Punjab Indian Restaurant

Amazing service, fantastic food and homey atmosphere. It makes you feel like you’re in India. This is now my favorite local Indian place. We will definitely be back!

This place is now called taste of the himilayas… equally as good — bit pricey.

They changed their name recently, please be informed that it this place is now called the Taste of Himalayas.
The chicken tikka massala and the vindaloo was pretty good. The chicken is very tender and accompanying sauce is perfect for dipping your soft, yet slightly crispy naan into. For the $ 7 that I paid for lunch, they gave me so much food that I was unable to eat for the rest of the day. And it was so good that I couldn’t stop eating it. The lunch deal included two choices of meat, lentil soup, a couple pieces of naan, and rice. The lentil soup wasn’t the greatest, but everything else more than made up for it.
If you’re in San Diego and you’re in the mood for some pretty solid Indian at a great price, make sure to check this place out. It’s located in a small strip mall that makes for some pretty interesting people watching.

We were looking for a local Indian food joint and after reading reviews on Unilocal,we got to-​go from Punjab. The chicken tikka masala was my fave! The 2 of us split 2 meals, it came with rice or naan bread– so we got one with rice and one with naan. Next time I would do 2 rices and just get a side of naan. I like it spicy, but not so spicy that it overpowers the flavor. We ordered at a level 6, and that seemed just right.
All in all… Yummmmy

This place is pretty great! They’re now called Taste of the Himalayas, as others have said. I didn’t have trouble finding it, either!
The food is pretty standard Indian fare. They do have lunch specials, which might be a new thing (as per the new owners). It’s $ 6.95 for lunch, and you get a choice of two entrees (I chose saag & a veggie curry, my husband also had the saag & a coconut veggie curry), as well as basmati rice, some soupy dal & a big piece of naan bread. It was a LOT of food! I didn’t quite finish mine, but that’s what husbands are for :).
The guy who served us was extremely polite, and the food came out fairly quickly.
Overall, we’ll definitely return. I’m a fan of this place :). Keep up the good work!

FYI, as the other reviews mention: The restaurant is now called «Taste of the Himalayas.» (It can be tough to find if you don’t know that)
Let me tell you. Coming from San Francisco to San Diego has caused me some serious Indian Food withdrawals. Up there in SF it is fresh, flavorful, hearty, cheap. They let you bring your own booze in and sometimes comes with a show (there’s this great place in the tenderloin that always has some quality people-​watching just outside the windows).
This place is the closest I have found in my year long quest. We ordered the grilled lamb and veggies (delicious), the chicken tikka masala was melt in your mouth tender (yes, I realize it is the most americanized item on the menu but I love it), and the lamb biryani was definitely worth ordering. We even got some fancy naan that had cherry and cashews and fennel in it. ALL items were 5 out of 5 stars for tastiness.
They have fantastic service, do a great job of interpreting your desired spice level, and each dish comes with a side of rice or naan.
Minus one star for the price (I’m used to paying about $ 6/​item, here it was about $ 10 or $ 11), and they don’t let you bring booze in, which as we all know, can really elevate the price.
If you’re prepared to spend $ 40 on indian food and drink for 2, this is definitely the best place around to go!

Has recently undergone an ownership change. The restaurant is now called «Taste of the Himalayas.»
The vindaloo was amazing and the saag was well… to die for. The naan ranks up with the best I’ve tasted in SD and the service is nothing short of superb. At 10+/plate, a meal here can get pricey. The upside is all plates include a side of either naan or rice.
Also, the Unilocal discount needs to be changed. Having to bring in a printed copy of the Unilocal listing to qualify for a measly 10% off purchases of $ 30 or more is, in my opinion, a tasteless attempt by management to deter customers from redeeming the offer.
If the prices were «reasonable» and the Unilocal discount procedure wasn’t so pre-​historic this place would make a strong candidate for my list of 5 star SD restaurants.

