New Ganges Restaurant

Ah, New Ganges… one of the best SF vegetarian options — good food and cheap prices in a funky little space. The chef was very friendly — our food very satisfying at every visit and I’m sad to see it go.

I love the vegetarian options and the delicious buffet. The appetizers and mango lassi are really good as well.
The service from the owner is one of a kind!

I guess «down home Indian cooking» comes to mind when I reflect on our experience here. Owner was very familiar (and apparently others have taken notice) but it lends to the ambiance of the place and felt like we were in his house. He told us that if we didn’t like anything he would make it again or make something else. I’m not one to ever ask for someone to take my food back unless something is completely inedible — and thankfully that was never an issue here. To me the owner’s attentiveness never felt overbearing or forced, this was someone trying to get to know his customers and a welcome break from the impersonality that characterizes many interactions these days.
The food was just what the dr. ordered with respect to being fresh, vegetarian and extremely flavorful. Samosas were spot on and the chutneys clearly homemade and not your cookie-​cutter mango/​mint that you get everywhere. Paneer Tikka Masala was outstanding everything from the flavor of the sauce which was more light orange than bright red and the consistency of the paneer was very good — just the right amount of firmness. Vegetable korma also delicious. Fresh chapati with butter was great to tear apart and grab the food with.
We were very full and didn’t have room for dessert but he asked us what our favorites were, I told him Ras Malai and he gave us a small sample which was very welcome and very tasty. His chai was very authentic.
While it’s a bit disheveled on the inside… that’s part of the charm. For that plus the solid, made-​with-​care Indian cuisine it rates highly and I know I’ll be back soon.
He’s been open 35 years and we were not surprised.

The restaurant is run down and cluttered, but the food was great. I ate the lunch buffet. The sign says the restaurant opens at 11 but the food wasn’t out when I arrived at 11:30. The owner was friendly. He suggested sauces to go with certain dishes and even asked permission to prepare them for me. I appreciated the tips.
I do hope to come back someday, but I wouldn’t take a neat-​freak there.

My dad (who has recently expressed an intense infatuation with Indian food — probably because there are not many places that serve it at home in Hawai’i) and I came here for dinner during our weekend stay at San Fran just half an hour before closing time.
As there was no one else dining around us, our timing definitely opened up a rare opportunity for us to learn firsthand about the dishes on the menu and to become educated about the food (and how to eat it) from the owner on a very personal level. I don’t have any sense of what the crowd is like during the day, but I’m sure he does not have as much time to take others through the menu as he did with us. And he has a policy that I respect — «If you don’t like the food, don’t pay us.»
But yes, he can be overbearing — he checked on us every less-​than-​five-​minutes — though you get the sense that he does it because he really cares about improving/​showcasing the quality of his food, which is pretty high. He will ask you to write rave reviews on Unilocal,which I understand — it’s hard to make it as a restaurant these days without the power of positive reviews — but indeed, it was slightly suffocating and forced. If you serve quality food, rave reviews will come naturally — I think that should be the mantra of any restaurant.
I ordered the Malai Kofta (so creamy and delicious it nearly melts in your mouth), Chapati (not overly greasy, served with butter if you’d like), and a Mango Lassi (BEST I’ve ever had actually, the ratio of mango to yogurt was perfect). My dad ordered the Gobi Pakora, which he enjoyed thoroughly, and a Hot Chai (I enjoyed this a lot as it was without bitterness and the hint of rosewater put me on cloud nine). We ordered Ras Malai for dessert, which has my full approval.
The restaurant itself is very small and could use some tidying up (there were, and probably still are, papers and other junk strewn across a bench just by the register), but the music was enjoyable and wasn’t as dirty, in my experience, as it was with others.
The manager also, after our meal, brought out a box of the mangos that they use to make their mango lassi and gave us two as a parting gift — that was a nice touch and both were really, really tasty.
The food gets five stars, while a combination of the over-​attentiveness and the quality of the room receives four.
Go anyway, even if only for the experience of authentic Indian food.

Tasty but bizarre. It’s all been said in previous reviews.
The owner/​waiter is verbally intrusive (asking myself and my date how long we’ve known each other, etc) and physically intrusive (picking up our forks and dipping our food into each of the various sauces, then handing the fork back). He really ought to read these reviews and cut it out. This behavior is considered rude, weird, inappropriate, and somewhat disgusting here in SF.
By the way, my date grew up in India and said the food although not innovative in any way tasted fresh and more like home cooked Indian food than you’d find elsewhere in the city.
Finally, the bill was indecipherable. We ordered 7 items: 2 appetizers, 2 drinks, and 3 dishes. There were at least 10 items on the bill; it looked like a bunch of $ 2 extras had been added, I couldn’t tell for what. But the whole thing came to only $ 55 so I just paid it.

