that's better quality, and for less!

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  Sloppy.

  Sloppy.

1/28/2016

This is NOT Indian food. Did they go to Costco and buy frozen Indian food and served it here because this is NOT good. There's a great Indian restaurant a block away but this place. Sorry to be cruel but they should be ashamed. There's no flavors and the chicken Marsala was clumpy and gross looking. I'm in a struggle now trying to a it. May I suggest cooking lessons on creating delicious authentic Indian food instead of mush?

3/18/2016

The worst Indian food I've ever had. The "veggie curry" was clearly made with frozen peas, corn, and carrots and had zero flavor. Do not eat here.

6/2/2015

Not being an expert on Indian food, I asked for their best dish.  They recommended their chicken curry, Tandoori chicken, cabbage salad and rice with nan (2 pieces) combination.  I had a choice between mild and spicy, I chose the spicy which was done about right.  Overall, I thought the food was tasty, but not great.  Not huge portions, but enough for lunch.  

I definitely have had better, but like I said, I'm not an expert on this cuisine.  I "assumed" that since it was in the Rincon center, it couldn't be that bad especially since you have all those other options and competition in the center.

4/13/2015

Not worth it.  The curry dishes that I had were luke warm and bland.  Even after heating nothing could save this meal.

There are plenty of other options in and around the Rincon center.  Save yourself some frustration and go elsewhere.

9/22/2015

I have been working at spear and landmark for over 3.5 years and never tried this place based on the reviews. Finally decided to give it a shot and realized I could have easily gone without ever trying it! The food was bland, not well cooked and oily.
Don't bother with this place!

8/14/2015

And just when I thought I had experienced the most mediocre Indian food on the planet, which is a majority of Indian in San Francisco, I ate at Muskaan. The eggplant was rubbery and, to me, inedible. It left me thinking that this is what prison food must taste like in India. $11 worth of tasteless, uninspired mush.

12/28/2015

After my first two lunch picks were closed for the holidays, I went to Muskaan and had the vegetable masala with rice and an add-on of naan. The masala was acceptable and filling but the naan was hard. If this were the only Indian option in the area, I'd go back, but the bar for great Indian food in SF is pretty high, and many of these other great options are easily cheaper than Muskaan.

3/3/2015

Absolutely terrible.

I'm angry as hell I paid $12 for this foul gruel.  I'm about to go back over there and let them have it, right in the face.

Chicken Curry, Zero curry.  Old chicken legs.  Crappy Naan (is that possible?)  Salad?  WTF?  Bland, gross, not Indian.  And Indian people work there.

Have they ever tasted their own food?

Stear clear!! REAL CLEAR!

I'm also sharing on Facebook, so my friends won't suffer this cruel deception.

9/6/2013

There's one thing I like here and that's the Tandoori Chicken. It's red, tender, and flavorful. The plate comes with rice or naan with some sauce from butter chicken or masala, and a cabbage salad. Not bad for $7.25! You can get extra naan for $1.50 or half for 75 cents. I like the one lady that doesn't wear glasses. She always remembers that I want the tandoori chicken with rice and naan.

Can't really comment on the other curries but the Tandoori Chicken plate is satisfying and filling if you want some simple Indian. Great for a quick and cheap lunch. But if you're really craving Indian, go somewhere else for lunch or dinner.

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  frontin'

  frontin'

8/7/2015

I ordered just the Mango Lassi and I am rating based on that. It was poor. Very thin consistency. That's not how a lassi should be. Also tasted a bit sour. And they don't accept cards if your total is less than 5 bucks. The staff is polite and hospitable. But ultimately you go there for the food.

4/8/2015

One star review because I can't find any reason to give them even two.. I tried there 2 item non-veggi dish which comes with rice and salad and totaled to $11.25. Overall good was pretty bland(not what you would expect from hearty indian curry). Rice felt like it was reheated multiple times(at least I imagine 3 days old rice to taste like that) and their cabbage salad had no flavor at all despite being loaded with mustard seeds. The lady who serves the food managed at least to smile while taking my order but lady at the cashier acted like a robot and I didn't recall her even talking to me at all. There is rarely a line at this place even during pick hours and it should have warned me early enough.