This place is now called Taste of the Himalayas and serves Indian and Nepalese food.
I came here with my mom today for lunch (after a small incident with Triple A… only a week back from NY and I’m already having car problems O_​O) Anyways, lunch specials are only $ 6.95 which consists of a lentil soup, rice, two pieces of naan, and your choice of two items from the menu.
I got the saag aloo and the chicken vindaloo. My mom got the vegetarian coconut curry and the chicken tikka masala. All four were very tasty and I loved that the saag aloo was on the spicier side. Very friendly atmosphere but the place was a little too dark. I’m not sure if it was because it was hot or because they were trying to conserve energy but with the lights off and the black table cloths, it almost looks like the place is closed. Other then that, the server and chef were very friendly and came around to talk to all the guests. Made us feel special!

I loved Punjab Indian restaurant! This place really surprised me. I really enjoy Indian cuisine and that areas spices yet I have never had lamb chops like this before. They blew my mind! The dish was served on a steaming platter with grilled veggies below it that were both tasty and kept hot all at the same time. I really liked the spices the taste and the service. They say on the menu we treat our customers like our god and it felt that way by the servers interactions with us. I also really enjoyed the veggie samosa appetizers. Everything was very hot and freshly made. The chef was singing in his native language hindu or indian I don’t know. He seemed happy and you could tell he puts love into the food he makes. I also liked the dishes used because they looked very native to the ethnic background of this restaurant.
Bottom line: I loved this restaurant from the food to the service to the atmosphere and will definitely be going there again soon.

This place is the real deal. My only critique is that their «6» (on the spicy scale from 1 – 10) wasn’t spicy enough.
Apart from that, great food, great service, cold beer and kid friendly. Best Indian food we’ve found so far in San Diego. Come here and you won’t regret it.

We were there for lunch on a Saturday while visiting San Diego.
We ordered their lunch special (I believe it was $ 6.99 which included a soup, rice, naan and 2 curries).
I had the vegetable coconut curry and chicken vindaloo and very much enjoyed them both. They ask how spicy I wanted my food on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 meant mild.
I typically like my food spicy. But since I am at an Indian restaurant (and coming from a South East Asian family), I knew 10 here would mean very very spicy. So, I asked for spicy level 5 and that was tolerable.
I don’t believe I could have handled any more than spicy level 5 though.
The waiter was very very nice and the service was super fast.
My spouse really liked the naan and the spinach dish he got with his lunch special. Since he could not handle much spice, he asked for spicy level 3. Later he mentioned that he should have gone for spicy level 1 or 2 as his felt his chicken tikka dish was a little spicier than he would have liked.
I highly recommend this place, especially for lunch.
Too bad I live in the Bay Area… otherwise, this would be my «go to» spot for Indian food :)

Went here on a Saturday afternoon with friends. It was not to busy at all which was nice since the place is pretty small. Its located in a strip mall type place so there is a lot of parking. We were warmly greeted as soon as we walked though the door. Our waiter was very friendly and attentive to us, always making sure that our water glasses were filled and that we were ok.
We all ordered the veggie samosa appetizers. They were ok, there was a seed in it that I’m not to sure of what it was but it was very strong and sort of spoiled the flavor of the samosa. I had to pick them out and then it was good. We ordered off the lunch special menu which was $ 6.95 and included lentil soup and naan bread along with your choice of 2 main courses and rice. The lentil soup was very yummy! It had a lot of flavor and was creamy. I choose the Chicken tikka and chicken curry for my main dishes. The chicken tikka was excellent. It was packed with flavor and the chicken was so tender that you could cut it was a fork. The chicken curry tasted a bit more tomato-​y then I am use to but was still good. The naan bread was soft and fluffy and went perfect with the meal!
We all really enjoyed our meal here. We will for sure be going back sometime soon!

Best Indian food in Pt Loma. Service is five stars. Extra star for excellent service. Menu says «You will be treated like GOD!!!» and we were treated like God. We wanted bread there was bread, we didn’t ask for extra rice but got extra rice. We even got rice pudding (kheer?) with a candle in it. :)
Food was pretty good. There were a lot of spices in the chick peas and chicken tikka marsala. For $ 7, it comes with two choices of curried mush, rice and naaan. Their mango lassi was a little weak on the mango sweetness but the texture was good.
There is NO buffet. It’s one of the first Indian restaurants I’ve been to that doesn’t have a buffet.

