Best Indian Restaurants in the Bay Area

Whether you’re looking for high-end tasting menus, traditional, homemade recipes, or more contemporary takes on Indian cuisine in the Bay Area, we’ve got you covered.

Here are six Michelin-recommended restaurants to head to when you’re looking for a delicious and satisfying Indian meal:

Campton Place

What It Is: Srijith Gopinathan’s California-meets-Indian restaurant inside the luxurious Taj Hotel. 

What to Order: Here, two tasting menus are on offer. On the Spice Route menu, look for dishes like artisan foie gras with plum and ginger gastrique, Maine lobster with cauliflower, green mango and coastal curry sauce, and slow-cooked rack of lamb with basmati rice and yogurt. The vegetarian menu boasts chilled sago with kale, buttermilk and dill, “grapes and grains” consisting of toasted grains, almonds and Concord grape broth, and a tandoor-roasted pineapple with smoked coconut ice cream for dessert.

DUM Indian Soul Food

What It Is: Mumbai native Rupam Bhagat’s food truck turned restaurant in the Mission District. 

What to Order: Brussel chaat with spiced yogurt, pomegranate and tamarind; samosas filled with spiced potatoes and green peas; and chicken biryani are featured on the small plates menu. Larger plates consist of lamb meatballs, tandoori-fried chicken, shrimp curry and paneer kofta. Looking for kebabs? They have those, too.

Rooh

What It Is: Chef Sujan Sarkar calls his restaurant a “labor of love,” allowing him to “celebrate the vibrancy, color and culture” of his homeland, as well as his decade spent in London.

What to Order: Opt for dishes like the traditional butter chicken with red pepper makhani and fenugreek, tandoori monkfish with alleppo curry and rice dumplings, or lamb shank nihari with fresh ginger, rose, cilantro and chile oil.

https://robert-parker-content-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/media/image/2018/03/23/bfe41b9a51194b2681c9ab51702f123f_dosa_interior.jpg
The interior at Dosa. Photo courtesy of Aubrie Pick/Dosa.

Dosa

What It Is: Husband-and-wife duo Anjan and Emily Mitra’s Mission eatery centered around South Indian cuisine.

What to Order: “As the name suggests, dosas are a highlight here, with crispy exteriors, spicy fillings and excellent accompanying sambar and chutney,” add inspectors. Start with shared plates like grilled Miyagi oysters with lemon-chile sauce and Kerala fried chicken before moving on to a variety of curries.

Rasa

What It Is: Ajay Walia’s contemporary Indian restaurant that focuses on India’s coast.

What to Order: “A fine meal could be made just out of Rasa's excellent small plates, but for bigger appetites, the flaky white fish moilee, stewed in a creamy coconut curry, is rich and satisfying,” add inspectors. “And no one should skip the cardamom brûlée for dessert: equal parts bread pudding and crème brûlée, it's dizzyingly delicious.”

Zareen’s

What It Is: Chef/owner Zareen Khan brings Pakistani and Indian cuisine via her cozy spot tucked away in a shopping plaza.

What to Order: “The chicken Memoni samosas, supposedly made from a recipe known to only 23 grandmothers worldwide, are a must-order,” state inspectors. “Crispy, well-spiced, and flavorful, they're so good they don't need chutney.”

Hero image courtesy of Aubrie Pick/Dosa.

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