3/10/2014

Basic Indian Mall Food. It is definitely an option if you wish to try a different flavor once, maybe twice, a week.

1/15/2015

Wow I should've checked Yelp before saying Yes to my friend who took me here. The only thing they got right were the colors of the food. There was no flavor whatsoever to any of the items I ordered (Tandoori Combo Plate). The quality of the meat was questionable and they use cheap dark meat. For the price of about $10. You can get pretty awesome Indian food in any of the hole-in-the-wall places in the Jones TL corridor for that price. Oh em gee what a waste this place is.

9/27/2014

Today i was craving indian food for lunch and with Muskaan just two blocks away from work, i decided to try their food.
I ordered tandoori chicken with naan and cabbage salad and i felt 9.70$ was damn expensive but soon realised why not, after all its in fi-di..
Being an indian i  have had tried most of the indian restaurants in bay area but never ate such STALE FOOD.
Tandoori chicken felt as if they served from a week's before. It was very salty and there was this disgusting smell, i almost threw up after just one bite..
I then moved on to eat Naan and it was sooo hard and cold that i cudnt tear it even with my two hands..
The only saving part was cabbage salad.. (you cant go wrong with cabbage salad) ...

I would never go back to this place.
I hope Management will get to read my review and concentrate more on provinding quality food to the customers.

4/10/2015

The naan was very good.  Nice and fluffy.  Unfortunately, the chicken curry was very bland both times I ate here.  I've had Indian food all over the world, and this is one of the blandest I've ever had.  I guess the first sign of bad news is that it's just called chicken curry, rather than chicken korma, vindaloo, butter chicken, etc.  At least it's not too expensive.

5/29/2012

If you like authentic Indian food - do NOT eat here as the food is very disappointing to taste and ridiculously expensive.  I just purchased my meal from this establishment and am only eating it because I have low sugar levels and do not have time to run out and get something elsewhere.  But really, I had to throw half of it out because it was disgusting; not kidding.

I typically do not stray from my favorite Pepe's Taqueria, but today I wanted to try something different and although I was craving spicy food it was not Mexican I wanted.  I decided to try Muskaan Indian Cuisine and I really wished I had not.  8^(

Perhaps this is another place that substitutes quantity for quality and rather than following the traditional recipes - they make the food bland to feed to the masses.  

The thing is, I have a very dear friend whose family is from Pakistan and it is their custom to feed their guests, so regardless of the time of day there is always wonderful tasting food on the stove or in the oven.  Throughout the years I have been spoiled with some of the best tasting Pakistani / Indian food in the world.  Moreover, my friends have taught me how to cook this cuisine so even my white girl rendition of Indian food taste better than Muskaan; really, I am not kidding!  Oh and my being Portuguese means me loves me some Vindaloo and I can make a mean Vindaloo sauce.  

I ordered Muskaan's tandori masala (which is BLAND) and the chicken curry (which is also BLAND) and really could not tell the difference between the two other than they both have different colors (orange and golden).  If Muskaan's used spices in their dishes (and oils), they used them sparingly because I could detect any spice used and what it tasted like to me is a sauce from a can made by Chef Boyardee.

In addition to my order, I was asked do I want rice - assuming the rice was included I said yes, and assumed the rice would be basmati; it was not and rather plain old rice with some kind of yellow tint to it (if it was a spice, I could not tell.)  

With regard to presentation, I like my rice separate from the sauces.  The woman behind the counter making my dish knew I wanted TWO items (each sauce ALWAYS has distinct flavors (or should anyway)) and rather than putting the rice in the side dish area of the container - she put it in the main area (think container which holds 1 main dish and 2 sides) then poured on the rice the masala and placed the curry chicken in one of the side areas (so obviously she knew the sauces should be separate).  She asked me if I wanted salad, I said no as I was unaware that salad was included.  Then she asked me if I wanted naan - I said yes, thinking that it was included - it was not.  

