India Cafe

After reading numerous reviews about this place, it is finally clear to me that they are owner written as I have been deeply disappointed in the food quality of this place. Do not go to India Cafe on Fridays for lunch. I had tried them twice on a Friday for lunch and have both times been disappointed in their quality. I have tried their lunch wagon and the food there seems a lot better quality than what was served at the restaurant. The food on Fridays for lunch tasted old and regurgitated. It was very gravy-train with little solids in it. It may have been that we got what was left over scrapping the bottom of the pan since we tasted what appeared to have been the black-charred remains at the bottom of the pot. I called our waiter to show him what we were experiencing and he said he'd give us a discount coupon for our next visit. Well guess what? We weren't planning to come back. I would have thought that we would get a discount on our current dinner mishap instead of a future dinner here. more

Just passing reading this review and had a similar experience happen to me. I am a big fan of spicey and hot having lived in Mexico for five years, Indian food was a welcome source for hot. But the flat breads and pamppadams were very sour in taste and I thought that was the way they at this restaurant, but discovered that this had gone bad. I do not advise eating here and try other Indian places. more

I was recently at this restaurant and got seriously ill from eating the food here. My fiance also got diarrhea from eating here so this was no isolated incident. Pros: I got sick eating this food more

Our friends had referred us to try this. We came, we ate, we left. We'll never return again! This was the worst dining experience ever. I'm not going to list everything bad about this place, but warn you that they must have great days and bad days. The other couple who stomped out when we left also said it was the wrst food they ever ate in any cuisine. Cons: poor service, food was very sad, EXPENSIVE more

I was first introduced to India Cafe back in 2004 while on a visit with my mother who grew up in India. I did a quick search on-line and heard from a few college friends that India Cafe was a great, authentic family owned Indian restaurant that would not disappoint anyone that was raised on curry. My mother and I ended up having one of the best times and best food we had had in a long time. We even got to bring our own wine to compliment all the incredible flavors. It wasn't about five-star dining, it was about REAL Southern Indian food and genuine service. \r \r Six years later and I still go by the restaurant at least every several months. The restaurant has been fixed up and decorated over and the service and food are still wonderful. They even have Northern Indian dishes now like chicken tikka which is to die for. Keep up the good work and definitely the great food!!! \r \r Pros: Best Indian food on Oahu & wonderful service Cons: Restaurant a little hard to find, but so worth the finding more

I am a big traveler and like to try new restaurants and foods everywhere I go. I have gone to many different Indian restaurants and this one is one of the best. The food is excellent, authentic but still has a little twist to it. The samosas were amazing, I ordered extra just to take home with me. The pricing was also very good for the amount of food you got. I definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone traveling in the area, trust me, you won't regret it! Pros: excellent food, amazing service more

As a regular consumer and cook of Indian (mostly Northern) cuisine, I didn't object to my father suggesting India Cafe as our next dining experience. He had even pointed out in the Yellow Pages that it had received a Hale Aina Award for Best Indian Restaurant. Neither of us were quite prepared to find that we both shared the opinion that the Hale Aina Award was given in error. The restaurant itself is quite difficult to find nestled as it was behind the World of Feng Shui. Its interior, though small, is tastefully decorated with hanging sari-cloths, lanterns and paintings without tackiness. The first thing to come to our table was the Assorted Mixed Appetizer. It was a tad disappointing. I recommend that only the Samosas be ordered as the other items are either un-noteworthy (Pappadums) or terrible [Idli (similar to Filipino 'puto' bread) with a very weak flavored Sambar]. Anticipating a very spicy dish, we quickly placed an order for a nice cooling Mango Lassi. It was balanced just right in terms of sweetness and tartness and served wonderfully to mask the taste of our main courses, Lamb Masala and Spicy Eggplant. The lamb meat itself tasted as if it were pre-boiled in nothing but water and tossed in a flavorless red sauce. Now, I understand that for time?s sake some shortcuts have to be made, otherwise guests would have to wait forever for a good braised korma, but is it too much to ask to at least boil the meat with an onion, a few cloves of garlic and some spices? The eggplant was equally disappointing in terms of flavor. It did deliver the heat it promised on the menu, but other than a slight tamarind tang, the sauce tasted nearly the same as the lamb?s. Overall, my father and I feel that this restaurant is undeserving of the award it was given and think that time is better spent in Maharani or even Bombay. Connoisseurs of Southern Indian (you won't find the flavors of Karnataka here) or vegetarian food can find better options elsewhere. Pros: Samosas, Lassi Cons: Hard to Find, Not Southern Indian, Poor Food Flavor. more

I had never eaten Indian cuisine before but Im glad i gave it a try at this special little place hidden in Kapahulu near waikiki. I saw a sign for India Cafe and remembered seeing them in the ""Hawaii's Best Restaurants"" guide in the newspaper. As soon as I walked in, a nice man greeted me and sat me down asking if I had ever been here before. He told me all about their special dosai breads, curries, and chutneys. He helped me order some fresh vegetarian dishes, chicken curry and lamb masala all of which were so tasty. Oh and I love their samosas! He had it made mild for me since it was my first time but now i order it spicy since i have gotten used to the bold flavors. India Cafe has become my new favorit restaurant and I highly recommend it to anyone. Pros: Friendly Service, TASTY, FRESH Cons: Hard to find, Not enough tables more

