Ambrosia India Bistro

I eat at this restaurant weekly. If I had more money, I’d eat here three times a week. The cooks know what they are doing! The food tastes authentic. All but once, Ive gone at lunch time and eaten the buffet. It is satisfying and a treat. The price comes out to about twelve dollars each. They serve good naan and on the weekends you get a complimentary chai or tea.
The ambiance is very nice, as is the music. The bathroom is also nice. They use nice copper ware to store the buffet food, which I appreciate, along with awesome Himalayan salt rock candle holders at dinner time.
The dinner I attended was lovely and delicious. I did not pay, so I not speak on behalf of the cost. I imagine it was worth it, based on the yummy food and gentle, lively, warm atmosphere.
By the way, (geared towards the buffet) I am vegetarian and leave feeling full for hours afterwards.

Always the best Indian cuisine in the county! Pannir Tikka & the Tandori chicken are our absolute favorites. The okra is *perfect*, no better anywhere on the planet! Thank you San and everyone else for giving Aptos world class flavor!

Ambrosia is one of the best most authentic Indian restaurants in the area. A wonderful atmosphere with absolutely delicious food every single visit! San, the manager is always super friendly and kind when we dine here, always so welcoming Five stars for everything here, such a pleasant place to enjoy dinner!

My «go to» Indian restaurant — for dining in or take-​out! Yummy food and great service! It’s always a nice calm change of scene from some of the other bustling restaurants around town. I’ve never had to wait for a table. Check it out!

updating my review. Went here for a bday dinner and ordered their stuffed naans and 5 curry dishes and tandoori along with mango lassis. Everything was super delicious. I revise my experience to say that I’m a fan and would go here when I want Indian again.
added plus, their backroom is spacious and beautiful. I didn’t even know they had a backroom (from the view from the street you can’t tell) but it was pretty and could serve a large group.

Great food, good value, and excellent service (fast). Best indian cuisine in the county.

Great food, our favorite Indian restaurant in the area. Only docking one star for their service, they are efficient but not the most friendly, but would recommend them for their food!

Great ethnic option in the Aptos area. Flavors are great, service is great.
Dal Bhakura is the best I’ve ever had!
Great service– even better food!

I was visiting Santa Cruz from LA and found this great lil’ bistro. Shankar was our waiter and was very friendly and attentive even tho we got the buffet! I’ll definately go again!

This little gem tucked away from the shore as a wonderful find! Thanks Unilocal.
The food was soooo delicious! And the service was spectacular. I had a few dietary preferences (Paleo) and they were happy to accommodate. I had a lamb curry and eggplant dish that were fresh, tasty, and all the right levels of spice.
I should have asked for extra spicy cause I can handle the heat. Next time! I will be back any time I am in the area for sure!

Best Indian food in the county! Very friendly and attentive staff. Their Butter Chicken is a must!

Ambrosia delivers the best Indian food in the county!
Went tonight for dinner with my husband, and our experience was great from start to finish. Right after we were sat they brought us some complimentary papadum and sauces. My husband asked for our servers recommendation and he quickly offered his favorite choices. We decided to take him up on a recommendation and try the Mixed Tandoori Platter, which came with chicken, lamb, beef, and shrimp. We also ordered the Samosa Trio Sampler (vegetarian, lamb, and chicken), garlic naan, and saffron basmati rice.
When the samosas arrived, the server made sure to distinguish which was which, since they all had different fillings. While it didn’t make a difference to a person like me with no dietary restrictions, I appreciated his succinctness! Our food arrived soon after we finished our samosas, and everything we were given tasted delicious. The presentation of the dishes made them that much more appetizing!
Our server, who we ended up finding out was the manager, was very sweet and attentive and really took care of us as customers– you can tell he really cares which is always a major plus when eating at a family run restaurant. This place is great if you’re vegetarian or vegan, as they have a wide variety of dishes for people with dietary restrictions and an entire vegan menu.
I was also told that you will receive a 10% discount if you bring your receipt and return within a week!

Ambrosia is my favorite restaurant in the bay area. Affordable, comfortable and really good food. Staff is uncommonly friendly and welcoming. I will be going back here for years to come. Simply one of the best dinning experiences i have ever had!

Amazing, authentic and consistent Indian cuisine. The weekly lunch buffet is the way to go, both vegetarian and omnivore options. I have cravings for Ambrosia weekly. Two thumbs up!

By far the best Indian food I’ve ever had. The food was authentic and the service was impeccable. For four people, I felt like we ordered enough for an army. The end result was just $ 112 pre-​tip, and that included four beers, four overly stuffed bellies and two take home boxes.

