Indian Oven Restaurant — Restaurant in San Francisco

Well first off the Google pic showing a soaring ceiling, white frosted glass and gold hardware and bar stools is for INDIA CLAY OVEN. This place on fillmore and haight is nasty and run down. The guy at the door couldn't understand or speak English so that was fun. My chair was hard w/ flattened cushion and EVERY seat was either stained, ripped up, uneven or had no cushion. I asked to sit by window at 4 top table, he said 'No! Other one'...meaning the little 2 seater...i'm the only one in there! I obliged and sat down at the smaller table to spotty, crusty looking silverware and the glass looked stained. I took some of the mint water they served and wiped everything down. Now, my food came...Chix Tikka Masala, basmati rice, a spinach/potato dish and bread. Everything came piping hot but I smelled not one thing cooking. The food was lukewarm and not fresh made but microwaved. Chix Tikka had 6 little diced pieces of chix in it and the sauce tasted like tomato soup. It didn't have that CTM taste you're familiar with, it was like it was missing some spices. The spinach dish sounded so good but was a spinach slurry with 2 barely there potatoes. It was really flavorful but where were the potatoes?! My basmati rice had no peas in it as advertised and the wheat Naan bread was literally cold. ALL OF THEIR STUFF WAS MICROWAVED AND NOT MADE FRESH!! All of that crud came up to $50!! I literally would have been happier with Trader Joe's CTM dish and their store brand garlic naan. God knows i would have loved to keep that left over $40. SKIP this place like you're jumping rope, there's WAY better...

I usually don't give such a low rating to any restaurant, especially knowing it may affect their business, but I feel my experience here reflects differently enough from other patrons that it may be helpful to others.

We came here on a Sunday afternoon, after an intense workout thinking food would be quick, especially since only one other table was occupied. Our server kept checking on us and refilling water, which normally would be great service, except with an almost-empty restaurant, it was quite unnecessary to interrupt us that often when there was no food served yet.

Our samosa appetizers, though delicious, took 20 minutes to come out. Our appetizer serving plates came out with hair on it (this should have been our sign to bolt!), and the sauces were removed after we were done, then returned (we believe) not refilled and wiped (hard to tell if it was our own return, but it was definitely used).

Our main entrees took nearly 40 mins after to come out. The curries were both extremely mild, even though we both ordered spicy, and flavors were bland and lacking. The lamb naan came out scorched black in many areas with the lamb cold. A nice free desert was served in a small bowl, though I don't know why two spoons were already inside of it...

The interior decor and ambiance is really nice, but it seems to be just a facade for substandard Indian food. I would trade ambiance (and possibly forgive cleanliness) for decent Indian, so my suggestion is save your time and go eat at...

I owe this place a debt. This is the only Indian restaurant in my neighborhood. There used to be 3 Indian spots in the lower Haight a long time ago. (precovid) I love the Masala Chai. It is what I live for everyday. I also make it myself because it is worth it. Too much work for me to do in my opinion. I have had there Gulab Jamun. They hooked me up. It was so good. Went real well with that Chai. And I had the pleasure of having their Paneer Makhani for take out. Oh men. Reminds me of Ethiopian cooking. It's to die for in my opinion. Haha. I mean, it is worth the experience. Please, give this place a chance. It's like the last Indian spot in the neighborhood and it needs all the business it can get. You get a real good meal from here. But don't take my word...