I had a groupon now deal for this restaurant, which was not honored because I didn’t present it prior to ordering. No idea why that should make a difference. Would we have had different service if it was known we had a groupon?
The table cloth was dirty… The food was pretty good, but the owner kept putting things on my plate and touching my fork. It was funny, but strange. I had saag aloo. It was ok, definitely fresh, but I have had better elsewhere.
When I was ready to pay (I had to stand up at the desk and wait, my check was so slow in coming), the owner kept trying to figure out when I could come back in the future to use my groupon now deal (he was going to extend the expiration), and I finally had to say «They will refund my money, forget about it.» It was comical in a way, I wasn’t sure how many times I had to say «I have no idea when I’ll be back in San Francisco» before it would sink in. Other patrons were laughing.
All in all, the food is ok, the service is nice, but a little odd. The dirty table cloths and, according to my daughter, dirty bathroom, are a turn off.

So my friend hit me up one night asking if I wanted to grab dinner. We couldn’t decide where to go so he told me to check Groupon and see what jumps out at me. I saw a couple of Indian restaurants and took the hint that’s probably where we’re gonna end up tonight. I debated between New Ganges and another Indian joint in downtown; We finally settled on New Ganges.
We presented the Groupon once we were seated and the man, who we’re assuming was the owner, took it gladly. He was very accommodating and nice. I can see how others would view this as pushy and annoying, but I thought it was okay.
Upon handing us the menus, the man offered the «if you don’t like what you ordered or find something wrong with it, let me know and I’ll take it back and you can order a different dish» talk. I thought that was cool since not a lot of restaurants have that option.
I should also add that prior to coming here, we had no idea this was a vegetarian restaurant (although I recall having dinner here a long, long time ago. Guess I forgot). I glanced at the menu and was like, awww, I guess no lamb for me tonight :(LOL For our appetizer, we got samosas which were mediocre. The two sauces were what took it a level up. This may be the part where most people would find the owner a bit pushy and somewhat awkward. My friend tried taking the first bite but the owner interrupted and showed him how to correctly eat it. He (owner) took the initiative to pour the sauces himself, first the orange then the green cilantro one, then both mixed together. I was giggling the whole time because it was just so awkward. Not that it was bad. Just awkward.
We shared two dishes family-​style: the paneer tikka masala and I forget the other one’s name but it had chickpeas and spinach in it. The tikka masala had cheese cubes in it (that I assume would act as the «meat» but since it’s vegetarian, we got cheese instead). It was sooooo good. We paired it up with chapati, which was a very thin flatbread; Thinner than naan but just as good. If I would rate the tikka masala on its own, I’d give it four stars. If it was lamb, it’d be five LOL The second dish I wasn’t very fond of. It was salty and lacked spices. My friend recommended I combine the masala with the second dish. I tried it and it was more tolerable. It wasn’t that bad, but I kind of expected more of it.
I would probably be back for the masala and to try their desserts. I was so full by the time we stepped out so no room for dessert anymore. Oh, and the best part? When the bill came, our balance was 21 cents! Plus tip, of course :)

This is a solid place for good Indian food that’s Vegetarian.
The Food is really great. It’s delicious and a great representative of south Indian dishes. The Samosas are an amazing appetizer and all the house special dishes are spectacular. They also have some unique/​special peppers which they use to make the dishes spicy… if you like spicy food, make sure you ask for extra/​side of these… they’re amazingly delicious.
I was surprised that they didn’t have a variety of Naan Breads (garlic, cheese, etc.); instead they only one special kind of bread «Chapati,» which is similar to just plain wheat naan.
The restaurant environment itself isn’t anything special; in fact on my most recent visit I couldn’t help to notice the random decorations from various seasonal occasions which they just don’t seem to care to take down (birthday decorations, christmas decorations, valentine decorations, etc.).
The owner is a nice guy but a bit eccentric; though his behavior is fairly comedic, he tried to hand feed me and at times made our party feel awkward.
Overall I’d recommend this place.
I’m definitely a fan and will revisit (or order carry-​out) again.

Yummy!

WOW. That was vegetarian? I think I just found my favorite Indian restaurant in the City.
In early 2012 I was in training for the SF Marathon. Walked over after doing a one-​mile training run at Kezar Stadium (saw the restaurant as I was parking – and I love Indian food so decided to give it a try). Was a bit apprehensive at first since my friend and I were the only diners at 8:00 p.m.
That fear quickly subsided when the kind gentleman (got to be the same guy others have mentioned here) promised that «If we didn’t like something – send it back and order something different… anything you don’t want becomes my dinner»).
BUT EVERYTHING WAS DELICIOUS! We weren’t about to send anything back.
The samosas are light, flaky, and very fresh. And the man showed us how to eat them properly (i.e., without a knife and fork, and alternating between the mint and sweet and sour dipping sauces). The best thing was that neither of us were full after having one – it was the perfect appetizer!
We ordered the Paneer Tikka Masala: AMAZING. Perfect sauce! Zesty, tomato-​y, creamy (but not too thick), and wonderfully spiced. We also ordered the Aloo Saag: Very good. Wonderful fresh chopped spinach. Yummm! And we had two wheat chapati (their only bread).
I’m a serious omnivore (I usually feel cheated if I don’t get a meat in a dish), but I didn’t notice (or care) at New Ganges.
And believe it or not they’ve been around for 36 years! (The kind man walked us around and showed us framed reviews dating back to 1976.) This is the kind of attention I like in a dining experience.

