Definitely one of the most underrated Indian spots! The tikka masala and biryani are always on point, and I love the peaceful vibe. Great value with generous portions at a reasonable price. Service is just alright, but it's always my go-to place when I'm craving a quick biryani fix. read more

This place is such a hidden gem. It's definitely more of a hole-in-the-wall spot, but honestly that's part of the charm -- no frills, straight to the point, and the people here are incredibly friendly and welcoming. The prices are AMAZING for the amount of food you get. Huge portions, super generous servings, and every single thing we ordered was absolutely delicious. You can tell they really care about the food and making sure you leave full and happy. Their lunch special runs daily until 3PM which is insane in this economy. The garlic naan was included with the lunch special at no extra charge, which almost never happens these days. And it was fresh, buttery, and so good. If you care more about incredible food and value than fancy decor, this spot is 100% worth checking out. We'll definitely be back! read more

The India Cafe - Butter chicken (bottom) and aloo gobi (top) lunch special - Indian Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

We ordered a feast to go for dinner. This was our first time ordering from here so we basically wanted to try everything lol. Our top picks were the Chicken Masala (way more flavorful than the Butter Chicken), Garlic Naan, Samosas, Lamb Biryani, and the steamed Chicken Himalayan Momo (looks like dumplings) with the tamarind chutney was amazinggg. Loved that the chicken dishes all came with rice too. Definitely ordering from here again! Gonna see if we can eat at the restaurant next time read more

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I ordered garlic naan and butter chicken through DoorDash. The butter chicken was good, creamy and flavorful, but there was a pretty distinct tomato taste that stood out more than I expected. The garlic naan was decent but didn't really taste like fresh garlic; pretty sure they used jarlic instead, which made it less flavorful. Portion sizes could definitely be bigger; the photos online made it look like more food than what I actually got. Since I doordashed I can't speak on service, but overall it's a solid spot. I'd give it a 9/10: mainly just wish the naan had real garlic and portions matched the pics. read more

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This was my first time to the Indian Café. The service was good. This is a very basic, no-frills, clean restaurant. Service was good. My butter chicken was good but average. Portion size was similar to most other places. It came with rice. I had to order nan on the side. I would consider returning when in the area again however, I would probably try other restaurants first. read more

The India Cafe - Indian Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Stopped by for some food and saw they had some good reviews. We ordered the chicken tikka masala, coconut chicken, samosas garlic naan and mango lassi. Both chicken plates were terrific so tasty. Garlic naan is super good. The samosas were ok. The mango lassi was really good. The place had plenty of seating and was clean. Staff was friendly and found they were from nepal. Will definitely be going back super good! read more

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Classic restaurant with all the favorites. We all had something different and shared. We will be back.

Great services always and delicious food. They also have a variety of adult beverages

I went behind the counter twice. Once to get my own menu, the other to get to go boxes. Service was very poor to say the least. We ordered samosas, these were delicious and so was the naan. Butter chicken was a bit too sweet but the chicken was tender. We also ordered tandoori lamb and it was dry and not tender at all. Cooked too fast I suppose. Needless to say we will not be back. Their food and more importantly the service is not worthy of the stars they have. We and one solo diner were in the restaurant and that says it all. read more

Got takeout here, sooo good and the chicken saag portion was very generous! Quick and simple ordering and pickup, can't wait to try more things on the menu! read more

Small, but nicely arranged booths and tables. Helpful staff as we hadn't eaten India or Nepal food. I had Chicken Biryani for $13.99. Great and huge portion. My wife had the Lamb Thali which was very good at $14.99. Fun food as it was all new to us. read more

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Love this place. Veggie samosas are the bomb here! Also the mango smoothie is a must have!

The food was good but the chicken tiki masala portion was just so stingy... I got 7 small pieces of chicken. Thats the same amount we can get at Trader Joe's for $9.99... please stop being stingy with your food portion. It was a $20 meal which felt like a $10 dinner read more

We always take out food here and it is the best Indian food I have had outside of India.

