India Oven — Restaurant in Portland

Worst. Restaurant. Experience. Ever.

Two of the people in our party had actually dined here in the past, but that was pre-pandemic, and either the ownership or the management must have changed. SOMETHING drastically changed. Where to begin?

When we last ate here, there was table service. So, we sat at a table with our menus, decided what to order, and waited. And waited. And waited. There was one guy behind the counter and the restaurant was empty except for use and two couples at two other tables.

No one brought us water or dishes or silverware, but we saw one of the other customers help himself to water, silverware, and napkins that were sitting at a table near by, so we did the same. The guy behind the counter NEVER told us that we were supposed to come to the counter to give him our order but eventually, we figured that out, after maybe 10 or 15 minutes of sitting in the mostly empty restaurant while he ignored the three of us staring at him.

So, okay, we ordered. Appetizers came within 10 minutes or so. But our main dishes still hadn't arrived after another hour and 10 minutes. Again, this restaurant was almost entirely empty except for us and now, one other table. Two or three people picked up take-out during this time but even with that, this was the least busy restaurant any of us had ever been in.

One of us finally got up to ask where our meal was. The guy said it was ready but our naan was still cooking. She told him to bring the food now and the naan could come whenever.

The guy brought the food but didn't even put each dish in front of each person, although with just 3 of us at the table , that would have been simple to do. He just set it at one end and we passed it.

One of us ordered Tandoori chicken and said it was the worst he'd ever had. I didn't sample it as I don't eat chicken but it didn't look the way Tandoori typically looks.

My Navratam Korma was decent but oversalted. The third person in our party had another chicken dish and was satisfied.

The naan arrived and while it was cooked on the outside, the inside was still raw dough. I brought it back to the counter and asked the fellow to have it cooked through and through. He seemed annoyed at the request but agreed. A few minutes later, he brought it back. It still was a bit raw in the middle but mostly edible.

This place once had good food and good service. Now, in retrospect, I could see our meal there making for a funny scene in a comedy.

Go at your own risk. You've...

I'm moved to write this since it's been two years that I've been coming to fix my cravings at this place -- at least once or twice a month -- and I just came home with another mouth-wateringly tender tandoori chicken and perfectly spiced saag paneer. I've never had anything here that wasn't among the best Indian food I've tried anywhere in the world. There are no corners cut as far as balancing the spices (they don't rely too heavily on chili oil as other places do), and they always seem get the heat levels perfect. It's real home cooking, and the family who run it are wonderful. I can't recommend it highly enough.

(EDIT - 5 YEARS LATER) I once again want to say how much I love this place. The family stepped back from daily cooking, and there was a period of adjustment. It is true that the Mama was the best chef, she could cook with her eyes closed and you always wanted her food. But they seem to have dialed it in now with the new staff. Tonight, the recipes of the biryani, saag, rogan josh and daal mak were perfect - the spice level was exactly as we asked for it. No cheap chili oil. The secondary flavors were allowed to pop out around the heat. This is still by far the best Indian restaurant in Portland, and one of the best on the West Coast. But the sizes are now huge, literally double what they were a few months ago, and the price was under $80 for all of this. I saw from 2020-23 their portions shrank and their prices went up. Still I kept coming back, because I needed the flavor. But NEVER, besides this restaurant, have I seen the reverse: In the last year, their portions have doubled and their prices on the same dishes are down probably 15-20%. Since I always order mostly the same things, this is easy math: Our order got up to $100 for two nights of food for two people, and now it's $80 for three nights. And the quality is still excellent. I'm so thankful that a neighborhood restaurant chose to lower their prices and increase their portions, but that does seem to be the way of the family who run this place. Very fair and very devoted to making every dish spectacular, and making their customers happy. Thank you again for so many...

Biased review here but I'll give you some insight into my mother. Our family business has been in Portland, Oregon for 30 years. We started in SF in 1987. We have weathered many storms as our loyal customer base keeps us going. Thank you for your patience and patronage!

My mother roasts and grinds all her own whole spices into her own garam masala and other spice blends, including the chai. She sautees onions till they are gorgeously brown carmelized for the saag instead of adding sugar. We use no artificial colorings or deodorizers and take every single slow food Indian step you can imagine and more. These are recipes from our village near Amritsar, India and all over India. The menu reflects our family favorites from goat curry (we get the meat locally from a reputable butcher) to classic black lentils and crispy slow fried okra. As you can imagine this process takes many, many hours and stages to make each step fresh and healthy. We thank you for your patience.

Our extended family also is in the food business in California and Nevada. My mom is renowned among them for her Indian desserts and often fulfills the requests of our long time customers like gajar halwa or rasmalai (a kind of Indian cheesecake that is delicate to make) which do not appear on the menu. She's fed upwards of a thousand people at a time.

Our parents chose to move to Portland, Oregon because of the vibrant culture, compassion, and friendliness of the people.

Our family values our Sikh egalitarian faith and provides langar (Guru's free kitchen) often at the temple. All are welcome to our business.

Thank you for your business, Portland!...