I don’t know what was better… the amazing food or the wonderful, kind, funny and helpful man working there. With every plate, out came a sample of something different.
«Would you like to make that bite better?» he would ask, as he suggested combinations that I hadn’t even thought of after spending nearly 4 months in India!
My mouth is watering writing this review. I’m ready to go back RIGHT NOW!

Ordered from this place 2 hours ago. The food still hasn’t arrived.
…
Food finally arrived after almost 2 and a half hours of waiting. Unsurprisingly, the food was bland and luke-​warm. It was a lot like something you’d get from a sleazy cafeteria or food court, possibly even worse, except we paid about $ 40 for it. The daal was watery and flavorless and the naan was tiny, limp, and looked like it came out of a pack.
Apparently the delivery guy was apologetic (I didn’t pick up the order) and even offered to refund our money if we weren’t happy, so I guess that deserves mention. They can keep our money; it’s the last of it they’ll ever get.
As a vegan and lover of Indian food, I’m really sad and disappointed that I have to write this review. Believe me, I wish the Sunset had better options when it came to getting good Indian food, but Tasty Curry was our favorite place and it’s been closed for months :(
I can’t wait to move to Berkeley…

My friends and I (group of 10) went to New Ganges Restaurant around 11:30 a.m. on a Thursday for their buffet. Unfortunately, the food was not ready at this point, even though the restaurant opened at 11:00 a.m. The owner whoever was working in the kitchen started to quickly prepare the food and we just took this time to chit chat. Although I was a bit disappointed that the food wasn’t ready yet (and that we didn’t get any water this whole time), it was okay– at least we knew that it was being prepared, fresh.
When the food was ready, the owner invited us over and handed us our plates. He was very helpful and eager to make recommendations of how to eat the food, with which sauces to use. The first round of food got us going but we were all waiting for samosas, and some naan. The samosas came out 10 – 15 minutes after we started eating and were pretty tasty. But not everyone in our group was able to get one with the first batch. We waited for a bit but the naan never came out, oh well. The food that we did have was pretty decent, especially since it was vegetarian (not usually what I’m into).
Food options included: salad, white rice, other-​not-​white rice, lentils, garbanzo beans, samosas, potatoes, curry-​like-​sauce with cheese (which I thought was tofu initially), fresh fruit, and a variety of sauces (yogurt, cilantro, mango chutney). At $ 8.95/person, the price is okay, but I was hoping for a little bit more variety. The owner is really genuine though and takes a lot of pride in his food.
Sidestory: the table next to us was really upset about the lack of food and one lady just stood next to the buffet, eating what was there until the samosas came out. It was kind of comical, but also a kind of awkward and intense situation.
Notes:
–Broken/​shattered window with paintball stains.
–Completely vegetarian.

Complete surprise! I did not expect going into this restaurant that it would be SO delicious. the way the buffet is displayed really had me thinking wow… this is going to be a really medicore and bland meal and now that i’ve entered I can’t get out without being rude!
It was DELICIOUS. The spinach dish was the best I’ve had in the city so far. I’m a huge meat lover and my curry usually feels lonely without the meat… nope…didn’t miss the meat AT ALL! I highly recommend that you give it a try and see how deliciously flavored everything is.
I recommend this over curry village and nan and curry in the area.

This is one of the very few reviews I’ve written. But, this one got me so pissed that I had to.
The first time I went to this place, I took my girlfriend on a date. It was a horrible idea. We weren’t that hungry, so ordered one curry, and the owner shouted at us to «look at the back of the menu and then talk to me.» And he just left the table! Looking at the back, we realized that the restaurant had a at least 2 dish policy. We weren’t that hungry, but anyways. we ordered. But, not without the owner making racist comment about «people who only order one dish» (it was too ugly for an open international community that is SF to be put here). I was literally called «cheap» by the owner in front of my date. There are better ways to tell customers about restaurants rules. I was totally taken aback. Anyways, I let it go, the food was good.
We decided not to frequent the restaurant, but still liked the food. So, we started ordering it at home, approximately like once in 2 weeks at least. They have a minimum of 25 dollars for delivery, and their quantities of food are the lowest I’ve seen in the entire SF bay area. Anws. they’re close to our house.
Why I’m writing this review? We ordered food today, and during delivery my girlfriend was told on the face to «either give bigger tip or order from somewhere else.» (She gave 15% tip, and the owner wanted more like 30%). He also continued to say that «they took 2 hrs to deliver previously because _​nobody_​wants to deliver at our place because we give low tips». WTF!!! They’re deliberately delaying our food! Who f***ing does that! This is sick!
Here’s a tip for the owner: If you have a minimum limit on the food, stick to it. Don’t go around asking for money. Tip is given when the customer is pleased with you. Act better, and you’ll get better tip.
The owner has a huge attitude problem. I’ve never seen anybody being that rude to their regular customers. Avoid this place at any cost. There’re way better restaurants in SF. Both food wise and service wise.

