K P Deli

An NYC bodega and an NYC Indian takeout all rolled into one and dropped into the middle of Berkeley!
B R I L L I A N T
Every snack food and every beverage extant on one side and then fresh and tasty curries on the other. (They stock Big Hunks!!!)
THE smart solution to hunger and thirst.
I’m marshalling resources to stage my return even as I write this.

Come here for their chicken tiki masala, it’s honestly just so good ! The naan breads used to be delicious but when I came here last time, they served me two burnt flavorless naan breads, kinda disappointing. The costumer service is not great but the food makes it all worth it.

This one’s a true hidden gem. It starts off with the most awesome Italian Gelato selection lined up on the outside of the store — I usually get the salted caramel but everything’s good. Inside, there’s a whole kitchen making all sorts of Indian fast food (which is fresh food that is made fast). There’s crispy Samosa, Kachoris, Wraps, Naans and currys, rice etc. We tried the Samosa as an appetizer since we were on our way to a Dinner place.
This is also a convenience store. They’ve got soda, tooth paste, grains, beer… you name it.
I usually get the samosa & Gelato and take it out and sit by the University. It makes for a serene evening.

Lovely colorful meticulously laid out stock all marked up and colorful with inflated prices.

It was around 10 pm and me and my friend needed to buy some snacks. Walgreens was closed of course so we went to this place instead. I bought one Oreo and one Haagen Dazs ice cream and when I was checking out I realized that I had to pay 13 $ only for these two items. My friend also bought a Kettle chips and a coke and she had to pay 7 $ just for that. I was trying to figure out why it was so expensive when my friend realized that on the receipt there wasn’t any price for each of the items we bought and they only gave us the total price. I also realized that there weren’t any price labels for the items in the store at all. So anyways I talked to one of the cashiers, she was an indian woman and I told her that the price is way higher compare to the other stores I usually go to. She very rudely replied that this place is not Walgreens and you can’t compare the prices.
I don’t recommend this place to anyone at all, They overcharge you way more and also they are very rude.

I love getting Helados Mexican Ice Cream here– pineapple and mango. They’re a little expensive at $ 2 each though. I usually use cash and the workers are really nice. The Indian food here looks like delicious and the food is reasonably priced I think at around $ 7.

Place sucks!!! It’s smells and the samosas were worst than the customer service. They tasted so old! I took one bite and asked for a refund and was told no. I will never come to this place again.

So, the first couple times I got food here, I was psyched. A huge portion of very tasty lamb curry atop rice was about $ 7.50 total w/​tax. It was more than one person should eat at once but I always ate it all and felt sick after.
But then they raised the price. Not much, i think about 50 cents. Thing is, the giant sign outside still says $ 6.99. I pointed that out when I realized I had been charged a higher price, and the guy laughed and just said «yeah.» The sign is still up there and the price went up about 5 or 6 months ago.
Then there is the issue about portions. I find that when the guy is working the food, the carton is at least half filled with lamb and soaking through with curry sauce. When the older woman is working the food, forget it– it’s a carton of rice with a few chunks of lamb and sauce on the top. I’ve started asking for less rice when she is working. But tonight I forgot and when I turned around from paying, I see a carton ¾ filled with rice. I said, «oh, less rice.» But she left it in there and put her few chunks of lamb on top. Get it home and find that the bottom half is just plain, white rice. Not even curry sauce. That’s not a good deal.
From now on I’ll avoid the place if she is working the food.
And one last little gripe– I don’t appreciate it when the change owed includes pennies but, without asking, they don’t give the pennies. Especially when I’m pretty sure I’ve been in there looking for the few cents I needed to make it even and they stood there waiting for it.
That’s pretty cheezy.
Oh– and they have minimum to use ANY kind of card, including debit cards. You can’t require a minimum for debit cards.
Good lamb curry, dubious practices.

The food wasn’t bad but it was ridiculously messy. I got a veggie naan wrap and it was difficult to eat out of the many plies of foil. The flimsy napkins didn’t help the situation.
This place sells many processed food items and sundries, as well. The prices are inflated and the workers are constantly on guard. It’s a weird scene here.

What a kooky place. Stood behind three fairly attractive girls buying Four Loko. Weird. Indian owner is super friendly and we chatted about how she’s the only real late night choice so It is popular with the resto industry folks. they party in the back by the cold cases. lots of good people watching in and outside also. a crazy cross section of Berkeley proper

Good Indian classics that with the low price and large servings are a great value. I have tried vegetarian Saag and Korma dishes and found them to be very tasty and satisfying. There is a very large selection of drinks to go with meals and also packaged treats for desert. The service is cordial and efficient, and the manager of the place keeps everyone on their toes.
This place is very convenient to BART and University at Shattuck and has places to sit and eat inside.

