Punjabi Tandoor

I love punjabi tandoor!!! The first day I brought my dog home, I brought her to Punjabi for some good Indian food. They are affordable and the owners are so nice they always give you more than you order. The portions are huge! For a while, I went once a week and every time I would have leftovers. Their naan is delicious and fresh.

Yes, this place is VERY small. They only have about 3 tables inside and 6 outside. Normally people take it to go (and it's catered towards people who work). I used to try to come eat when I was in college, but they have such odd hours I would always get there when they're closed.

None of that matters to me though! I think if you're a punjabi tandoor fan, you'll be one for life. They're delicious and writing this review makes me want to go out there and buy some right now! Unfortunately, they're not open this late. =P

Punjabi Tandoor is a small, hole-in-the-wall restaurant that often has a long line wrapping around the building during corporate lunch hours. I had heard nothing but great things about the food here and was excited to finally have had the chance to drop in for some take out. It has even been called San Diego's best Indian restaurant by some of the local heavy hitters.

I decided to try the #5 special combo which came with rice, tandoori chicken, curry, a vegetable side, nan (they spell it this way), and kheer for dessert. I really enjoyed the curry over rice and the vegetable side, and the kheer was a refreshing finish to the filling meal. While the tandoori chicken was just ok, the nan was really unappetizing. Besides being well charred, the bread was extremely chewy in a rubbery kind of way. I've heard that one could judge a restaurant by their nan alone, and if this were the case, Punjabi Tandoor would fail.

I'm not sure it's necessarily the best Indian food in town, but it isn't too bad considering the price. However, there are a few other aspects of the experience that stuck out, including the feeling that the restaurant and kitchen were a bit on the dirty side. Prep was being done out in the open on an overflowing table and many scraps were falling onto the floor, and old, cold rice was used in my friend's combo plate. Details like these prevent me from giving this restaurant a higher grade, but it is details like these that really ruin the experience. It's a great place for lunch if you work in the area but I probably won't go out of my way to dine here if I were absolutely craving Indian food. On the bright side, there's a few dog-friendly tables out front for those that work in the area and bring their dogs to work. This definitely makes it a destination if you need to dine with your dog.

Food: 7/10

Service: 6/10

Price: $

Atmosphere: 5/10