Dinner for Two special at 35.95 included: Vegetable Pakora, Vegetable Samosa, Daal Soup, Mismas Tarkari, Chicken Tikka Masala, Lamb-​Chicken-​Salmon Tandoori, Basmati Rice, Naan, Kheer (Rice Pudding). Add on a Mango Lossi (great to counter the spice) and a white wine with two bottomless water glasses and a tip… all for $ 51.00
Food — Flavor (5), Appearance (5), Taste (5), Timing (5), and Temperature (5) were all outstanding. New Chef Dipak Thakuri.
Atmosphere — good (4), seats 30, small elegant tables, black cloth, white linen napkin and a fresh rose. Bali-​wood TV on tap. Bathroom clean (shared M/​F)
Service — great (4), three servers working as a team and catching everything; very attentive. Helped with order, filled H2O constantly, checked back on food, and the food came out fast. Two drawbacks — dessert came with the entrées and we had to box our own food — oh well.
Rating — 4.71
This area is rich with small finds like this one, Unilocal it out!

Yum! A really cute hole in the wall indian place. Decent service, good food, REALLY good chicken masala and roti. Tried several other dishes including different masalas and they all tasted delicious. I’m not the biggest fan of Indian but I’d definitely come back and recommend it.
By the way awesome Bollywood movies playing all over.

N-​A-​S-​T-​Y. That’s all I have to say! I ordered the Tandoori Chicken luncheon special and found myself sawing away at the tendon-​y, bone-​y bits of mystery meat to find something edible. I know sometimes tandoori chicken does come with bones, but this was just over the top. The naan tasted EXACTLY like water crackers, smelled like it to. My sister had the saag paneer luncheon, and hers tasted like Stouffers Creamed Spinach. Pizza, even if its bad pizza can still be good, but I have realized that when you get bad Indian, its truly baddd and there is no redemption. The waitstaff was more interested in watching their Indian soaps than serving the 4 people who were eager to try the food. I heard one of the waiters say to a person who called in to «Read our reviews on Unilocal!» Yeah, read this review and then don’t go.

Ick! Unilocal,why did you do me so wrong? I would definitely not go back here, for several reasons:
1. the staff was not friendly. they looked annoyed at having to serve us… which maybe would be understandable if they were incredibly busy, but we were the only people there for lunch.
2. normally I can look over staff issues if the food is good. food here = not good. I ordered the saag paneer. It was lukewarm in temperature. My sister said it reminded her of creamed spinach with cheese squares that tasted more like tofu. I agree. It just was not appetizing. The naan tasted like saltine crackers. I actually like saltine crackers… along with a 7-up…when I’m hungover. the naan was also very thin, kinda cracker like. which probably is the more traditional way of preparing naan, but it still tasted like saltine crackers.
3. one plus: it was relatively cheap. so i guess i got what i paid for, cheap not so good food!
…on to the next Indian food mission!

Finally! An Indian restaurant in San Diego that is good AND well priced AND not located in busy downtown.
My mother and I were in the area running a few errands when we decided it was time to get dinner as we were famished. Not knowing where to go I turned to my handy Unilocal!application on my ever so fabulous iPhone, and this was one of the first places that popped up. I was intrigued as the reviews seemed good and I had not had Indian in a while…
We arrive at the dinky shopping center and I was disappointed right away… I’ve eaten at the Chinese restaurant in the same shopping center and was beyond disgusted with it. Unsure at this point if this will be a good experience but inside we go anyways. Instantly we are greeted by a smiling young woman who seats us right away.
On the inside, the restaurant is very quaint. Simply decorated in typical Indian fashion and with Bollywood videos on two big screen TVs. Only downside was that the restroom did not have a lock on it… good thing there were not many people inside the restaurant so the chances of being walked in on mid– pee were slim to none. Hands washed and onto the meal…
Having recently decided on not eating meat anymore (I was never a big meat eater to begin with) I skim the vegetarian section of the expansive menu. My mother and I decide on the Vegetarian Dinner for Two for about $ 30 which included lentil soup, appetizers (2 varieties), 2 servings of naan (huge may I add), 2 choices of entrees, and 2 desserts.
The soup? Perfect balance of lentils and seasoning. The naan were huge and we each received our own piece… the perfect combo of flaky and crisp. The entrees, mine being the Channa Masala and my mother’s the Shahi Paneer were delicious! The server actually listened to me when I said I would like my food a level 10 spicy. Yay! Most places do not listen at all, they see a little white girl and automatically give me something with the spiciness of tomato paste. Not this place! My dish was too spicy for my mom and perfect combo of spice and flavor for me. You had me at first bite Punjab.
What also made this an enjoyable experience was the friendly server who was polite and made sure we were completely satisfied with our meals. I will be back soon to sample more of the vegetarian menu options.