Very tasty food, large portions. Overpriced tho.
Drove back to my house and within 15 minutes I had to run to the bathroom clenching my rectum. Let’s just say Taco Bell doesn’t even make me run to the bathroom.
Naan is very thin and not good.
Stick to a rice and meat/​veg combo.
–2 stars for the runs and thin naan.

Ambiance: I almost always forget about this place when I’m looking for somewhere to eat because I think that it’s just a convenience store. Boy am I glad that my friends were craving indian food and that we happened to be in downtown Berkeley! It’s layout is like a fast food Chinese restaurant. You see the hot delicious steaming food behind a glass screen with name tags for each dish. There is seating in the back next to all the cool unique drinks and snacks of this convenience store! :)
Service: FIVE STARS!!! The cashier is adorable because after he rang my friends and I up, he would call out to his Ma and tell her our orders so that she could plate our food. He calls out to her loud and proud too. ;) Also, they are both extremely friendly! Ma cooks everything in the deli too!
Food: I would like to think of myself as an Indian food connoisseur… and with that, let’s begin~! ;)
Aloo paneer w/​rice — Tasty, but it was missing a few spices.
Chicken tikka masala — SOOOO goood~!~!~! I highly recommend getting this!
Naan — Not too thick, not too thin. Just right. :) Perfectly crispy.
Vegetable Korma — MY FAVORITE! When I come back, this is what I’m getting for sure.
Samosa with chutney — Samosas aren’t really my thing, but this was tasty with the chutney.
Price: My aloo paneer with rice was only ~$ 5 and the portions are huge! :)
Tip: — Try them all and come here often! (especially the korma~!)
Conclusion: I will definitely be back! :)

Yes. All of their liquor, wine, etc is often overpriced. But I come here for the Indian food which IMO is better than a lot of the other local places. They give you a lot of food for your money, although the meat is normally a bit dry (consequence of being in heating trays)

While engaging in idle conversation with the gentleman at the cash register in the unassuming convenience store just south of the intersection of University and Shattuck (west fork), Chat discovered that he and Yogi had stumbled upon an unexpected offshoot of the Agarwal family’s sprawling Khana Peena empire. Indeed, the «K.P.» in K.P. Café (KPC; a.k.a. «K.P. Deli,» on Unilocal) stands for «Khana Peena,» and while that name does indeed adorn two restaurants (including the previously reviewed KP on Solano in Berkeley, and its sister location on College Ave. in Oakland), the family’s reach is much wider, and includes KPC, Mint Left in the Gourmet Ghetto (see previous review of ML), the East Bay Spice Company (see our upcoming review; EBSC is in the location of the previously reviewed and thankfully defunct Punjabi by Nature [PbN] on Oxford St.), and even a taxi and a limo service. Chat, floored by this revelation, assumed that the K.P. family must be based in Fremont, which is the Indian Mecca that we had assumed was the birthplace of all Indian businesses in the Bay Area. This supposition appalled the cashier, who corrected us immediately: «Fremont is the jungle!» Duly noted.
The convenience store, which is not clearly named, doesn’t show up on Google Maps, is incorrectly labeled in Unilocal,and has various unhelpful signs, the most visible of which said, «Michelob Ultra: Superior Light Beer,» and «BEER WINE CIGAREETES [sic] GROCERY CALLING CARDS.» Adding to the mysterious exterior was a large, poorly maintained ice cream freezer with such questionable flavors as «Tony Spumoni» and «Pumpkin-​Z.» Upon entering, one notices that the menu, while primarily Indian, also includes Mexican fare as well as Italian subs (?). The strange combination of food choices, combined with the fact that the buffet was the only option, caused a resurgence of unwelcome memories involving Indian/​Pakistani/​Mexican-​turned-​Tikka-​Corner, where we encountered such horrors as mummified carrots and lower-​than-​room-​temperature buffet items (see previous review of TK). We were afraid… very afraid. But, as it turned out, there was no need for such deep-​seated fear, even in spite of the fact that the container labeled «fresh-​baked cookies» was full of pickle, chutney, and baklava (?!).
As we sat down upon highly dangerous stools, we discovered that we were in fact eating on what appeared to be a repurposed park bench. We were quickly distracted from this curiosity when the food, in all of its infinite glory, began pouring out of the kitchen. The veggie samosa, which we had to extract ourselves from beneath the infrared heater, was quite good. The pickle was decent, and was even vaguely spicy. The naan and mango lassi were fine. The mains were impressive: the chicken combo ($ 8) was outrageously ample, and included nearly a cubic parsec of both chicken tikka masala and chicken korma. The veggie combo ($ 7), also ample, included potentially-​but-​not-​offensively undercooked chana masala, as well as veggie masala, which was acceptable, but whose vegetables were cut inappropriately.
This was a meal of many firsts. Our first time dining in a convenience store, our first time eating on (rather than sitting on) a park bench, and, as Yogi put it, as he gazed at the towering shelf of feminine products just behind us, «the first time we’ve ever eaten in the shadow of Tampax.» In spite of the many oddities we experienced, we were duly impressed by the first non-​dangerous buffet we’ve ever encountered, and were even more impressed that said buffet was in a location where we normally would have sought out «cigareetes» and malt liquor. While we cannot attest to the quality of the wines, cigareetes, ice cream, feminine products and other such convenient items, it appears that K.P. Café may be the one-​stop shop we have all been looking for. For the one-​of-​a-​kind juxtaposition of decent food and everyday essentials, we award K.P. Café three samosas at a cost of two rupees, for a samosa-​to-​rupee ratio of 1.5. At that price point, incorporating K.P. Café into your weekly shopping rotation looks ever more attractive.

