Kunal K.
Yelp
This is the best Indian restaurant in SF!
Growing up, my mom made very good Indian food, so my bar is high. This is one of the few SF restaurants that meets that bar. Not only do I highly recommend anyone Diwali Indian Cuisine to anyone who likes Indian food, but I think it's THE BEST INDIAN FOOD IN SF with high quality ingredients and authentic recipes and ingredients. Here's why:
First off, the menu is amazing. So many fun choices and varieties. Amongst the best menus in SF you'll find at an Indian restaurant.
Second, very kind owners and nice staff. You'll be treated well.
And of course, the food! Their dosa is great - delicious, lots of varieties, etc. With the menu being so good, my visit today involved exploring beyond dosas - and every dish was a straight up banger.
Banjara Kebab - fantastic fun way to start the meal. High quality chicken with amazing flavors.
Karaikudi Chicken Fry - very delicious chicken with onions, garlic, and spices that was very flavorful and delicious. Paired very well with the parotta (a very flaky bread that's really fun to eat - so much better than naan!!!).
King fish curry - absolutely delicious fish curry that was flavorful and had a lot of interesting tasting notes - spicy, tamarind, garlic, etc. Very fun to eat. Had it with rice and parotta.
Parotta - this is what I mean by menu. Naan shouldn't be the only bread you serve if the restaurant is a really good one, and it's fun to try different varieties. This bread paired well with the dishes above, and it was flaky and fun to dip into the curries.
I am so excited to go back and continue exploring the menu (or maybe I fall back and get the plates I've enjoyed, like the ones mentioned above or their chicken 65...who knows). I can't say how much I appreciate going to restaurants where the dilemma is whether to get a dish you loved last time, or to explore other items on the menu that sounds great.
And you can tell as you eat the food that the cooks put a lot of love in their cooking - an example is how the parotta comes out broken up a little bit to let out the steam. My mom did that when she served me food - few restaurants do that and you get a piping hot piece of bread. I can also tell by the ingredients they use that they cook with love. This is extremely hard to find!
Bottom line: Check out Diwali Indian Cuisine for the best Indian food in SF