Tandoori Chef

Rated 4.0 Hearty and delicious. Delivered quickly and the portions are massive! I ordered butter chicken and was not disappointed

Rated 4.0 Tandoori chef has fantastic food and very big portions for the price. I am usually able to turn the leftovers into a second meal for later. My only complaint is that sometimes they can take a long time to prepare the food and don't warn you about the wait.

Rated 5.0 I can best sum up my dining experience at Tandoori Chef as delicious. I've eaten at a number of Indian restaurants and this one is now my favorite. The chicken tikka masala, which is my go-to Indian dish, was melt-in-your-mouth incredible. I made sure to request that it was mild as I'm a huge wuss when it comes to spice level and have literally been burned at other restaurants. The dish was so rich and creamy that it didn't need spiciness to add flavor. I was in heaven! Even better, for a light eater like me, there was enough food for not one, not two but three meals! Not a bad deal for a meal that's under $10. My boyfriend ordered the paneer tikka masala but with a high spice level. He loves all things spicy and thought the dish still could have been a bit spicier but still enjoyed it. It's rare for a restaurant to be able to meet his spice requirements. Yet he still ate the entire portion and then was completely stuffed after the meal We also ordered two sides of naan, the garlic and the cheese. We were split on which was better as I preferred the garlic and he preferred the cheese. Now if they could make a garlic, cheese naan we'd both be happy! :) I also would like to recommend the mango lassi, which was like a thick mango milkshake. More dessert than a beverage but so delicious! There's a lunch buffet that I'd like to try sometime and I'll definitely be back for dinner too. I sometimes housesit in La Jolla and this would be a great place for me to come pick up dinner from then. Or it's also worth the special trip down for Del Mar.

Rated 5.0 My wife and I enjoyed a delicious and reasonably priced all you can eat lunch buffet with many entrees, 2 kinds of rice, cracker bread, hot nan (flat bread) served at the table, and friendly service! Also 2 options for dessert: custard and rice pudding. A wonderful find on Pearl Street

Rated 5.0 I had the lamb vindaloo and asked for it to be extra spicy, it was fantastic. Lots of flavor, and the meal at was cooked well. The next morning i was feeling a type of way, but i knew that was going to happen. For sure would recommend ans come back

Rated 5.0 We order from here all the time. It is our Sunday. Igor ritual. Order the standards and you will. It be disappointed.

Rated 3.0 Fairly average for a pretty harsh critic, myself! Definitely probably catered to the surrounding local population-- translated, milder flavors and less strong spices. Came sunday afternoon for a lunch buffet. Quick and easy, 9.99 for two rice/biryani options, veggie curries, and chicken dishes that were pretty satisfying and seasoned decently. Not the best Indian food I've ever had, but gets the job done for an all you can eat. My friend ordered a lamb curry off the menu, came with a good amount, but tasted like an American-style beef stew, to be honest. Tomato based, sweet, and barely tasted like curry.. Also, we all agreed that it was actually beef in our curry instead of lamb..? It was tender though. Service was nice and quick.

Rated 4.0 Because I don't want to bury the lede, I'll just get to declaring how fantastic the lamb samosas here are; they are essentially the basis for my four stars. The magic starts with the egg roll-like shell. (And by egg roll, I mean the unhealthy fried ones one gets on the East coast not the wimpy things out here.) It continues with a meat-potato blend that masks the "gaminess" for which lamb is otherwise known and will make a true believer out of anyone who hasn't jumped on the ovine train. The rest of the meal was not as noteworthy. We began with a huge serving of daal, which tasted pretty good, but the sheer quantity overwhelmed. That's a whole lot of chick pea! Now, complaining about servings being too large is a first world problem; it's just that the dish dwarfed everything else in our meal including the passable naan and the other entree, the ahcarya chicken. Speaking of which, the chicken came off as the low point of the meal. Despite the spicy indicator on the menu, the dish was more salty than anything else. But I guess salt is kind of a spice, right? Summary: The lamb samosas are not baaaaa-d.

Rated 4.0 I ordered the chicken Tikka masala and chef special. Food is delicious hot and fresh, made to order and bread is also hot.

Rated 3.0 Good food, but hardly got any chicken in my chicken tikki masala. Kind of disappointing.

Rated 5.0 Having been here a couple of times, and been to a plethora of Indian restaurants since my original review, I believe it's important to update my review. As before, this place is still spectacular. We've tried various samosas, vindaloos, tikka marsalas, saag paneer, and matter pander. Each and every dish we've tried has been amazing. Each dish is always beautiful with great flavor. You can also customize your spice level, which was a nice bonus. While that may not be unique, they actually listen. My girlfriend still maintains that this was her favorite place we've EVER eaten at. This still blows me away because we go out nearly everyday. She always finds something to dislike about the food. She could be a New York Times critic with how harsh she grades food. But, all I heard was, "nom, nom, nom." The service is always great. You get your food fast and always with a smile. There is definitely a family business pride in this restaurant. If you live anywhere around the San Diego area, or if you're just visiting, you owe it to yourself to give this place a try. You will not be disappointed!

Rated 4.0 My friend and I came here unexpectedly and really enjoyed it! It was a week night and it was pretty empty. I wasn't sure how the place worked but we were greeted and seated by one of the staff, which was really nice. I got the butter chicken while my friend got the fried fish. We also got some naan, rice, and samosas to share. First off, the samosas were delicious! What a great start to your meal! The butter chicken was also very tasty. It's pretty standard. The fried fish was kind of disappointing. It had more garnish than the actual fish. It was decent, but not super great. Overall, I had a good meal here and would come back. I do like Indian food so I'm always down to try other things on their menu!

Rated 3.0 It's so disappointing when a meal starts off with potential 5 stars, but winds up with only three. My date and I started with lamb samosas that were phenomenal! I'm not a big fan of lamb, so for me to say that I really enjoyed these says something! They came hot out of the fryer and had a great blend of spices and ground lamb. My main dish, the achari chicken turned out to be a bust. It didn't have a lot of flavor and was just salty. Thankfully they came around refilling our waters quickly. The people here were nice, but I sorta wish I had picked the neighboring "Taco Stand" that had a line out the door for dinner instead.

Rated 3.0 The food was alright; came here for a buffet for a club fundraiser. Had to ask for naan like 5 times before finally getting it. But the gulab jamoon at the end was good, which is why I'm giving it a 3 instead of a 2.

Rated 5.0 Delicious tikka masala! Every time I order I am more than satisfied, and this has become a new go-to place for Indian food in the la jolla area. Delivery may take a bit long...but it's well worth to wait, nothing more to say.

Rated 4.0 I AM IN LOVE WITH THE GARLIC NAAN HERE! I could eat it every day for the rest of my life. REVIEW IS ONLY FOR NAAN!! But, the chicken samosa was so damn dry. I'm afraid of trying something else here and not liking it. But I guess i'll stick the garlic naan for the rest of my life here.