For those of you who like cheap Indian/​Pakistani food — this is the place. For reals. This place — even though it is kind of hole in the wall — offers better food than House of Curries or Naan N Curry, no lie. I’ve gone here three times and every time, I leave satisfied. The chicken tikka masala is my favorite. Even if you get food to go, there is plenty for two meals! The samosas used to be $ 1, but they were much smaller than they are now! Now, each samosa is $ 1.50, but they are bigger!

AVOID… coming in here if for late night booze or if you can’t make it over to a Safeway. This place gets away with highway robbery by overcharging. The guy in front of me left his liquor on the counter after the lady told him a ridiculous price. I followed suit after she did the same with me. The store also serves grilled hot food under the guise of «Khana Pena Café». They serve a variety of food but most of the menu is Indian food. On another visit, I had the tacos from here and the food didn’t taste very fresh to me.
Rude/​dismissive service (F-​)
Way overpriced spot to get booze (F-​)
Food not fresh (F-​)
TIP: Lots of other convenient stores in the area, try :. E-​Z Stop Deli (Shattuck) Fred’s (Telegraph) open till midnight!

I would have never thought to stop here. In fact earlier in the day I walked right by it and had no idea it existed. But then a friend of mine took me here and said it was good. The place is basically half restaurant and half convenience store which was confusing and maybe even a bit of a turn off at first. But I went in and got food and boy was I surprised. It was phenomenal… or chronic if you will.
Anyways, I got the chicken naan burrito. It is essentially Indian curry rolled in a huge piece of naan. If you like Indian curry then I highly highly recommend it. Hell… I highly recommend it no matter what. Check it.

It looks like a hole in the wall, and by most definitions… well, nix that– by all definitions, it is.
It”s not particularly cheap. It’s grungy, it’s dim, and it’s probably in all kinds of violations of the health code.
But K. P Deli could give Mickey D’s a hard run for its money. Pressed for money/​time, but unable to face the crowd that swarms the Golden Arches en masse? The samosas here (warmed by heat lamps, seved in brown paper bags) are greasy-​fried wonders– a cornucopian pocket of potatoes, onions and peas– mashed into a deep-​fried pastry casing, salty and fatty enough to make you love now and regret later. (And you will regret. And you will come back anyway.)
So what is actually redeeming about K. P Deli? The TANDOOR hiding behind the cash register. :) Should you shove your way past the cigarette cartons and beer cases littering the enclave-​like entrance, you may be pleasantly surprised to find fresh* naan for order! Order any sort of naan, and some smiling cashier will take a blob of puffy dough, roll it out, thwak it onto a wooden board and lower it into the mouth of a roaring clay oven. So awesome. So yummy.
*Well, fresh from the oven. I don’t know how long that dough’s been sitting out.
Bottom Line: Deli with a tandoor? Deserves awe.

You’re thirsty?
Right, well let’s pop into KP. They’ve got every non-​alcoholic bevie under the sun, from those weird Australian ginger beers that are amazing with whiskey, to those Ito En iced teas, Gus sodas and small batch root beer.
Oh, you meant brews.
Gotcha. Same spot. They’ve got a really impressive selection of craft beer and even sell singles. 40s of Old E? Naturally.
But we’re going to want to grub.
Best drunk eats evar? Samosas, hands down. Those naan rolls are pretty damn good too.
I’m cool with the sweets, but you go ahead.
Heard they’ve got a mighty fine gelato selection, so go for it.
You’re out of what?!
Yeah, yeah. No sweat. They got Charmin too. And that soap with the beady things you like.
I know, man.
I told you KP was the bomb.