Tadka Indian Restaurant — Restaurant in San Francisco

TLDR: Flavorful North Indian food made with love

I love Indian food, but the fare in the Bay Area often disappoints more than delights. I didn’t have a go-to place in San Francisco. All the best food is in South Bay in restaurants and food trucks. So imagine my surprise when a new ‘North Indian’ restaurant pops up in the Mission.

Instead of ordering on an app, I decided to ride my bike to the restaurant and find out what they recommend. I was greeted warmly by Dhillon, owner who hails from Punjab, and is passionate about his food. The staff communicate in Punjabi and you know this is legit, and a family affair.

I ask Dhillon for his vegetarian recommendation. He immediately hones in on his favorite, Kadai Paneer. I order the spicy version. Next I am torn between the dal tadka and chana masala, Dhillon recommends dal tadka. Spicy please.

Garlic naan is a classic. But I am feeling greedy. I love a good veggie biryani to soak up the beautiful cries and daal. But I don’t want a full order, so Dhillon offers me a half order, and throws it in!

I also noticed they have a pizza oven. And whats better than an Indian pizza, an Indian pizza with paneer. So I order the spicy paneer pizza.

I ride my bike and food is ready as promised in 15 minutes (pizza takes longer to bake, or it can be ready faster).

Since I have a bike panier that is small, Dhillon spends 5 minutes repackaging the pizza to survive a vertical journey.

Now the food. Holy . Flavor bomb.

The paneer kadai is a huge hit. Paneer is fresh and soft, and my partner who wanted a bite, wants more. I reheated the garlic naan, and it’s perfect. I add some lemon to open up the daal that is perfectly spiced, with garlic, ginger and the right amount of heat. So much flavor. It dances with the veggie biryani, where the veggies are crisp.

I also noticed some freebies that Dhillon has thrown in, raita (spiced yoghurt) and kheer (rice Pudding).

Overall a 5 on 5 experience. I will be back to try more dishes and I can see Tadka becoming a neighborhood favorite for all things Indian, and pizza!

Since this cannot all be rosy. The only feedback I would give to Dhillon, is to go easy on the oil for my orders. It’s a personal preference.

If you want excellent service, authentic North Indian food made with love, at very reasonable prices (perhaps the best in SF for quality Indian food), I would recommend calling Tadka and asking them for recommendations on your preferences.

Thank you Dhillon. Good luck to you. You have a new...

Can't wait to go back to Tadka and try more of their food options! I've been here twice and both times the food has been exceptional, flavorful, and the right amount of spice (although I may go spicier next time)!

The first time I visited I got the Karahi Gosht with rice, samosa, garlic naan, and some Papadum. Everything was delicious. I did have some weird service, but nothing I can't look past for the food.

The second time my boyfriend and I went and we decided to try a handful of different dishes; Peshawari Naan, goat biryani, chicken leg tandoori, and the mango lassi.

Oh my god, I've never tried anything like the Peshawari Naan! It has a nice rich flavor with a slight sweetness that mixed perfectly with the biryani, but was just as good on its own.

I've had homemade biryani which was killer and tried some at a different restaurant where it was really dry and hard to eat, so I was hesitant but had high hopes. This biryani was absolutely delicious! Incredibly flavorful with so many spices and a good amount of heat!

Lastly, the tandoori was perfectly cooked. I've had dry tandoori at a few places and almost decided not to get it but we decided to give it a try last minute and I'm SO GLAD we did!!! Perfectly crispy on the outside with a bunch of flavor and soft and tender on the inside!

If you notice one theme of this review, I hope it's FLAVOR! This place packs in so much into each dish and they are all so well curated. I absolutely enjoyed every single thing we've had so far and I can't wait to go back!

I think the owner served us, we complimented the Peshawari Naan. He told us that he lived in Scotland (?) for a few years and it's his...

Update: 5/24 We went to Tadka again while visiting SF, The food was amazing as always, the customer service is spot on, they make you feel like you are at their home not at a restaurant. We had Lamb Palak, chicken curry, salad, lamb curry and Garlic naan. I wish Tadka existed in Sacramento I would go there everyday. We come to Tadka everytime we are visiting SF. Plus they are open till 2am for the late night dinners

Amazing Indian food in the mission district. The lamb curry, Goat curry , Chicken tikka masala and Paneer tikka masala were really good. We also ordered some garlic naan, the food was very delicious. We did not find any flaws in anything. The mango lassi and Kheer were delicious too. So many flavors and so many more dishes to still try. Amazing staff, great customer service. The owner Dhillon also offered us mango lassi while we waited for our food. Maximum time the whole order took to prepare was 13 minutes. They also have Indian style pizza on the menu as well, we can’t wait to try those. Being an Indian we have been to a lot of Indian restaurants and we would like to say proudly that Tadka Indian restaurant is the first one on our list. We are so glad that we are not too far away from Tadka and that we can come eat here any day of the week. They also have a sports bar and offer Beer and Wine. Great environment, great food.10 thumbs up from us and our family. We will be visiting soon again...