Hot N Chili Indian Restaurant — Restaurant in San Clemente

I don’t post reviews online unless I feel strongly about something. And I feel like I owe a public announcement after my experience last night. I’m not blaming the restaurant but hear me out.

Please stir your dal (lentil soup) if you order an individual bowl. It seems to me like my dal was heated in the microwave even though the sweet server told me it wasn’t. Either way, please stir, stir, stir and test the temperature. My soups usually are steaming when I cook at home. However, visually my bowl was very deceiving because there was no steam coming out of it.

The dal was brought out first, which is not how I’m used to eating since I’m been eating dal my whole life. Usually it’s paired with rice or some sort of flatbread. Anyhow, I was first served the bowl of dal, and I waited for the rest of my food. When it didn’t come, I worried about my dal getting cold and had a little spoon off the top layer. It was ok. Next I took a spoonful. OMG!!!! 🔥🔥🔥🥵👅☄️ 😱😳The spoonful of soup sat right in the back of my throat and was scalding hot!!!! There were diners around me. 🫢😳 And I didn’t want to gross them out by spitting out this yellow dal! In retrospect I should have! 😢 Oh my lord! Turns out the dal had hot spots. I thought I was going to die. I decided to swallow and the scalding spoonful burned the back of my throat and esophagus on its way down! I immediately went inside and asked Stella, the server for ice and told her the reason. She didn’t seem to think it was an emergency because she then went on to chatting casually with other customers while I waited for ice. Turns out later that their “ice machine was broken.” It came about ten minutes later. Luckily, I had my water bottle that had cooler water than what was served so I kept chugging down water.

Please be warned and be careful when you order soups because they could have hot spots like they always warn you when you use the microwave. I’m a mom and I always test the temp for my kids before serving them if I use the microwave. Sadly this time, I didn’t realize it had been heated that way.

Otherwise, the food that I was able to taste towards the front and middle of my tongue seemed very good and the flavor was on point. Unfortunately, I couldn’t enjoy it like I normally would have. I had scooped out the place the night before and was so looking forward to it.

So for service, I give 5 stars for friendliness because Stella was very nice and friendly, 2 for service since the I’ve didn’t arrive in time and there was no explanation till it came why it was late ( I would have just asked the server from the next restaurant myself since it was close to a medical 🆘 emergency ‼️., and TBH, 5 stars for the flavor.

So enjoy the food but just cool your ENTIRE bowl of soups down before you take a...

We were taking a small Orange County road trip driving down the coastline and stopped by for a sunset dinner. Stella greeted us and welcomed us warmly, right away. We like Indian food and have tried foods from different regions, so we mentioned this to her when asked if we like Indian food. I let Stella know I had had an Indian roommate during college who was from Kerala, and I liked their food very much. She said she was from Kerala! What a neat surprise. Papadam was set on the table with a variety of chutney and spiced yogurt. We ordered lamb karahi, a chef's special that Stella said was an excellent choice. It came out steaming in a pan set on the table and roused others' curiosity. Lamb was melt in your mouth tender accentuated by the sweet peppers an and tomato sauce. Very good. Vegetable biryani, an Indian pilaf, was very aromatic and had a complex combination of spices, very authentic. Tikka masala, the British favorite, was smooth and again well spiced and just right. Chicken was tender and tasted clean, good quality meat. Roti was great for picking up the sauces. I tried following Jonathan Gold's rule of avoiding the menu items you've heard of and ordered many times before but I couldn't resist. Use the Yelp check-in deal and get the free mango lassi. The rice pudding and gulab jamun were strong on the cardamom and had me thinking of the Great British Bakeoff. They do not skimp on spice, aroma, and flavor! Try the chai, their tea with garam masala and ginger. It's a very nice send-off to salute a thoroughly enjoyable meal. Food was a delight and so was Stella, she was very kind. They deserve...

Was looking for places open after 9pm in the area on a Sunday and found this spot, 10/10 would recommend to anyone! The ambiance was warm and welcoming, we were seated immediately, and they brought out these crispy papadums (I believe thats what they were) with some sauces while we waited for our order. We got an order of chicken curry- which comes with basmati rice, chan masala, & garlic naan bread. EVERYTHING was delicious & came out to $43 total. I love spicy food & they let you choose your spice level for the main dishes so we did medium for the chicken curry, which was perfect, and spicy for the chana masala.. let me tell you that spicy level is SPICY but delicious, the type where you get a little spice drunk but the flavors are so good you cant stop eating it even if you wanted to 😅 My cousin and I each ate a full plate and still had a full to-go box to eat again (currently writing after that plate was devoured). The customer service was great, they checked in multiple times and explained everything to us, even the fennel seeds that they provide at the end to aid in digestion and fresh breath. I live about an hour and half away from this location & I already want to plan a trip to the area again so I can include this spot in there lol. Stop reading the reviews now and just go give it a shot, I promise you...