Raja Cuisine Of India--CLOSED

OK, so...Has anyone ever eaten Indian cuisine? Does anyone remember the worst Indian meal they had ever eaten? Now waste $30-40 on Raja Cuisine of India and watch your memory slowly justify that all of them were better than anything here. First, the garlic naan...tasteless, looked like yellow curry powder stained one side, a lot of it, but inedible... Second, the veggie samosas...greasy, no veggies, all potato, no sauce so you could really taste the grease. I think they at least change the fryer grease a few times a week. Third, (main course) Mattar Paneer.... kind of like a cheap, jared, store-bought vodka sauce. Buttery, flavorless, old peas, one giant piece of super dry paneer. So thin and watery... they didn't even try to cover up that they cut ingredients out of the recipe to save money. Next, Lamb Saag, three tiny pieces of dry, tough meat. Oily & tasteless, cut with what seemed to be Heinz gravy...plus the rice was overpowering and dry. If anyone has had the pleasure o... Read more

The indian bread was very fresh and the food in general was very pleasing. There was enough spices in the food and sufficiently satisfied my...

My wife and I ate here due entirely to the notoriety it has received on Citysearch. It didn't take us long to realize that the reviews that mention the less than spectacular service were not exaggerated. They were not busy, so this appeared to just be a work ethic issue on the part of the staff. Drinks went unfilled and it took around 40 minutes from when we sat down to when the meal came. So why four stars? Because the food was unbelievably good. Good enough that I would gladly eat there again and put up with the exact same service. I ate until I was quite uncomfortable, and then I ate more. It is easily the best Indian cuisine that I have ever had, but because of the service I could not give five stars with a clear conscience. Also, we found that their beer selection was not quite as plentiful as the menu initially suggested. This is definitely a place where a little extra effort would go a LONG way.

STOP! DO NOT ORDER FROM THIS RESTRUANT! Raja never delivers on time and really does not care about you as a customer. I have ordered from them three times and each time my order was over 45 minutes late. Each time I called they treated me very rudely. If you want to eat within at least an hour of ordering your food do not order from Raja.

I ordered my meal at 7:45. They said it would be delivered in 1 hour. At 9:15 I called back. They said it would be delivered in ten minutes. at 9:35 I called back. They said 5 minutes. at 9:45 I called back. They said 5 minutes. At 10, I called a dozen times and they didn't answer. At 10:10 the delivery guy arrived. I gave him 5 dollars. He said it was $30. I told him to keep the food or take it for $5. He took the food. My night was ruined.

we wanted to try out some Indian food so we went to this place...well i for one am glad that we came here..the food here was good...i really like their samosas and thought their dal makhani , naan tasted really good....will recommend this place for you ,if you want to try indian food and also for those of you who have time in their hands?but will guarantee that the wait is worthwhile ?.

Don?t go to this restaurant if you are in any sort of hurry. The service was the worst! Thirty minutes after being seated a waiter finally approached our table and asked if we were ready to order. We answered in the affirmative and he then proceeded to walk away (it should be noted that we were one of two customers dining in the restaurant at the time. They were not busy). He returned twenty minutes later (after taking one phone call and a taking a second personal call on his cell phone) to take our order. Over the course of the evening we had to choose several different meals because they kept running out of food. However, the food was great once we eventually received it.

Avoid ordering delivery at all costs. This was my worst experience with delivery ever (and I am not young any more). I ordered food and was told that delivery will take 45 min. An hour and a half later no food was delivered. I called the restaurant and was told that the driver left 10 min ago. After an hour of waiting (makes it 2.5 hrs after I ordered) I called again to express my dismay. The response was: May be the driver is stuck in traffic. What traffic at 8 pm on Thursday betwee Haight street and West Portal? I can tolerate bad food and bad service but have difficulty tokerating lying.

I have previously given this place a high rating and often ordered from here even though I often felt the portions were too small and the price a little steep. But after two recent bad experiences I do not feel this is a good place to get Indian food. Delivery took an hour plus, they left out a dish from my order at one time, food was hard and dry and felt leftover. I am Indian and know what good and bad Indian food tastes like. Most bad cooks try and mask the dryness and staleness of the meat/veg by adding more spices etc. but that is not how good Indian food is made. You can do better than this, it really does not deserve such a high rating.

