India Oven Authentic Cuisine

07/28/09

GROSS!

by aleeka

This restaurant is GROSS. If you saw into their kitchen, you'd never eat there again. Open containers of spices and nuts attract critters (just watch the dumpster behind the building and you'll see they crawl right back under the building). I'd write more details, but this website is telling me the words I wish to use are inappropriate... I guess being honest isn't allowed on citysearch.

Really, honestly, run away.

• Pros: I can't think of any.
• Cons: Where does the list end?

06/29/09

Great Indian food, nice new spot on Belmont

by ILoveFoodpdx

Met at India Oven's new location on 34th & Belmont for ladies night. We each picked a meal and appetizer and shared them all.

Everything tasted great, and came in generous portions. Their naan is always fabulous, but wanted to try the garlic naan, which I'm glad I did, it also had cilantro, which was the perfect complement to the spicy garlic - YUM.

We ordered the Chicken Biriyani, Chicken Masala, Tandoori Chicken, Chicken Tikka (apparently we're chicken fans)... it was all amazing, and the open-air feel (they have huge windows that slide open), was perfect for a warm summer night.

• Pros: Great Indian food, open-air atmosphere
• Cons: ?

02/13/09

Too much money, Lacking in everything else

by AxyWaxy

First time (and last)...recommended by friends and a few reviews but failed to read more than a few. Had we read more reviews we wouldn't have wasted our time and money at this poor excuse for a restaurant. Seated promptly, after searching the lobby for the right door, but it took 1 hr at least to receive one of our two entrees. The second entree showed up 15 mins after the first with a very half hearted apology from who we assume might be the owner. The food tasted good but it was really expensive for the quantity. The tikka-masala was 11.95 and was only the size of half a chicken breast. My friend ordered a lamb dish that was 12.95 and it was even smaller than the chicken. Our non-english speaking waitress did not understand that we wanted the full dinner that included naan bread and salad. She charged us for two extra servings of naan on top of the 2 dollars per dinner. We decided not to push the subject because we weren't sure if she would understand our problem. Both my friend and I ordered a soda and water, which were never refilled until after we had finished our meal. The atmosphere is less attractive than any fast food joint. For $15 a meal one would expect a lot more. One last and very important factor in our decision to write this review is that our server coughed on a plate and proceeded to place it on our table...YUCK!

• Pros: free mint
• Cons: Just about everything else.

10/13/08

Authentic, tasty food.

by pdfleck

My girlfriend and I recently visited this establishment for dinner. We were very excited about getting Indian food. Overall, the food was good...Not overly impressive, but good. The soup had far to much chicken taste, but everything else was pretty good. The atmosphere was very poor. It was extremely cold, the walls are pretty bare, and the only music we could hear was a radio in the kitchen, and very loud bass coming from next door. If there was more on the walls, or around the place, the sound wouldn't be so bad..We *might* go back.

07/11/08

OK

by marilyndupont

A friend and I ate here recently and I am not motivated to return. It was OK ? some items were good, others not so good. I had the Chicken Vindaloo, it is available in mild, medium, and hot. I choose medium, which had some heat but didn?t overpower the more subtle flavors in the sauce. My friend ordered Chicken Tikka Masala. Unfortunately, the chicken was tough and way overcooked. The Tikka Masala sauce was very good, but the tough chicken ruined the dish. I enjoyed the starter salad of cabbage, peppers, and tomato. It was very refreshing and tasty. My friend is not big on cabbage, but ate half the salad. The Naan bread was disappointing, too thin and lots of burnt spots. The mango Lassi was good, but I was outside on the patio in 85 degree weather, I would have liked it colder to last while I was drinking it (it was cool, not cold when served). To anyone new to Indian cuisine, when eating a highly spiced dish like Vindaloo, a Lassi helps to refresh the palate while eating. The atmosphere of the restaurant is not one where you would go for a first date or a special occasion. It is a room with a couple of ceiling fans, and a small enclosed patio adjoining. The day we were there, the room was stifling, I couldn?t believe the three groups seated inside could stand it, no air conditioning, just a couple of ceiling fans. It was much more pleasant outside. The entrance is not obvious, and since it was my first time there, I thought I was going into the hallway where the bathrooms are.

• Pros: Good Chicken Vindaloo
• Cons: Atmosphere leaves a lot to be desired

04/14/08

1st visit was good, 2nd visit was terrible

by Jodbaer

I went to this restaurant with my mother, husband , and daughter for the second time in April of this year. The staff was great, yet the wait was unbearable. We waited 45 minutes for our menus and two hours for our food . The food was good on our first visit four years ago, but this time it was less than stellar. The tandoori chicken was simply salted baked chicken, the rice was not basmati, the nann was crunchy and part of our order was missing. I watched three tables leave that night due to the wait. I will never go to India Oven again. Bombay criket club is much better.