This is my go-to spot for Indian food in Costa Mesa! The butter chicken, level 6 is chef's kiss. I'm also in love with their garlic naan. This restaurant is nicely priced and has good portions. I'm pretty much a regular here. See you again soon! read more

Must say I'm really happy to stumble on them! The food is so good, the butter and garlic naan is not too dry, it's still moist. We pair it with. Goat curry, and it goes 10 for me! It's so good, the meat is generous, and the gravy! Oh wow, they gave the rice for one set of the curry, which yes for sure, I finished it with the rice! My daughter loves it, hubby likes it, for these 2 that always are picky eater, kinda good to know they like it! I had their mango lassi for drink, it's good! I will be back for more gravy! Oh the bathroom is so clean, it's a small shop but somewhat it felt homey! read more

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2.5 stars I think this is unfort Indian food meant for white people. Ordered the chicken tikka masala and garlic naan. A couple of the naans were more like chips and not fluffy at all. And also came out cold. The chicken tikka masala's sauce was good but the chicken itself was very chunky and not well cooked. The ambiance is alright and the service is great. Waiter was very attentive. Overall I don't think I'll be coming back. read more

The India Cafe - Chicken tikka masala - Indian Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Hands down our favorite Indian restaurant! We order here at least once a month. The butter chicken delicious. Could drink the sauce. Garlic naan buy two. Trust me. Saag paneer, I'm not a big cooked spinach person. But I can't get enough of this. Chicken tandoori juicy with the right flavors Alo gobi if you like cauliflower. It's worth a try for the interesting flavors. It goes well with the saag. Honestly we scoop our food with the naan. Get messy and really enjoy all the flavors. Food is always hot. Ordered mostly through DoorDash. Once in store, service was quick and friendly. The restaurant is small nothing special. Just what you need for a good meal. MOM APPROVED!!! Our toddler loves the butter chicken and garlic naan. read more

I was craving Indian food and came across this place while searching on Yelp. I came here on a weekday evening and it was pretty empty but I dined in and noticed many customers in and out grabbing to go. I wanted a vegetarian dish so I ordered the Vegetable Nepali Thali and it did not disappoint! I think I had eaten everything down to the last grain of basmati rice. It was soooo delicious and the naan was freshly made when it came out. It's not a fancy restaurant and could be viewed somewhat as a hole in the wall, but that's usually where the best food comes from. read more

The India Cafe - Vegetarian dish: 91. Vegetable Nepali Thali - Indian Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Don't judge a book by its cover! This hidden gem in Costa Mesa has yummy and authentic Indian food. Came here on a Sunday after a beach day- there was one other party so we were able to sit right away. We sat at our table for a few minutes without being greeted so had to peek my head over the counter to get some help. I had chicken tikka masala with an order of garlic naan. One order is the perfect amount of food for one person and the garlic naan came with four pieces or enough for two people to split. Its nice because they do ask what level of spiciness of food you would like on a scale from 1-10 (other Indian restaurants I've been to don't ask this). The chicken could have been a tad bit more tender, but flavor was on point. Good service and very polite. Would definitely come back if i am in the area and craving Indian cuisine. read more

The India Cafe - 21. Chicken Tikka Masala - Indian Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Delicious. Great service as well! My boyfriend and I have begun ordering each week for pick up. Highly reccomoned the butter chicken and Chana masala! read more

Super tasty coconut chicken and Naan Highly recommend the coconut chicken and get medium spice. Just spicy enough. Trying the lamb next time! Seen this spot for so many years. Finally tried it and it's really good. Dimly lit inside but good quality is good. read more

The India Cafe - Coconut chicken - Indian Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Portions are small lady was rude when asked for a fork since the meal did not come with one ,or napkins, not don't get receipt

This hole in the wall is really no frills. Great food, fast and curt service. Got my butt kicked by medium level spice! I ordered a vegetarian thali with aloo bodi tama. Never had bamboo shoots in a curry before and it was so good! Garlic naan & dal was also perfect. The raita and salad were weirdly sweet which I'm not used to but maybe that's just the Nepali way? read more

The India Cafe - 91. Vegetable Nepali Thali - Indian Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Love the service and the food was delicious! I had a wonderful experience. The portions were also large so that was great

Note to self, if you ask for everything mild, then everything is boring. Next time I'll ask for a spicy level of 2. The Butter Chicken is excellent with large chunks of tender chicken in a sauce reminiscent of tomato cream sauce. The Chicken Tiki Masala is very similar to the Butter Chicken but with thin sliced pieces of chicken. The Shrimp Curry is average, in red curry sauce. The Garlic Naan bread is disappointing. Paper thin and chewy with no noticeable garlic now any flavor. The Roti is similar. read more