Hi Guys ! I am HPU student, Juss finished my class, Starving and craving to eat some spicy indian food. Then i thought to go to India House for Lunch. It was my first time there, so i didn't knew their hours. I was already late. They were about to close, but it was so nice of the waiter to let me eat there. The service was not bad, but the food was terrible. It was one of my worst experience eating there. I should have gone to India Cafe. But they are not open for lunch during the weekdays. I have been there before. Its well known for its malaysian/Indian food plus excellent service. I am surely going there for dinner tonight. Goodluck India cafe ""You are doing really Good"" more

We love India Cafe. We recently saw a great review in Newspaper Hawaii's Best Restaurant for India Cafe. We love Indian food and since this was the only Indian restaurant chosen, we had to eat there since the few ones that are here in Hawaii arent very special. We knew it must be good since there were a lot of people dining there but we got seated right away. The waiter informed us that the owners/chefs are Indian but from Malaysia so it is a little different from ""Normal Authentic Indian Cusine"". When we got our food, we were GLAD it was different. SOoo tasty and we even got some dishes made mild for us. Definitely a must visit, this unique restaurant is refreshing and very welcoming. We cant wait to go back again, the prices are very reasonable and the staff is so friendly, makes you feel like family. Pros: Inexpensive, Excellent Service, Very Tasty Cons: Reservations Recommen, Hard to find, Some dishes SPICY more

Hi Guys ! I am HPU student, Juss finished my class, Starving and craving to eat some spicy indian food. Then i thought to go to Maharani for Lunch. It was my first time there, so i didn't knew their hours. I was already late. They were about to close, but it was so nice of the waiter to let me eat there. The service was not bad, but the food was terrible. It was one of my worst experience eating there. I should have gone to India Cafe. But they are not open for lunch during the weekdays. I have been there before. Its well known for its malaysian/Indian food plus excellent service. I am surely going there for dinner tonight. Goodluck India cafe ""You are doing really Good"" Pros: Excellent Service, Friendly Environment, Good spicy food Cons: small space more

After reading a few reviews from here at city search and at the local newspaper I went to eat at India cafe with one of my friend. It's a small but cute restaurant and it was very hard to find. Anyway, I am a very big fan of Indian food, but at India Cafe the food doen't taste anything like the indian food that I am used to. I didn't understand why the newspaper picked this restaurant the only Authentic Indian restaurant while the foods aren't authentic at all. The vegetarian dishes wasn't Indian at all. The dosai is alright but not excellent. If you know Indian food this isn't the right place for you. I hope next time the newspaper will be more careful to pick a better Indian restaurant for Indian Authetic restaurant so people can save their time and their money. Pros: Prise alright, not to cheap, dirty kichen Cons: don't use bare hand, to pick ice for water, need Indian cook more

I am a very big fan of Indian food, and South Indian vegetarian dishes are my most favourite. I always go to India Bazer for plate lunch, but I wanted to try something different so I brought my husband to India cafe after reading a very good review about them at Honolulu Adv. I was very disappointed with their cooking. There wasn't any South Indian touch or I rather say any Indian touch to their food. If you don't know what real Indian flavour foods are then you can eat there but if you know the Indian taste this is not the place for you. I am not used to Malaysian flavour so I am going back to my old place. Pros: its not Indian, hire an Indian chef Cons: frozen breads more

I lived in Hawaii for 24 years and have tried most restaurants that Hawaii has to offer. Now that I live in Southern California, I make sure that the India Cafe is one of the restaurants that I visit when I come home. They have exactly what I am looking for; great food, friendly staff, great food, nice quiet ambience for a date or eating out with the friends, great food, the prices are very resonable, and Oh yah, the food is great!! If some of the high end restaurants dropped their prices by 75 percent to be competitive with India Cafe, I would still visit India Cafe. So, if your looking for a new place to try, then you should definitely take a trip down to the India Cafe. You will come back, and you will also do like I do, take the left overs with you. Pros: Great food, Nice staff, Unique Cons: distance from CA more

My husband and I went to eat in India cafe after read a restaurant review in a local newspaper. We both were very excited because India cafe was voted the best Indian restaurant on Oahu, but the disappoinment started as soon as the foods arrived on our tables. 1st the samosa, I don't know what that was but it wasn't anything like the Indian samosa what we are used to it was really yakkkk. Then the main dishes, we had some chicken curry. It was at least a few days old. The dosa was good but again the vetarian dish was old and no taste at all, the rice was very unindian.All their bread was frozen, the price was high. We couldn't eat anything there, after paying the bill ( which wasn't very cheap as the newspaer said ) we left to search for a better Indian restaurant to eat. more

After moving from N.Y to Honolulu last month I wanted to try Indian food here, and I saw a restaurant review about India Cafe at Honolulu advertiser ( this news paper also voated them the Best Authentic Indian restaurant) I wanted to eat there so bad. I went to eat there on a friday night and a few tables were there, when I looked at their menue it said Indian and Malaysian foods ( Now as an Indian I was thinking about the newspaper how they voted them as a Authentic restaurant ?????????) may be they paid them to do it, anyway, the food was not Indian at all, more as some asian kindda spicy food,,, guys find a better place for Indian food, don't waste your money. more

If your lookign for your average indian resteraunt, this is NOT the place to go. If you want a nice flair of Indian/Malay type food, this is the place to be! Chef does an excellent job of adding a Malaysian twist to traditional South Indian Cuisine. Try the Dosai stuffed with potato & tofu! Lassis are quite nice to cool things down. A bit spicy so watch out! I would highly reccomend to anyone looking to try out a very nice blend of Indian/SouthEast Asian cuisine Pros: Good Service, Excellent Food more