After she rings me up, the next thing I know I am forking out $11.  I asked her what the break down was and she said that my order came with a choice of either rice or naan and a salad.  I said well then give me the salad if it is included and next time ASK the person what kind of naan they want rather than choose it for them; especially if they are paying for it as I would have chosen 'garlic' naan.  

Evidently, this did not make sense to her or the manager/owner, and the manager/owner tried to explain it to me.  I let her know that I understood what she is saying however NEXT TIME LET THE CUSTOMER CHOOSE if they want regular or the other types of naan listed on the menu.  She attempted to explain it again, so I repeated myself again and at this point I wanted to say, "you know, just give me the garlic naan" - but rather I just turned and walked out.  

Next thing I hear is the woman behind the counter yelling out to me "there is always a charge for naan."  

I yelled back - yes, I got that part!

The bottom line is

1. Sauces are BLAND with no distinctive taste to them and in looking at the item when cold - the sauce breaks down and separates from the water which is at the bottom (obviously they WATER down their sauces as opposed to using OIL; who does this?)
2. the rice SUCKs
3. food is cold by time one sits down to eat
4. if paying for the naan, one should be asked what they would like (rather than assuming)
5. way over priced for mediocre (if that) food

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  See the water at the bottom of the tray; Indian food is supposed to be cooked with lots of oil (not water).

  See the water at the bottom of the tray; Indian food is supposed to be cooked with lots of oil (not water).

4/19/2012

Well, this is one of those times when I wish I had yelped something beforehand. We walked to Rincon Center for lunch and Indian sounded tasty, so I popped in to Muskaan. I got a 2 item combo: chicken tikka masala and mutter paneer (peas and cheese in curry for those unfamiliar).

It came in a dish with some salad and naan. You can substitute rice for the naan, but I love naan.

The chicken tikka masala was ok. It wasn't hot enough (temperature-wise) and I thought the sauce was kind of watered down or just not flavorful enough. I'm used to curries being creamy.

Same story with the paneer curry although this had even less flavor.

While the people working were extremely nice, I wouldn't come again because the food is just not good. Also, two items will run you $9.22 so it's not like it's cheap.

Disappointed... I was looking for a good Indian spot near work.

1/22/2015

Bad food and equally bad service. not worth it.

6/22/2012

"Meh. I've experienced better" or "A-OK"... Well, I obviously went with the former. This review will cover the Lamb curry, Chicken Tandoori, Honey -Lemon Chicken, Salad, spicy curry sauce side, and Naan bread. The reviews were all over the place with the different items, but mostly the major complaint is about how "plain" the food is with complaints continuing back from last month (May 2012) back to 2008.

Lamb curry- A bit of spice, good flavor and texture. I felt it was adequate meal for lunch and would eat it again.

Chicken Tandoori- Good, distinct tandoori flavor and I would get it again.

Salad- Are you kidding? Nothing but the white and yellow parts of iceburg lettuce seasoned heavily with cumin- pass.

Honey-lemon Chicken- My friend ate it and seemed to like it. Although, he said that he wasn't impressed. He could taste the honey, but the lemon wasn't there.

Spicy curry sauce- Had flavor, but was really watered down.  

Naan bread- Dry and crunchy. Meh.

Service- You get in line, point at what you want and they get it quick and effectively. No complaints.

Ambiance- Well, it's best described as a cafeteria line stuffed into a food stall. Meh.

So, at this point it would be a tough choice between 2 and 3 stars. But then we get into price. These meals cost $22 dollars with 1 can of coke. That's $10.50 for each carry out pre-made food dish. There are many, many, other places I can get carry out food that is better for less around there.

Summary- This place is yet another high-traffic location where quality does not need to be a huge concern for the business because they have plenty of foot traffic. If I worked closer to Rincon I might go back once a month or so and more often if it was cheaper. But like I mentioned, many more take-out options for better and cheaper food is to be had in the city.

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  Honey lemon chicken special with spicy sauce.

  Honey lemon chicken special with spicy sauce.
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  Honey lemon chicken special with spicy sauce.

  Honey lemon chicken special with spicy sauce.
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  Lamb curry and tandoori chicken with naan bread

  Lamb curry and tandoori chicken with naan bread