Seriously, how do they have this rating? We ordered delivery, so I can't speak for the service in the restaurant, but it did take 1 hour 30 mins to get here. Granted, it is Oscar Night, but is everyone in the city ordering from here? Anyway, the food was extremely lacking. The Chicken Tikka Masala was some kind of orange sauce that was so devoid of any flavor, we assumed it was food coloring. The Chicken Korma, was equally lacking in flavor. Both dishes served up over-cooked chicken. The rice was dry, the bread, so-so. I am simply flabergasted with this places rating, and disappointed that I didn't look at the reviews before ordering, because I would have thought better of it...

I don't understand the 9.9 rating here. This place received an 86 on their last San Francisco Department of Public Health inspection -- a marked improvement over their previous score of ~55! I'm all for tasty indian food, but a place that seems to oscillate between terrible and not so terrible health scores isn't the kind of place I'd trust my health to, especially when there's two other Indian restaurants to choose from -right across the street-.

I'm not sure how this restaurant earned the 9.9 rating listed on citysearch. Every other Indian restaurant in San Francisco is clearly better than Raja, without question or hesitation. You will not hate the food here, but you shouldn't like it either.

I called asking for delivery, and first off was treated very rudely over the phone. After the person on the phone getting my order wrong no less than twice as I was telling it to them, I was quoted a very high price as well as an hour wait for it to arrive. After an hour and a half pass from when I ordered, I called back and cancelled the order. Forty-five minutes after I did that, I got call saying that they had my order. I informed the person on the phone that after waiting for over two hours for my food I had made other plans. I wish I could write about the quality of their cuisine, but honestly I don't think I'll ever choose to eat there again.

We decided to try Raja because they have a few dishes that the other neighborhood Indian spots don't have on their menus. At 7pm on a Wednesday the place was deserted--normally that would make me think twice, but we really wanted to try Raja. We stood in the front of the restaurant for a few minutes, then peeked through the pass-through to the kitchen to say hello and ask if they were open (the sign outside said so, but really we were the only ones there). The guy looked at us like we were crazy and said yeah, yeah, he'd be out in a minute. Five minutes later we were still standing there alone--how many other people had come in and left that night without ever getting a table? That night's dinner at Indian Oven down the street was as tasty and pleasant as always. Reading the other reviews makes me think I'm glad we didn't end up getting seated and I'm not going to give it another shot...there are just too many good Indian restaurants in town.

We eat here all the time and the food is excellent! Best dishes are Patti Masla and Chicken Makhani. We pick up since their delivery service takes forever....but, it's well worth the drive across the City.

Waited 45 minutes for my takeout and got it home to find an item missing. Lots of good indian food in the area so shabby service won't fly.

ALOO GOBI: uncooked cauliflower, with PEPPERS and a tomatoey, gooey sauce - whole dish had a horrible tangy taste. CHICKEN KORMA: all dry stringy breast meat, in a yellow cream sauce, way too creamy, slivered almonds dumped in vs. cooked into the sauce. No flavor bland boring naan. OVERALL: YUCK!

I ordered the Vegetable Korma and received a dish that resembled Velveeta more than anything else! I have never had a korma like this -- it was bright orange and very gooey/stringy -- completely nasty! My husband got the chana masala; while it wasn't as offensive as the korma, it was still pretty bad. I was horrified that we paid for it!

food was not wat i was expecting. but the service was so so. i have tasted way better than this food.

The Tikki Masala and Lamb masala was good but not that spicy. Chicken was tender.

If you get the food delivered it will take you hours (i'm not joking). however, it is pretty good. I'm not sure it's worth waiting so long, but it's pretty tasty.

Best saag paneer in SF and their samosas are delicious and potatoey. Quality varies quite a bit from day to day, however. I'm a regular customer, but when they say your order will be there in an hour, don't expect it to arrive until two hours later or more.

I ordered delivery and had to wait 2 hours, and when I called to check on the order I was put on hold for 10 minutes before I hung up and called back. They just blew me off and told me it was on its way, thirty minutes later! Don't waste your time with this place, the food isn't even that good.

It has been 2 hours since I placed my delivery order. They are not picking up the phone and I have no idea what the hell is going on. I should have read the last post before ordering. Do not order delivery from these people!

I ordered delivery and it took them over TWO AND A HALF HOURS to delivery my food, despite my repeated calls. Every time I called, they said "it will be there in one minute." They said that for over an hour and a half, and did not offer me a refund. I starved to death on a Thursday night and got drunk due to lack of food b/c of their terrible service. Ordering food at 7:15pm and receiving it at 10:00pm is NOT COOL.