Punjab was GREAT. We asked for our food to be spicy and that’s definitely what we got, which was a pleasant surprise because I think I’m often pegged as a white guy who can’t handle spice and so they hold back a little. No such thing here! Ask and ye shall receive. And it was spicy, but also VERY tasty. The food itself deserves the full 5 stars.
Where the star gets subtracted, though, is the cost (–½ star) and the service (–½ star). The cost is a couple of dollars too high, I feel. Our server was very nice, but really pretty slow on water refills (and we could definitely tell given our awesomely spicy dishes).
Overall, though, some of the best Indian food I’ve had!

Wading through strip mall upon strip mall in the Point Loma corridor, it’s easy to miss every small business trying to catch your attention. But as you all know I’ve got my penchant for non-​chain-​craptastic homogenized pre-​made, frozen sucked-​the-​life-​out-​of-​it corporate food. I also like what a lot of people affectionately call «that little out of the way place».
We both yelled «Innnnndian!» when we saw the sign weeks ago. And then days later as I searched for something new to try, it came back to me.
So I asked Kim,“Where did we see that sign for the new Indian food place?”. He reminded me it was somewhere along Midway. Dear Unilocalers, I don’t mind admitting that took me years to remember which businesses were on Midway as opposed to Sports Arena BLVD. Thinking is HARD?
That night the dark sky was dotted with stars, everything seemed shinier than usual in the low humidity, so the sign jumped out that night as we cruised along the back side of Target. So finally along our cruise we find it, it shares the same parking lot with the Mardi Gras, Boot World, Reptile City, 7 – 11, Midway Coin Laundry (I know not a whole lot going on).
Anyway off the tangents and back to Punjab. As you step inside you notice very warm and inviting comforting ambient lighting. Small Ganesha’s crop up here and there among sequined fabrics above over the lights. On the flat screen TV’s you see Bollywood dance videos playing constantly singing things like «Tandoori niiiiiiiiiiights».
Inside it’s not over done nor is it underdone. Because we’re new to them we decided to try something that would sample a variety of their dishes all in one swoop. We selected «Punjab Vegetarian Dinner for Two».
This enabled us to try various tastes to get a feel for their style. First came the soup which I loved the flavor it was a yellow lentil but we only said medium spicy because we weren’t sure and that wasn’t spicy enough with anything. Second came our Vegetable Pakora and Samosa. I loved the fresh dough of the Samosa but wasn’t in love with the Pakora. I guess it seemed dead and lifeless in my mouth. But maybe I’m not such a huge fan of deep fried vegetables in batter?
We also had the choice of 2 vegetarian entrees, we picked Dal Makhni which was black lentils cooked with fresh herbs and spices, sautéed in butter. Also we added Aloo Palak (spinach). I quite like spinach, and I quite liked how they prepared it too. The meal came with Naan a nice Indian bread cooked in the Tandoori oven, and of course, curd or «Raita» (yogurt, good for the tummy). The Rice Pullau was a real treat, it had cardamom pods and seeds and peas. Then also a Panajabi Masala tea that was creamy and went down perfectly with this meal.
We’re really not veggies but we love the dishes, we decided to also add one meat dish. So we asked for an additional dish with Lamb but in Vindaloo sauce. I also love how my friend Meena minces meat in her dishes and asked if they have any minced meat ones? They didn’t on the menu but check this out, they did it for me! How special was that?! I really only like lamb when it’s in Indian food. Call me crazy but it just tastes too gamey for me otherwise. The end of the meal the waitress who was very attentive the entire time brought a small dish with seeds and cardamom pods with a spoon we sprinkled some in our hands and ate it, that was a nice way to finish up. A lot of Indian food reports to aid in digestion, and if you’ve ever enjoyed as much as I do, you always feel so good after eating it.
Punjab, I must say, well done!!! You kept our waters full, you fed us well with delicious delights, you packed up our left-​overs nicely, when I come back I will ask for more spice but otherwise your work is quite tasty and everyone should know it!