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noooooooooo!!! please say its not true. why? why ME?
i called up star of india a few weeks ago and was perplexed to find no one answered the phone. i sat there unsure of what to do, bottom lip in a pout, admiring my manicure, twirling my hair around my finger with a confused expression on my face.... what would Elle Woods do now?
OHHH! *light bulb moment*
i logged onto their website to look at the pretty pictures..... er, or i mean to see if i had a wrong # and was shocked to find its CLOSED due to a fire.
what the hell happened? this was my favorite indian food spot in the city.
i had to actually do a little yelp research and find a back up because when i'm craving something i must have it. so i did and was disappointed. or maybe just sad i had to go with 2nd best... anyway, i refuse to even yelp the place that substituted that night. it just wasnt my star of india.
in all seriousness.... does ANYONE know if they are going to re-open at some point or is it closed forever???
please let me know. i'm really bummed about this.
Sometimes, when my mood is low....
when I'm constantly running my hand across my midsection, measuring the unseemly cruel growth of it
when staring at a computer screen for 8 1/2 hours each day begins to make me go blind
when I start acting like a menopausal, bull-dyke book seller who shits on everyone's day for sport
when I've been defanned and want to cry....then while crying, think how pathetic I am for crying over a Yelper losing interest in me, and cry some more.
when my closet burps remnants of tops from 2001, because that was the last time I was able to afford new clothes, because Mama Judels the Clown and Papa Jewish Gangsta shelled out the bucks for my threads (cheap, skanky threads worn at cheap, skanky Chico bars).
when I can't find a god forsaken parking spot in the hellish neighborhood that I happen to live in known to some as Little Italy.
when the idea of cooking for 1, then having left overs for a month that make me want to gag every time I open the fridge, is more depressing than watching an episode of "Grey's Anatomy."
I turn to Star of India to deliver my pick-me-up lifesaver: Saag Paneer, Garlic Naan, Chicken Tikki Masala and an eyeful of that Meerkat of a delivery man. Rrrrrrrowr!
side note: He's probably more of a panther or puma, but meerkat is just too fun to say.
Bargain basement dining!
$9 for all you can eat. Decent selection of classic Indian dishes. Fresh nan bread about every 10 minutes.
Atmosphere is a bit lacking, so I wouldn't recommend this place as a 1st date spot... unless of course your date loves all you can eat Indian!
Ahhh, my old standby. It's good for that, standing by. If someone asked for a rec for indian to go to, Star probably wouldn't be the first place I recommended. But, when we order in indian, we always call them, after a few ill attempts at branching out and finding a new old standby. Their chicken curry is fab, the daal is great, and this one time the naan made my thighs tremble. Sadly, it has never quite been that good except for that once, but it's still pretty good. Finally, the dude who answers the phone knows me by name and is super sweet. Warms my heart like the garlic naan.
UPDATE: I have elevated their chicken curry to the best I've found in SF, after I had a recent, painful, and life-changing (in a very bad way) experience with the offensive grease bowl they call the chicken curry at naan n curry.
First of all - I have not eaten the food from Star of India. I tried to, but unfortunately this review is based entirely out of anger.
I am angry because our home delivery took THREE HOURS to arrive.
The credit card and itemized receipt attached to the order was time stamped 8:07pm... the delivery man arrived at 10:55pm. Yes, the restaurant was already closed when the food got to us.
We called the restaurant twice during our wait - first time after an hour (was told our man was on his way), and called the second time right on 10:30... no one took our call.
Tried to justify this event through anomalies but couldn't find any reasons... it was an ordinary Tuesday night. No significant holiday, not a weekend, not even a particularly cold night. Yes there was an earth tremor, but we placed the order after the shaky moments.
My friend orders from them all the time (weekly), and from past experiences the delivery arrive within 30-45mins. THREE HOURS was ridiculous.
We'd already given up by the time Mr Delivery Man arrived, and started eating through a limited pantry. The food was so cold that it could go straight into the fridge without food safety/ handling worries.