The user reviews seem pretty accurate regarding the delivery time. We ordered food at 8:00 on a Saturday night and the food arrived at 9:30. They told me the food would arrive in an hour. Nevertheless, the food was great & worth the wait. We ordered the Saag Paneer and Chicken Makni.. they were both delicious & well packed. The naan bread was great & the rice portions were very generous! I will definitely order again but will allow at least an hour & half for arrival.

we ordered via the internet on two occasions, the first time took about an 90 minutes, and the food that arrived was quite decent, although not particularly a great value. on the second occasion, i was told our order would take an hour, and ended up taking two and a half...utterly ridiculous, keep in mind that i live literally 3 minutes away, just below the haight. i called several times and was given excuses like " the food is being packed ", and "its very busy tonight" but i ended up cancelling a 50 dollar order that i ordered at 7 13, and arrived at almost 10pm, without any regrets. in my opinion, if you can't sustain a delivery business, then don't offer one, period.

I've been going to RAJA for years and they have had consistently good Indian food. The menu has a nice variety of options: vegetarian, seafood, meats, north indian food. I've always had very tasty, filling meals here. The service can definitely leave a bit to be desired, but the food is much better than its 6th st counterparts, and a little more expensive (but still very reasonable). If you like your food spicy you should definitely let them know, their standard is relatively mild (for indian food).

The food is tasty, but it took TWO HOURS for delivery. Don't choose this place if you're hungry.

From the time we sat down to the time we actually recieved our food was nearly two hours. After waiting that long and reading all the positive reviews we hoped it would be worth it, but the food was worth 5 minute take out. The naan was bland, the chicken and vegetable vindaloos were both flavorless and spiceless, even the samosas were lacking. It's a sad trip to an Indian restaurant when your diet coke is the most satisfying part of your meal. Even if the awful service is because there is only one server, unless their shipping the food out from India there is no excuse for the wait. Don't even bother, they seem like they don't want the business.

They have the best Indian food I ever tasted in SF. So far, I tried over 10 dishes, and was never disappointed. They have 4 levels of spiceness and it is accurate! The ingredients always taste very fresh. I never dined in though - always ordered in or took out. One bad thing about the restaurant is their delivery time. If you are planning to order, you have to do so about one and a half hour in advance. They really take their sweet time, but the food always comes out good!

The Scene The interior is done up in mustard yellows, burnt oranges and deep maroons, with painted-on columns and chaste versions of Kama Sutra-style prints on the walls. Faux-glass chandeliers hang overhead, and white-clothed tables host a crowd as diverse as its Lower Haight locale. Service is sometimes slow but always sweet. The Food A casual ambience belies the top-notch, tantalizing cuisine regularly turned out by the kitchen. Tandoori platters arrive sizzling and piled with meats, and the saag paneer--delicately spiced, sauteed spinach with hunks of house-made cheese--is near perfect. Rich curries and hearty vindaloos burst with flavor thanks to copious seasoning. Kheer, cumin-infused rice pudding topped with pistachios, makes for a perfect sweet ending. Some renditions of stuffed naan, such as the version with chicken, pesto and cheese, are overwhelmed by too many ingredients, but the poori--deep-fried flat bread--is downright delicious.

I was really excited about trying Raja after seeing such a high rating. I do think the food was very tasty, but it took us two hours to get our delivery. I'd call to check on the arrival time (after waiting patiently for an hour) and I was told a couple of times that it would be 10-15 minutes. When I called to let the person know it had already been two hours, she said she would give me a discount. Well, unfortunately that didn't happen and the person who delivered the order didn't know about the discount. I haven't heard back from the restaurant yet and I'm very disappointed in the poor customer service. I would recommend skipping Raja.

Tuesday night order - we were told it would take 45 minutes and it ended up taking an hour and a half. Then the order was missing one of our dishes. Food was warm and average.

All told, Raja was a singularly disappointing experience after reading so many stellar reviews. We placed an online order at 5:00 pm-- early enough to avoid the rush. But we had to call them to confirm that they received it 25 mins later because they never called me to do so. Waited an hour and a half for the food after being told 40 minutes. (We live less than 2 miles away!) When it finally arrived, they had forgotten the papadum, the raita tasted vinegary/spoiled and had no discernable cucumber in it, and the House Special Tandoori Pizza we received was missing half the toppings-- it had no eggplant, no prawns and no lamb on it! The samosas were fairly crisp and nicely spiced, but not good enough to justify the rest. In short-- we will never order from Raja again.

good food and good service...what else would you seek for?