We got takeout. The lamb saag and butter chicken, as well as naan and another onion flatbread. Everything was really tasty. I think the naan would have been better when dining in due to it being steamed a little bit in the packaging to get to us. Totally understandable though. We were looking for a new Indian place close to our new place and we will definitely come back here read more

Love me some Nepalese food!! Randomly came here one night and was blown away by the food. The restaurant is unsuspecting, but you can tell by the number of take-out orders that this spot is loved by locals. My fiancé and I split some momos, two curry dishes, some naan and rice, and everything was amazing!! We even has some leftovers to take home. Flavors were super good; can't wait to come back! read more

The India Cafe - 1. Chicken Himalayan Momo - Indian Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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Ordered lunch from India Cafe yesterday and it was so delicious. The lunch combos come with naan (lots of it, had 4 in the foil), choice of curry, choice of side of veggie and a small salad. I tried the chicken tiki masala and it was pretty tasty. However, the Gobi Manchurian - omg that was sooo delicious. The flavors were so amazing!!! I think I enjoyed the Gobi Manchurian more than the curry itself. The naan was delicious as well. Overall, I was very impressed with this restaurant and cannot wait to eat here again! read more

The India Cafe - Indian Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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Your quintessential hole in the wall curry house with no frills and no service. The place is clean with a couple TVs blaring popular Bollywood tunes making conversation difficult. Food is decent but no presentation to speak of so I did not take any pictures. This evening we tried the Shani Paneer and Daal Makhani with a butter naan and garlic naan. The rice served along with seemed stale. The Shahi paneer was creamy alright but that was mostly due to the heavy cream used and not the classic charmagaz paste. I wasn't expecting that so wasn't disappointed. Paneer cubes were tender though. The Daal makhani was not makhani for sure. Was lacking the proper spices along with the butter which is an essential ingredient. Naans were good. Fresh from the tandoor. Not a gourmet Indian eatery but will satisfy your curry cravings. Ask for medium spicy plus if you want any flavor at all. Coming back to service- Very condescending. Amar, our server had an attitude. We tried to have a conversation with him about the food but he seemed to be in a hurry to get back to watching Reels!! He dropped off the food and did not come back to check on us to see if we needed anything. All the time we could see him behind the counter on his phone. I finally had to walk up to him to ask for the check. We were not expecting Michelin Star service but if you're charging sit down restaurant prices? Please provide sit down service. I still tipped the guy because nowadays you're pretty much guilted into doing so when the device is handed to you or the screen turned towards you. He did bring our food to the table.... read more

The India Cafe - the inside of the restaurant - Indian Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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We got takeout from here one night when my husband and I were craving Indian food. We're huge fans of Indian food so we decided to give this place a try, and it did not disappoint! PARKING: Located in a small plaza near Newport Beach. There was ample enough parking but a little difficult to maneuver around due to how narrow the lot is. AMBIENCE: Not much to add here: it's a typical mom and pop kind of vibe. You can get takeout and feel perfectly fine with missing out on the dining in experience. SERVICE: I was greeted by a very kind man! A smile works wonders for me as a customer and I was pleased to give him my business. Our food was ready right on time too. FOOD: I'm definitely coming back for the food. At such affordable pricing and generous portion size, it's not easy to beat a place like this! We got the fish tikka masala, butter chicken, saag paneer, garlic naan, and rice (we only ordered one but we're given 4 containers of it! Talk about generous). The fish tikka was my favorite and the other two dishes tasted like standard butter chicken and saag paneer. The menu here is quite diverse and I look forward to trying more of their food. But their fish tikka masala is good enough to keep me coming back for more of it! read more

Best Indian takeout!!! 10/10. Butter chicken and chicken tikka masala are my go to'd. Garlic naan bread also. Ready quickly and friendly staff. read more