Fifth time here with hubby we come up from Royal oaks in Monterey county to eat here for special treat or for me a vegetarian the best place you can go anywhere any type of food
Hubby is a meat eater and we both agree this is the best Indian cuisine in the Bay Area even better than Amber India in mountain view and Santana row IMHO
Ssankar the manager was a professor in Nepal and has a masters and a PhD in education and finance and is wonderful to be served by so humble you’d never guess and always takes very good care of us
The portions are so generous we always take food home and eat for days so a great value
We always order off the menu as I don’t do the buffet

This is our favorite Indian restaurant in the Bay Area. Every dish we have had here has been perfect, so finely prepared, with the highest quality. I always order the Chettinad pepper chicken (my favorite), but tonight I got the lamb rogan josh, which was delicious, and the was lamb was so so tender. My son, 5 years old, asks to come down here (we live in San Jose) just for the chicken tikka masala, which I think is the best I’ve had. And they make the tikka masala sauce so flavorful, but not spicy at all so even my 2 year old loves it (he also loved the lamb). We also love the desi fish curry, which definitely is spicy.
They bring out great crispy flat bread with 3 different sauces for every table, and it’s a perfect little appetizer that doesn’t fill you up!
The atmosphere is also really nice, with somewhat dim lighting, but still inviting to families of little ones.
The service has always been stellar and high quality. The food doesn’t take long to come out, and the servers are very courteous, friendly and attentive.

Great Food. Reasonable Price. The best environment inside. And probably the best customer service ever. Thanks to staff Shankar and Raja.
Definitely recommend to everyone. :)

Ambrosia is great if you know what to order and what condiments to demand. I really hope this location stays around for a while because they’re so damn unique. They are awarded stars here as such:
1. Ambiance: It’s comfortable and there’s wonderful decoration. There’s even a Hindu deity stomping on a little baby. When questioned, the owners pointed out that it was a very bad baby. Guess he had it comin’!
2. Food: The chutney selection is a little bland. Their spicy hot sauce, available by request, is just what you’d need to bring the other chutneys up in flavor
3. Ambrosia is Vegetarian & Vegan friendly. Call in advance and they may prepare something specially. They even have a custom Roti (it’s like an ultra thin pita) that will suit such self imposed dietary restrictions.
I couldn’t give Ambrosia four stars but, had Unilocal offered reviewers a choice of several celestial bodies, I would have awarded Ambrosia three stars and one crab nebula. It’s THAT good! To wit: Baigan Bhartha (eggplant curry), Bhindi jaipuri (okra curry) coupled with a few rieslings (sweet white wines) are stupendous. They do have a vegan alternative to their naan if you ask. These guys are from Southern India and that region is not known for spicy hot foods. many items there are mild but you can always kick it up a notch with their super hot red chutney (see photo). There’s a green chutney but it packs no heat at all.
Maybe this is too much to ask but I think the problem with all Indian restaurants is that they have yet to offer vegan mock meat proteins. Those products from Gardein, Beyond Meat, Yves & Tofurkey are available in bulk from restaurant suppliers. It’s cruelty free and gives you as much protein as their meat counterparts. it’d be easy for the restaurant to get the new ingredients as well. Vegan Vegi-​protein crumbles are similarly easy to find. Places like Saturn Café, Thai House, and Surf City Billiards (!!) all offer vegan mock-​meats currently. In case the business owner/​manager reads this review I’ve supplied a link to a resource that explains exactly how to get these veggie protein bits: The full list of restaurant suppliers is on page 17 here:
Here’s a short list of bulk suppliers I found searching «vegan meat alternative bulk supplier»
There are a number of suppliers who offer them. A company called Daiya sells their cheese-​like toppings in bulk to restaurants. This would be perfect to place in the Saag Paneer (Spinach with Cheese) instead of that tasteless cheese cube most Indian restaurants use.
Sweet Earth Foods in Moss Landing:
Beyond Meat:
Tofutti
Daiya
All in all, this is a welcome addition to the Indian cuisine choices in Santa Cruz county. Now, why can’t someone open an Ethiopian restaurant somewhere. Get on that, huh?

I was staying around Aptos for the weekend. Me and my boyfriend wanted to have a nice dinner and our first choice was Emmanuel. But they were packed, so we decided to try this place that was just a little walk away.
Service
For the most part, the staff was pretty friendly and professional. In my opinion, attentiveness could use some work. I didn’t see much people in the restaurant, but we waited a while for our order to be taken, our drinks/​water, and our check.
Food:
Mixed Tandooi Sampler — This was delicious! I would come back just for this. The fish was too spicy for my taste, but still GOOD! The rest of the meat were spot on!
Naan — I didn’t like their naan too much. It was a little too «doughy». I like my naan fluffy. But it was still decent and went well with the curry.
Chicken Tikka Marsala — The curry was decent. I’ve had better for cheaper. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what was different or what made it just ‘decent’. Maybe not enough seasoning?
Overall:
I would definitely recommend this place.