My buddy raves on about the food all the time - in fact I live closer to the restaurant than he does - just not sure whether I'll go back for a meal when there are so many Indian options in this city.
My go-to Indian restaurant for delivery. I pretty much order from this place every week. Delivery usually takes a while: 35 to 45 minutes on average. On a few occasions it's taken an hour or longer but those times have been pretty rare. The later you order, the longer it tends to take.
The delivery people are by and large pretty nice. The nicest is a young Brazilian guy who is really sweet and friendly. He's always a pleasure to chat with. The people taking the orders are fine but the best is Randy, who is extremely pleasant.
The food is flavorful and rich. Personal favorites are the chicken tikka masala and the bhengan bartha, along with an ample supply of fluffy, piping hot chili naan. The tandoori chicken is juicy, well-seasoned and delicious. After a long day at work, a hearty Star of India meal delivered to my door makes me a very happy camper. .
I happened upon this place. It was pretty good...for a buffet. There were about 3 choices and they were all great. Loved the rice pudding as well. Yummy.
Now bring on the real stuff.
I ain't gonna lie to you. When I first walked in I thought this place was all ghetto. The decor is old school and I thought the chairs would break when I'd sit in it.
But the food is awesome! (not greasy like a lot of Indian places) The owners are pretty nice too.
One of my favorite cheap Indian places in the city!
I love indian food, and there are very few things you can do to ruin that for me, but somehow Star of India managed just that.
First ... we had the food delivered, and it took forever. Well beyond the quoted 45 minutes.
The food, at least, was still warm, but the chicken tikka masala was bland (I didn't think that was even possible), the aloo palak ... also bland, and as you may have guessed, the saag paneer was bland. The best part of the meal was the Naan.
I don't know if they forgot to put spices in our dishes while they were forgetting to make it ... but it wasn't okay.
Perhaps the food is better when you get it in the restaurant, and maybe this was a bad day for delivery ... but I don't think I'll ever patronize this particular establishment again.
The food was amazing for such a hole in the wall place.
I could even taste the honey in the paneer tikka masala! Extremely hot and fresh SOFT naan, a pretty ok salt lassi, an okay mango lassi, and, gasp!!, a malai kofta that had a distinctly DIFFERENT colored curry than the paneer tikka masala with it!
Nice, attentive service and a nice total bill!
This is my new favorite cheap Indian place to eat in SF. One star off for really, REALLY being a hole in the wall, but seriously great food.
I came here one night with a friend a couple days before the fire they had (super sad!). Now it seems closed from the looks of it, and I'm sort of sad about it.
They had really good food, cheap beer and wine, and great waiter service. When they re-open I will definitely come again to try their Indian delights :) Good luck guys!
Mmmm... Yet another restaurant that's not necessarily the best, but makes up for it in proximity, and in this case delivery as well.
I really like their chicken tikka masala, and their curries are just the thing for the day after a late night out. I don't know if they just got to know my address, but I would always get really warm, fresh naan with my order. I never much cared for their rice, but that's no biggie, I don't mind making my own at home.
As far as eating in goes, the restaurant is usually pretty empty, and the decor is seriously hole-in-the wall ish. The service is polite, and the wait staff are attentive. Since it's neither loud nor packed with people, it's a nice place to chill out with an old friend and actually talk over dinner. This is not the place to take someone you are trying to impress. (Not to say good friends don't deserve good food, but sometimes cheap and tasty is the order of the day)
I have never been disappointed. It's Indian food. It is greasy, that's the way it is.
Chicken tikka masala is fantastic. Nice pieces of chicken (which you don't get at many indian restaurants, usually, it's like "what the hell part of the chicken is that?"
Try the seekh kebab. Yummy. Spicy and meaty and reeeeaaaallly the best thing ever.
The lamb samosas and veggie samosas are really good.
