Indian Palace San Jose — Restaurant in Carmen

Good Flavors but Some Room for Improvement at Indian Palace San José

Indian Palace in San José has a lot of potential, but I feel they might be trying to reach a level they’re not quite delivering on yet.

First, the food itself tastes good — the flavors were there, and we genuinely enjoyed the dishes we ordered. However, the presentation did not match the impressive photos we had seen online, which left us slightly underwhelmed when the plates arrived. It wasn’t bad at all, just not as visually appealing as advertised.

The service was friendly and helpful, though there were a few challenges. The server attending to us spoke very limited Spanish. This wasn’t an issue for us personally, since we could communicate in English, but given that the restaurant is in Costa Rica, a basic level of Spanish would certainly help improve the experience for many customers. Despite the language barrier, he managed our table well and was very polite.

One downside was the timing of the dishes. We ordered a couple of appetizers and main courses. The starters came out relatively quickly, but the rest of the food took longer than expected. From what I could tell, they might prepare everything fresh from scratch, which is great for quality but shouldn’t result in such long wait times — especially since even delivery orders on Uber Eats estimate up to two hours, which is excessive.

In terms of spice and seasoning, while the base flavors were pleasant, we felt the dishes lacked the bold spice profile that makes Indian food so special. It seems like they tone down the spice level to cater to Costa Rican tastes, but this is something they should discuss with the customer — especially if they’re cooking everything fresh. Although they asked how spicy we wanted our food, the approach was a bit disappointing: instead of integrating the spice during cooking, they served extra spice on a side plate for us to sprinkle on top ourselves. It’s just not the same.

Overall, the experience was good but not outstanding. The food was tasty, the service was kind and genuine, but the long wait times, mild seasoning, and mismatch between photos and presentation held it back. For the price, it’s fair — but compared to other Indian restaurants in the area, they have some work to do to stay...

This place is a disaster. We had a reservation for 8 people and went there last night for dinner. The restaurant only had 1 other group of 4 in it. They had run out of a few of the key foods - paneer and samosas, so we had to reconsider order. After waiting 1.5 hours to get food served, the waiter comes out and tells one of our party that the chicken curry he ordered has run out, so they brought him “whatever” which was 1/3 of a plate of a weird potato thing. The person sitting next to me got a fish that was the size of my palm and was all bone and overcooked - inedible. For my butter chicken, the chicken which is supposed to be coated in yogurt and spices and cooked in tandoor (as menu says) was tough, bland and had been precooked a few days earlier (you know that taste), sauce was sweet and needed salt. Steamed rice was good though - hard to get that wrong. My paratha never came, neither did my entree, and everyone’s order of naan bread was totally delayed and stuffed up. You could hear people shouting in the kitchen and the poor waiter barely spoke English nor Spanish and was struggling to communicate. Drinks came out one by one, had to keep asking. For a place that was pretty much empty, it is poor form to keep us waiting 1.5 hours with half our food not coming and someone being told they ran out of what he ordered! ConsiderIng we had a reservation, this shows lack of planning. Can sort of forgive if the food was good but it was horrible! Oh and the address has changed and they haven’t bothered to update their details - looks nothing like the photos in line. Steer clear, better food...

01-Nov-2025 = Unlimited Dosa Festival

Went for the unlimited dosa festival with a reservation of 5 people — after one dosa each, they said the batter was over. Very disappointing! 3 visit and all of them were disappointing, never returning to this place again.

I went to this restaurant with 3 other friends for dinner, we had good expectations but the moment we reached there, the place was not so happening. Barrio Escalante, San José

We all ordered veg options : Only Veg food review.

Delhi chaat : taste was good but It was so sweet. 3.5/5 Masala Dosa : It was good. 4/5 Samosa : 3/5

Main course :

Coliflor Manchurian : There was no Manchurian sauce. They served the fried Coliflor, and it tasted not good. We didn't like it. 2/5

Veg thali : veggies were overcooked. Chole (chickpeas) was good, though. 3/5

Naans with butter : they served the naans first, and after 15-20 came our dishes, so by that time, naas were cold. Naans were not that good, too. Very thick. 3/5

Masala paneer : I was disappointed with this dish. Paneer was hard. It didn't absorb the taste of gravy. So may be they prepared the gravy and put the paneer in that later. No marination. 2/5

Chapat : Chapati was wo crunchy, breaking into pieces like it was fried in oil. 2/5

So we're so unhappy, disappointed with the food quality. They served kheer and it was good.

I ordered extra indian kulfi - but I was served 2 scoop of ice cream. I was so shocked how can they served ice cream when ordered kulfi. That ice cream also tasted...