Oh geez. I am so torn about writing this review. Let’s start with the good.
FOOD! Probably the BEST Indian food in SF. No Joke. Delicious! The owner takes pride in what comes out of the kitchen and it is lovely, lovely, lovely. Flavors are very balanced and not just overwhelming as in some places. Just as spicy as it needs to be without going overboard. Beautiful homemade curd and chutneys.yum.
So, why didn’t I give it 5 stars? Actually, I almost gave it less, but i did not have the heart. The Owner is just too desperate. More so than needed. His food could stand on it’s own. When we dined in, at first it seemed like he was just being very friendly… up to the point when he actually took my friends fork and started feeding her. Would have been funny at just one bite, but he kept doing it until she got really uncomfortable… overkill.
I have ordered delivery from here (again, food amazing).Owner delivers himself, which shows great entrepreneurial spirit… but both times her forgot the raita… probably because he kept me on the phone for 20 minutes trying to order. After we ate (Almost 10pm!!!) he CALLED me to ask me to write a 5 start Unilocal review! Not kidding! Called me at almost 10pm! I was flabberghasted!
Note to Owner: Chill out. Your food is great. Work on the décor and lighting of the restaurant and the atmosphere. HIRE A WAITER and don’t be so desperate. No one likes it.
If you do this, and PROMISE ME you will stop calling people to solicit reviews, I will do a review for the food. The food is 5-star…the salesmanship is WAY over the top. I will update this review… I swear it! You are hurting your own business with this craziness. Don’t kill a good thing!

The BEST Vegetarian Indian I have ever had. Not greasy, and the meat and fish is not missed. The ingredients are fresh and it is clear that soul and individual attention was put into each dish. AND THEY DELIVER!
Here are some of my favorites:
*Daal of the day
*Saag Paneer
*Peas and Mushroom dish
The service is pretty incredible, run by a husband and wife who do it all, greet, answer phones, serve, cook, deliver, clean and even literally feed you by hand.

I’m not part of a cult like some of the previous reviews have accused the 4 and 5 star reviews to be. I really thought this place was great! My friend Polina and i went to this restaurant a while back for their their all you can eat lunch buffet (for $ 7.99! can’t argue with that!). Their lunch ends at 2 and i haven’t went for dinner yet but i’m assuming it’s just as good!
The atmosphere is very laid back and i found it nice. When you arrive you literally just sit down, grab a plate and head to the buffet. You don’t have to wait for anybody to seat you.
Most of the dishes were vegan which is great! The lady working there was extremely nice and showed us exactly which dishes had dairy in them. The samosas were amazing! Everything was fresh and hot!
I didn’t realize that they were cash only until i was already eating but my friend had enough cash to spot me for the time being. I’ll be going back to this restaurant in the near future!

The owner of this joint is so «all over you» that I had an internal debate on whether it was 5 star service for being so attentive or 2 stars for being so over the top that he went into the obnoxious zone. Example: every time he brought food out he’d say «If you don’t like it, give it back, we’ll get you something else». He said that every time. For everything he brought out. Then he’d stand there, waiting for you to try it, so he could get the final answer.
He skillfully handled a group of about 40 that I was with and I’m going to err on the side of «not obnoxious» because he just wanted to make sure we had a good time which we all did.
So yea, he handled a group of 40+ pretty well in my opinion, whipping up vegan chapati on the fly, keeping the mango juice flowing, and making damn sure every one of us was full to the point of exploding.
We had our very own buffet set up with both veg and vegan dishes and I was impressed at how well they kept it stocked throughout our gorging. A few dishes ran out at times, but we also initially told them we’d have about 30 which turned into 40+ so that’s our bad.
The food is a solid 3 star for me, I really love me some Indian food and I’d had better of each dish from other establishments. I’ll probably be back with one or two folks to give it a shot fresh off the menu though, not buffet style where things are often made with moderate spice to suite everyone’s tastes. All in all I’m glad we came here, I’ll be back some day to give it another whirl.