• Pros: Water filled promptly
• Cons: Timing

03/10/08

Awful food, lousy service

by inir

India oven is easily the worst restaurant I have been to. Buffet was lousy with burnt naans, sticky jasmine rice (which was very incorrectly labeled as ?Basmati? rice), and awfully salted curries. Dessert was kheer in burnt milk. I am amazed at how blatantly such restaurants call this food the ?Indian Food?! Ambience was terrible with torn and dirty couches, an unmentionable restroom (which I have read they share with the bar next door, so probably the owners can?t be solely held responsible for). And well, there was a fly bothering our neighbors on the next table.

The worst part of the one-hour ordeal was the horrendous service. We politely refused being seated next to the restroom and that probably flared up the old lady. Smilingly while paying for our so called lunch we told the lady that the food was not quite good and she retaliated very sharply and shouted at us that we should be thankful for getting this food and should never come back to the restaurant (and plenty of such degrading remarks)! I was very surprised at her unexpected behavior and just walked out. I wonder how the restaurant has been in business so far! The restaurant is quite an insult to the wonderful Indian cuisine. And such people who do us a ?favor? by running such restaurants, giving us this ?unexceptional? service full of degrading remarks on being told that they can do better, and giving us such food, THANK YOU!

• Pros: None
• Cons: I will never stop counting if I were to start!

02/20/08

Horrible owner, Pathetic food

by mudsummer33

This was the worst experience I have ever had at a restaurant! We waited over an hour which we were understanding about as it happens. But when we got the food it was cold and burnt!! I tried to talk to a man who seemed to be the owner but he would not take back the dish. I told him I wouldn't pay for it and he said said I had to. I then told him I would gladly pay for my chai but nothing else. He then proceeded to insult my friend and I loudly by saying we had no money and we shouldn't be ordering if we had no money. We got up and walked out.

• Pros: I left.
• Cons: Long wait, food cold and burnt, Money hungry owner

02/15/08

The pros and cons of "The Oven"

by nomadwanderlust

I have been coming to the India Oven for over 8 years now and so have seen every side of the food and the staff. The food has changed several times in the 8 years, but most recently , the quality has improved. The sauces for the Chicken Tikka masala and the Navratan Korma have become more flavorful and the consistency of the sauce has become thicker. The garlic naan now has more garlic on it, which is nicer then the lonely cilantro that used to be on the garlic naan, and the pakoras are some of the very best in portland , with a light dusting of black salt.

The restaurant has a small wait staff and sometimes the owners(husband and wife) themselves wait the tables, which is a very nice personal touch. The wife, in 8 years of going to the India Oven, has always been cordial, polite, helpful and kind...although when there are a lot of people in the restaurant, I can tell that she is under pressure and rushed. This is very normal, and something that I would probably feel if I were in her position. The chai at the India oven is unique and flavorful, and the biggest issue that I have with it is that I find it hard to say no to just one more cup--as it is something the the India Oven is quite generous with.

The husband often helps in the waiting of tables as well, and although he can be a bit difficult to get to know, he is very helpful and quite interesting to talk to when he is not busy with customers. In fact I have found all the wait staff very kind. As with any restaurant, there can be an off day with staff or food , and I have experienced this as well, but I remember that I have those days as well, and look more to the majority of buffets and dinners I have experienced in the last 8 years. While it is true that the shared bathrooms have not been the cleanest(although I have not been in them lately), the food is good--and when I come

here I can completely relax-stay as long as I like, and feel as welcome as if I were having dinner at home.

• Pros: good food, generous portions, genuine, real, wait staff
• Cons: poor parking, bathrooms

10/27/07

Horrible Food, Horrendous Service - One bad dump of a restaurant!

by foodlover567

That sums it up ain't it. This is an apology of a restaurant - the food is bad (I think they hoodwink the goras who know nothing about Indian food, and get away with it), the service is poor, the ambiance is terrible and to beat it all - there's this owner lady that yelled at me when I asked for buffet refill because like many have said on this board, the buffet is never full and she gives you that guilt-trip look and stern hearing that you feel like never coming back. Avoid this place as if it were the worst restaurant you have ever been to.

• Pros: None
• Cons: Food, smelly & broken toilets, service, the foull-mouthed owner-lady