Delivery is sometimes fast, sometimes slow, always under an hour. And at dinner, they'll send free pappadams.
When all else fails ... call on Star of India! trust that you will get some amazing Nan! great Samosas and be sure to ask for the fish Pakora. Being a vegetarian I went with the medium Allu Bengan, had no regrets.
Just make sure you either stop in at the restaurant or pick it up on the way home ... the delivery was late but if you consider the dilverER I suppose its well worth the wait =) ... On a serious note I only live 4 blocks away and it took well over an HOUR!!!
yay ! my palate has somewhat evolved from cheerios and eggo waffles for lunch to more mature fare. Star of India popped my lamb tikka masala cherry, and boy did it hurt good. delectable and spicy and delightful (but I did ask for mild, which was perfect). I loved their keema nan w/ tiny bits of ground lamb baked in -- heavenly. we had our food delivered and it was piping hot and only took 30 mins to arrive. the dal soup was excellent. so should I shelve my blueberry eggos for the time being and eat like an adult ? or is this jones for spicy Indian merely a hormonal thing ?
It shouldn't be that shocking; it's Star of India on Geary, but it's on Polk. Meat quality is decent to good, as it should be for $10 per entree.
I have a ridiculous obsession with the chicken makhanwala- its this heavenly rich curry that I have to have. I love indian/pakistani food and have a fair obsession with it, but nothing has caused such an frenzy in my tastebuds as this. The mushroom matter, chana masala, and bengan bhartha are all also great- but be warned, when they say spicy, they mean spicy (and I eat spicy at shalimar, so I'm not a wuss, I promise).
Best Naan! Too bad, they are gone now! I feel so bad when I first heard the news. I have never dine in, only take out. They had the best stuffed chicken naan.
I've eaten here three times. It went good... better... better!! The food is delicious. they have a good variety at the buffet. I didn't taste anything i didn't like -- except one of the veg dishes. But everything else tasted like quality. I recommend the buffet or ordering from the menu. The crappy part is parking if you're not a local.
For lazy Saturday nights when we didn't want to walk down to Naan and Curry, Star of India always hit the spot. My boyfriend loved the fried veggie fritters though I considered them to be way too greasy. Everything else was good, delivery prompt and they take credit cards. What more can you ask for at 11:30 p.m.?
I used to live right near here, and I have to say, their mulligatawny is quite lovely. It just has that taste, you know that taste.... the taste that when you taste it, it makes you wish that everythings tastes like that and you know that if you taste that taste everyday for the rest of your life, you still wouldn't get sick of it? Yeah, that taste. It's special.
Stumbled upon this restaurant yesterday and I now consider myself a better person for doing so. $9.00 for an all-you-can eat buffet? Are we in Bombay or are we on Polk Street? To be honest, I wasn't quite sure what I was eating half the time but everything tasted great. A bowl of yogurt soup coupled with a few scoops of carrot pudding is the correct way to start your Sunday. Naan Naan Naan Naan, Naan Naan Naan Naan, Hey Hey Hey....I like!
I love this place! Buffet is about $10 and you can stuff yourself silly with great curry, naan, chicken marsala and so much more stuff. They have great dessert and the waiter Jessie is so nice. He definitely goes out of your way to make sure you are happy!
how did they do that???i ordered at 6:08pm and the food was here at 6:23pm (i live about 10 blocks away with hills here and there). i always order the same thing and it's always yumm (i tried other dishes as well, but no thanks. i am not sure if it's the food itself or the way they make it). chick tikka masala, raita es cheese naan every time hot and delicious.
try it try it and you'll like it :-D
I always get the buffet to-go. I guess that seems sorta pointless when it is all-you-can-eat. But when all-I-want is the Chicken Makhanwala, I can load up my sytrofoam plate with pounds of it and take it home. And when you get the buffet to-go you get piping hot naan. Good stuff and relatively cheap. While it is not the best Indian food I have had, it is good for the money.
