My Beau had never eaten Indian food before, but it was not for lack of cajoling on my part. But every time I suggested it, he would twist his face up and say “no, I know I won’t like it.”

So I was completely dumfounded when I came home one evening from work, greeted by a very excited Beau who said, “We must go to Indian Oven!” It turns out that he had watched some food show on TV, of which the highlight story was, you guessed it, Indian Oven in San Francisco.

The quick story

• Standard Indian fare.
• Reasonably priced, especially for San Francisco!
• Service is only a part-time job here.

Cuisine

Indian Oven serves Northern Indian cuisine, highlighting tandoori (marinated and grilled) meats, a variety of breads, and biryani (rice cooked with a variety of ingredients). While offering a large choice of vegetarian dishes, you can also find chicken, lamb, and seafood on the menu.

Appetizers

With this being my Beau’s maiden journey into the world of Indian cuisine, we chose the assorted appetizers plate ($4.95) — samosa, vegetable pakora, and papadum. We were presented a plate lined with papadum — a flat and crispy lentil wafer, topped with one potato samosa and two giant spider-like fried onion pakoras. The samosa, a fried dumpling stuffed with potato filling, was a little bland and a tad oily. And we were expecting more of a variety of vegetable pakoras (deep fried fritters) besides just onion.

The appetizers were served with four condiments: mint yogurt, tamarind (sweet and sour sauce), pickled mango, and a mixture of pickled mango and lemon. The mint yogurt definitely helped to perk up the flavor of the samosa.

The trauma of the masala

Our meal continued with a couple of main courses: Tandoori prawns ($15.95) — jumbo prawns lightly marinated in ginger and garlic, and chicken tikka masala ($10.95) — barbequed boneless chicken sautéed with herbs, spices, and tomatoes.

These were the largest prawns I’ve ever seen, about half a dozen golf ball-sized shrimp presented on a sizzling platter. Perfectly succulent with a nicely subtle tandoori flavor, the shrimp were accompanied by grilled peppers and onions. This was an excellent dish!

Unfortunately, the chicken didn’t fare as well. I would have to say that chicken tikka masala is my favorite Indian entrée, and the yardstick by which I evaluate all Indian restaurants. I won’t go back to a restaurant if I don’t like their tikka masala. Gaylord’s (see separate review) makes a superlative rendition of this dish, made with bite-sized pieces of freshly tandoor-grilled chicken, enfolded in a creamy curry sauce.

Indian Oven’s version, however, was disappointing, simply because it did not use tandoor-grilled chicken, instead using regular un-marinated cubes of sautéed chicken. This, I believe, takes away half the flavor sensation of this dish! It’s like ordering smoky barbequed ribs slathered in sauce, only to be served plain oven-cooked ribs instead.

Our meals were rounded out with pulao ($2.50) — steamed basmati rice studded with peas, and onion kulcha ($2.25) — flatbread studded with onion, cilantro, herbs, and spices. The bread was nearly completely covered in chopped onion, garlic, cilantro, so if you love onion, you’ll love this!

Indian Oven is a boon to vegetarians. Almost twenty meatless dishes are offered, including bengan bartha — sautéed eggplant with onion, garlic, and ginger, aloo gobhi — cauliflower and potatoes cooked with garlic and spices, and chana masala — garbanzo beans cooked with onion, tomatoes, and spices. All veggie entrees are reasonably priced in the $8-9 range.

Dessert

Although not really desserts, I’m listing two sweet beverages in this section. Indian Oven serves a wonderful mango lassi ($3) — a refreshing mango and yogurt drink. Served in a tall milkshake glass, the lassi looked like a peach smoothie and tasted “like a mango Yoplait!” Beau said. I advise to stay away from the nimbo pani ($2) — “our version of freshly made lemonade” the menu says, but it turned out to be nothing more than sugar water served with a wedge of lemon.

We skipped an official dessert course as we were tired of the inattentive service and increasingly crowded surroundings by then, but offerings included kheer, a traditional rice pudding, and gulab jamun, sweetened cheese dumplings (which are actually more tasty than they sound).

Beverages

Indian Oven offers a small wine list, about a dozen choices each of red and white, most in the $20-30 range. Six wines are served by the glass in each of red and white, from $6-8. King Fisher and Taj Mahal beers are priced at $3 for a 12 oz. glass.

Décor and atmosphere

Indian Oven operates out of a small storefront dining room, seating not more than around 60 diners. The space is rather cramped, as tables are tightly arranged. The interior highlights blond hardwood floors, tiny low-hanging track lights, ceiling fans, and native oil paintings that seem to cast a fluorescent glow (think velvet Elvis).

From our prime window table, the Beau could observe the tattoo artist (with full repertoire emblazoned across his back) across the street working on his latest design in a second floor window.

Diners, including children, were casually attired.

You talkin’ to me?

Okay, maybe the waiter didn’t actually talk to us like Robert de Niro, but it became immediately clear to us that service is not a high priority at Indian Oven: our entrees were brought to our table before we were done with our appetizers, we couldn’t flag down our waiter for more water (and water is definitely your best friend at an Indian restaurant), and no explanation of the various condiments was given until we asked. The clincher was that after our waiter served us our main courses, he proceeded to sit down to dinner himself at a nearby table — deserted by our own waiter!

Cost

$45 for one appetizer, two entrees, rice, bread, and beverages.

All in all

Considering that Indian Oven was named as the 2000 Audience Winner for best Indian Restaurant by bayarea.citysearch.com, we were quite disconcerted with our visit there. The good thing is, my Beau hasn’t totally written off Indian cuisine from this frustrating first experience. I guess I should have taken him to Gaylord’s first.... ¯

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Indian Oven
233 Fillmore Street (at Haight/Waller)
San Francisco, CA
415-626-1628
Parking: difficult street parking

Reservations: none. Get there early (before 6pm) or be prepared for a long wait! By 6pm on a Saturday night, the restaurant was completely full.

Recommended: No

Kid Friendliness: Yes
Vegetarian Friendly: Yes
Best Suited For: Friends