I took my mom here while she was in town visiting. This was her first Indian Dining Experience. It was perfect. The service was impecable and the food and indian pizza was delicious. Definitely the best in S.F

ive heard so much about RAJA for a while. i had no idea until we finally made it there for dinner, on our last sf visit, which is one of our favorite restaurants. the one thing i didnt realize, until we sat down, is casual ala cart menu. still, it was well worth the price. the food is wonderful. this good food in SAN FRANCISO .

My husband and I chanced upon this restaurant tonight and LOVED it. It is probably the best Indian food we've had in san francico City, and tasty drinks too mango lessi . The tandoori was excellent - we tried both the fish tikka kebab and the tandoori sampler platter. Both were delicious as well as generously portioned. We both got to leave with takeout! The naan was also perfectly cooked - soft, warm and chewy with just the perfect amount of crust. (you'd think it'd be hard to mess up naan, but rarely does it end up this perfect.) and the chicken saag was excellent as well - very fresh spices. The ambiance was perfect . especially because it wasn't overcrowded! We both vowed to come back!

RAJA has some of the best Indian food I've ever had. Not being Indian, I can't vouch for its authenticity, which other reviewers have criticized, but it simply tastes great! The service tends to be a little bit laid back, perhaps even inattentive, and the pricing is a little bit steep, but overall it's a good value, and worth a visit.

The food and service used to be a lot better. We will now never order from here again. The food isn't worth the crazy long waits to get the (cold) food delivered. Although they always say the food will be delivered in 40 min to 1 hour the food never makes it here before 1hour and 45 minutes. It just isn't worth it!

The pizza was great but the tikka masala and everything else was bland. I asked for medium spicy and got bland. So if you wanted spicy curry make sure you order "Super Hot". Indian Clay Oven is much better and I only tried Raja for the ratings. I rate this restaurant average. I used their online delivery service and it's took 1 hour and 30 min before it arrived at my house and I only live 5 min away.

I went to RAJA along with a couple of friends to celebrate my promotion.The whole experience was great.The staff was courteous and polite. The food was superb.Try the allu takki Appetizer and the bartha prawn and INDIAN PIZZA course.It was a sheer delight.On the whole it was a memorable evening for all of us.Thank you RAJA for a job well done

I love indian food, but this place was just awful. The service was the worst. We ordered from our waitress, and never saw her again-we had to get up and ask for the check after waiting about 30 min after we were finished. The food wasn't exactly repulsive- just bland, and very small portions for the price- you eat the food with rice- but it doesn't come with it? Indian=spices, but not here, even after I asked for hot- it was blander than the mild I've had from other places. All in all awful experience. If I woulda had the guts I woulda walked out.

The service was better than any restaurant I have ever visited. The waiters and staff were very friendly and the food was incredible. The house special masala is a must must must try!! I recommend this too anyone - even if they normally wouldn't try Indian food.

We had the Tandoori wings for an appetizers, which was good and for main courses I had the Chicken Jelfrezi and my husband had the Chicken Tikka Marsala--which are both excellent choices. The rice didn't come with the meal and had to be ordered separately but it was worth it--the best rice I have tasted in SAN FRANCISO. we will go back again. FOR KIDS THEY HAVE GODD PIZZA.

I got a flyer on my door saying Raja was now delivering to my address. We had eaten in-house and were underwhelmed by the service, but the food (Indian Pizza) was fabulous, so i thought -- "Delivery! That will fix it!" WRONG. We were qouted a 45-50 minute delivery time. On all 3 occasions, the food NEVER made it to our door in less than 1:45. We tried 3 times to give them the benefit of the doubt and because the pizza is so good. The last time our food took over 2 hours. And, to top it off, the delivery guy was driving around with the pizza in the bed of his pick-up truck! Cold Indian Pizza is not good. I wouldn't recommend. Your chances of getting hot food and responsive service either in-house or delivery, are slim to none. Because of that, it is just not worth it.

The food was excellent but the service was terrible, which made the overall dining experience extremely umpleasant. Although the wait staff were very nice, the pacing was very bad. We were starving and irritable before our food finally arrived, and special requests, although not forgotten (i.e., more condiments), came to late in the meal. The dining room was not crowded at all, but I suspect this restaurant needs to add more wait staff; looked like only 2 people were running the entire show. There are just too many excellent Indian restaurants in this town to risk going back for a repeat performance! Therefore, "Let the Buyer Beware!"

I don't have a bad word to say about this restaurant. I've been a regular for quite some time. The food is always great and prices very reasonable.good food.

i drove up here from santa clara b/c of the high rating of the food. totally not worth the drive, parking is almost impossible. food was average at best. i've had better at those "quickie" places.