Tandoori Flames Indian Scratch Kitchen — Restaurant in Castle Pines

I have loved Indian food ever since I first tried it years ago. My best friend was half Indian and she knew authentic Indian food. She was the one who introduced me to it.

Sadly since moving down to Castle Rock we haven't had much good Indian food, the restaurants here are okay but nothing to write home about. So naturally, I was so excited when I saw this was an option in Castle Pines and seeing all of the five star reviews made my heart soar in anticipation almost KNOWING that we were going to get some good Indian food.

The atmosphere is rather modest and I don't mind because I think that they are investing into the food and that is what I was there for. It has a little bit of a hole-in-the-wall kind of charm about it as well. The owners are understaffed sadly so if you are looking for a job and you want to be a server or something maybe you should go apply here. They are doing everything themselves from cooking and serving. But that makes it a little special as well because when your Chef comes out to ask you how your food was it has such a personal touch. And she was the sweetest and the best cook. There were total mom vibes like my mom sadly has passed away so it's nice to encounter people who treat you with such kindness. You can tell she really cares that every single person is happy with every single dish. She asked us about everything we had with such sincerity and I heard her telling all of the to-go orders to make sure to let her know how they liked it. I think in today's society with so many big corporations it's so rare to find employees who actually care and that's what I love about mom and pop shops. This was literally a mom and pop shop. And that is so special and I felt privileged to be able to eat her food because it was so good and she was so kind about serving it to us.

And yes every single dish was delicious. I haven't had Indian food that good in so long. It reminded me why I love the cuisine. I will never eat Castle Rock Indian food ever again as long as this place exists in Castle Pines I will always go here. And she made us Indian coffee at the end which we have never had and that was so good. Very flavorful and intense yet creamy. She said that she was even missing one spice so it could have even been better than that, but that is hard to believe because it was really fantastic and it was one of those things that grows on you with every sip. Honestly writing this review now I want to go over there and go have another coffee haha. And I love chai and I also had chai as well, honestly I consider a good cup of chai part of the essential experience of having Indian food. However having said all that, I will probably just get coffee next time because the coffee was that good!

The only thing that disappointed us (if you could even call it a disappointment) is that they were missing a dessert we wanted to try so hopefully next time they have that because we have never had Ras-Malai before and that sounded good.

We had a feast of vegetable samosas, aloo tikki, chicken tikka masala, sizzling tandoori lobster, tikka newab, mango lassis, chai, superbeer, indian coffee, kheer and mango ice cream. I would recommend it all emphatically! tbh I should have wrote this review last night because I'm getting hungry again just remembering everything. The lobster had such a nice flavor to it and so did the shrimp, it was impressive that the shrimp had its own flavor that stood alone against the sauce because the sauce is very flavorful as well in the tikka newab. We almost ate too much because it was so tasty! And I haven't had good vegetable samosas in I don't know how many years and that has always been a favorite dish of mine so that was a delight to get to enjoy them as they should be made. The food was amazing and the service was wonderful, they are so nice.

I would recommend to this restaurant to anyone who likes Indian food and if you don't like Indian food it's probably because you didn't go to a restaurant as good as this one so you should just go and give it a whirl haha. I can't...

So beyond impressed with this place! I can’t say enough good things about it but I will try- we called up to order some take out and had lots of questions and requests and Ruby was incredibly sweet and patient and went out of her way to give us the best food and experience. Our order for a family of 5 was pretty big but they still had it ready super quickly. She continued to be one of the sweetest people I’ve met when we got in store, she offered to make us an item not on the menu that I asked about- I just met her and I felt like family already. As for the food… MOUTH WATERING!! The dishes were so incredibly delicious- the meat was such high quality, the flavours were incredible and it was super filling. The naan was insane I was dying to eat it as soon as I hoped into the car the scent was delectable and it tasted even better dipped in their homemade raita! Will most definitely be back as soon as I can! I could keep writing and raving all night but bottom line if you’re stuck on what to have for dinner- this is the place!! So appreciative of Ruby and the whole team we love...

Celebrated my wife's birthday with a first time visit and all I can say is wow, and what a small world! The "wow" is to the amazing food and great service! We jumped in on two chicken tikka masalas, one lamb masala, both medium spice, and four naan. Simply amazing, and go medium spice if you like a little spice but not too much. For those that want more spice, ask for a side of the special "Gary hot sauce" and holy cow will you take the taste and spice profile to a whole new level!

As for "small world", we used to order take-out from India's Clay Oven in Lone Tree literally every week before they closed in 2019. We were gobsmacked when they closed, and wished we had a chance to say good-bye to the owners. Little did we know that instead of saying good-bye, we get to say hello 5 years later as the family behind Tandoori Flames is the same family, with son Gary on point now running the show. Amazing, and we now have 5 years of great Indian food eating catch-up to do! So excited for that challenge, and so excited should you be to try Tandoori Flames as it simply will not...