The India Cafe has the potential to be great but they are just not there yet. The quality, flavor profile, and portions would need to improve for this to happen. We have tried them twice (different items to try) and have ordered the following for delivery: Chicken Tikka Masala ($15.95) - 3 stars - There was about enough chicken in there for 1 skewer so a little pricey for what you are getting. The meat itself could have been more tender as well. I am pretty sure for this dish and the butter chicken, they are actually using skewers for meat that was either not good enough to be sold on its own or had some fault and then got mixed with these sauces. I can even see the holes in the chicken where the skewer goes through as well as the burnt/blackened sides of the chicken. If the chicken was cooked with the sauce as well, it would be more juicy and tender. The sauce itself is flavorful though and not spicy at all - that would probably need to be requested. Butter chicken ($15.49) 3 stars - Same issue. Decent sauce - nothing spectacular though and average chicken that is a little too hard from being in the skewer first. Also, small portion for both dishes. Veggie Samosas ($4.95 for 2) - 2 stars - These tasted double fried and weren't the freshest samosas we've had. You can tell by the shell and the filling. Whereas the shell was still edible, the filling itself wasn't good at all. It tasted mushy and flavorless, the exact opposite of how you want your samosas to be. Lentil soup ($4.95) 3.5 stars - It is a small portion as others have mentioned and it's pretty spicy, but it does taste comforting... Keema naan ($4.99) 2 stars - Our naan was burnt way too much along the edges, flavorless (I don't even think they added any salt) and hardly had any ground beef. Not enough to taste it at all. It tasted like a plain naan really for double the price and half the flavor. Mango Lassi ($3.99) 1 star - This was 1 star bc it was just some powder mix. You can tell by the color that it is artificial and no real mangos were used so that is disappointing. If they are cutting corners with their mango lassi, then I wonder what else was just powder vs real ingredients. Our search continues for an Indian Restaurant we want to go back to in OC. If you know of any, please message us. We are seriously looking. :) read more

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OMG! First time there and it's a hidden amazing spot. The food was so rich in taste and delicious I literally cleaned my plate! Everything was fresh. The service was great and so polite! Loved it def coming back. Super casual no fuss and kinda empty for how great the food was' loved it read more

I love Indian food but unfortunately that was a very disappointing experience. The chicken masala was very sweet, tasted like tomato soup with big chunks of dry chicken. Also, I wasn't able to ask for any spicy level on the app so I just got a blend meal, the frozen one from Trader Joe's is better (and it's not even that good). read more

The India Cafe - 21. Chicken Tikka Masala - Indian Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

When you want spicy and you say "spicy" you're going to get spicy. Hot spicy. That's what I love about The India Cafe. There's no messing around here - none of that I-like-spicy-but-not-hot-spice nonsense. The Indian cuisine here is tasty and their menu is packed with all the favorites and specials you know and love. And they have a decent wine and beer menu too. I've never dined in myself, my guy typically eats here when he's in the OC and will bring me To-Go on his way home. He has become fast friends with the team here and that's great in my book because we can get our food prepared exactly how we like it. The one dish I don't care for is their raita...it's on the sweet side, but that one off doesn't affect my rating. The proteins in their entrees are not skimpy, they're big chunky pieces of meat or chicken. If you're not full by the end of the meal I'd question if your stomach has a hole in it. Ha! The naan is pillowy yumminess and the chutneys are delicious. Fluffy basmati is perfectly prepared and we've been known to order an extra to enjoy later. If To-Go is truly delicious, I bet dining in is super good and if my county doesn't resume indoor dining soon, I'll likely be making an in person visit to The India Cafe sooner rather than later. read more

The India Cafe - Last night's take out chicken tikka masala from the India Cafe. Nicely spiced with a good amount of heat and giant pieces of chicken. - Indian Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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This place is absolutely amazing! I LOVE the chicken Korma, it is always a generous portion so I always end up with leftovers.

I am very sad to report a huge change in quality at this once amazing Indian food resturant. I got chicken curry and the Nan garlic bread I ate one point was crazy about. Tonight was different. Chicken curry was almost tasteless and the Nan bread had no garlic flavor and was like rubber. I am heartbroken to write this. But maybe just an off night. read more

We really enjoyed our lunch here on Saturday! They offer dine in and take out. The restaurant is simple, and their food is made with love and was delicious! You can choose how spicy you'd like also. We had saag paneer, lamb korma, garlic naan, and a mango lassi. We really loved the flavor of everything! read more

The India Cafe - 81. Garlic Naan - Indian Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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Go to spot and a hole in the wall basically but the garlic naan is great and I love the saag paneer