Came here Friday night and got the all you can eat buffet for $8.95. I thought it was delicious. Chicken Marsala is pretty tasty. The dishes overall are pretty spicy which I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! Friendly service and totally inexpensive. I will definitely be coming back for more buffets.
All I can say is...all you can eat buffet for $8.95. You'll often find standard favorites, like chicken masala and spinach dishes, as well as a most excellent lamb curry. It's never crowded and the service is good. Best to partake of buffet on the earlier side of the lunch or dinner hour...heat lamp exposure subtly diminishes the taste and consistency of the food (yes, I sometimes eat lunch around 3-ish...not the best time to go). Menu items are fantastic...did I mention the masala was super good? And there's interesting kama sutra pics on the wall for your dining entertainment.
I have NO idea why people go here. The food is inedible. I mean really. the naan is like a nasty bagel -- the chicken tikka is disgusting. Never go here ever. Ew.
Oh my gosh, it burned down....
Not a bad place to form the solid base of any weekend outing. It coats the stomach so as to form a protective barrier against almost any alcoholic substance except for some high grade tequila. That being said, the food is cheap and the ambiance isn't great but the $ 8.95 buffet usually doesn't disappoint. On Friday's they have the chicken tikka masala which kicks ass ,and with the all you can eat aspect i usually find myself having to loosen the belt buckle. Whoo hoo. The chicken appears to be thigh meat, so don't go in expecting white meat chicken swimming in a delicately spiced creamy tomato sauce. They have decent rice, but the naan tends to be on the tough dried out side if you eat it off the buffet. I recommend delivery - it hasn't left me sick or hungry yet so that's always a plus.
I test Indian restaurants by their chicken tikka masala, plain naan, and the mint and tamarind chutneys. The stars earned were based on the quality of the chicken (chunks of tender white meat), the naan (hot and fresh), and the prompt delivery. The sauce, however, was thin and bland. The chutneys were equally uninspired and watery. I found the meal to be utterly disappointing, but if you like ethnic food that has been thoroughly whitewashed, you might find this place to be a godsend. At least the quality of the meat was acceptable.
Delicious indian/pakistani buffet. They have a decent variety here. Their tandoori chicken is very well seasoned and is nice and tender. Very affordable. Friendly service.
I'm a regular because of the chicken tikka masala. It rocks. Hard. I have mine delivered, and it's usually very fast. I swear they delivered in about 12 minutes one time. It was like they had sensed my chicken tikka jones, even before I did. Wow. Well done, gentlemen. Well done.
I like the buffet. How come Indian restaurants are the only type of food in town who enjoy putting on a good buffet?
Good Indian food. Really basic atmosphere.
my favorite dive indian joint. So sad about the fire...
The food is great, the staff is friendly and the price is right.
The buffet is one of the best deals in town.
The decor is lacking but the food makes up for it.
this is my first restaurant 1-star review. just plain bad. i can not eat rice with raisins in it (it didn't even mention raisin on the menu). naan was super chewy and didn't taste fresh. saag paneer... oh... i just want to forget about the entire experience.
My go-to indian take out place
Rating and review is for delivery/take-out only
Admittedly, this place has better than average food for an Indian restaurant in SF. Their bread is good, they use decent quality meat in general (their lamb is a little fattier than I'd like), and their fried offerings are crispy without being too greasy.Unfortunately, they are also more expensive, at about $1-2 more per dish or so, than restaurants of similar quality in town. They also charge for rice, which many Indian places include with their entrees. All this said, if I lived near them I might consider them a decent choice for take-out. They aren't worth a 10-15 minute drive, though, and that brings me to their delivery. I have ordered delivery from them about five times, and won't ever again. The last two times they took well over an hour to deliver lukewarm food, and the most recent time the driver was incredibly surly about being given a smallish (but totally appropriate) tip for his late arrival. Not interested in paying too much, waiting too long, and being sworn at for food that's only slightly above average.
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