Punjabi Tandoor

Punjabi Tandoor - Mira Mesa, San Diego

Punjabi Tandoor is a typical family-owned restaurant serving the desi working class of San Diego [read - Qualcomm employees]. Its located in a boring-kind-of office/industrial area .. where you wouldn’t imagine a restaurant existing at all. If I have to draw similarities - then its like a roadside dhaba in India. With similar cheap plastic chairs and tables.. which probably havent been cleaned ever since they were bought, the similar tiny kitchen, a fridge which houses the cold-drinks which you open and help yourselves, and amazing, lip-smacking food. The place is owned by a sardar and his family .. and everyone seems to help out. The sardar and this wife are the main cooks and their two children help with the order-taking and table-cleaning.

I have probably eaten at this place more than a hundred times. This place is open till 10pm .. whereas most desi restaurants close by 9 or 9:30. We would so often reach there by 9:55 which would piss of the owner a bit. He would always tell us to call in advance and order .. which we somehow never did. One of my friends in San diego used to insist on eating here and here alone. If we wanted to eat elsewhere he would insist on ordering something from Punjabi Tandoor for him first. And strangely he would also eat the very same thing day in and day out. The prawns-masala and 2 naans. It is undoubtedly very weird for a person to eat the same thing for dinner every day .. but I have to admit that the prawns-masala kicks ass. The gravy is to die for. And with the richness that I recall .. I wouldnt be surprised if the prawns coupled with the gravy would make it a literal reality some day.

The prices are cheap but the quantity is less too.. so its kind of deceptive. A dish is enough for one person as opposed to it usually serving 2 people in normal Indian restaurants. The ambience is nurturing for bachelors who want to laze around just enjoying their meals and having a good time. The food is served on disposable plates and the trash can is always full .. so you have to skillfully balance your dirty plate without upsetting the whole mountain and not getting your hands dirty in the process.

Recommended: Prawns-masala, Chicken tikka masala, Baingan Bharta, plain paratha.

Food: **** Price: $$
Last visited: mid-2006