Reviews for Shalimar Restaurant in San Francisco, CA
Shalimar is a cornerstone of San Francisco. Few places outside of India and Pakistan manage to achieve truly authentic tastes... and textures. This place is often frequented by the casts of the various shows in residence at the Orpheum Theater. Saw one ofthe dancers from Moulin Rouge going to town on the saag paneer. Read more
I don?t normally write reviews but for Shalimar I feel I have to. I?ve been coming here since 2007 when I first moved to SF.... It?s been a staple for me. The food is incredible, it?s spiced with a complexity not shared by most restaurants that surroundit. The chai is the best around as well. It?s a hole in the wall, for sure, but that?s part of its charm. It?s a holdout fromthe old SF, a picture of what the neighborhood was and still is. The owners are kind, the food is cheap and high quality. Gohere, you won?t be disappointed. Read more
Food was good but apparently later found some of it is pre cooked and reheated for serving. Nan were made fresh and so does... karahis. Run down interior, need to redo as it gives the feel of unclean. Staff was nice. Additional charges if you by card. Read more
When it comes to food, it?s awesome. I love biryani and I had it after a really long time. And it was amazing. But sorry to say... the place is awful - needs a lot of proper cleaning and obviously furnishing it gracefully. I?d not say renovation becauserenovation means to restore in good condition. Shalimar is already in terrible shape, but I?d be happy to help them if they needany assistance. I felt the urge to use the restroom but looking at the ambience, I decided to avoid going to the restroom. Andlastly, there?s no parking which is terrible. And I can not blame #Shalimar cause the entire #SanFrancisco is a heap of garbage;there?s no parking at all. Though street parkings should be available but every path was painted white that says ?passengerloading zone only? or it?s painted red that says ?bus stop? though it?s not a stop. And by the time u see the street par withoutthe paint, it says ?police vehicles only?. I don?t understand why donpoloce stop or park their car in the customers? parkingspots when they already have parkings spots assigned for them? Are they afraid of walking for miles? I wish #Shalimar couldthink of opening the restaurant in Tracy or Hayward because #SanFrancisco and #Oakland should be known as ?Homelessliving?. Just like #California has apartments known as Senior Living, San Francisco and Oakland should be calledHomeless-Drug-addicts-Living! It was terrible! P.S. The most difficult thing for me was to touch this NewYork?s timespublication, i.e., the Menu Card! ???? Read more
Nihari was so tasty not too spicy or less spicy, just the right taste. Nans were also good n fresh however pricy $3 each. Keema... seekh kebab and chicken seekh kebab are so tasty however raita was so sour and we couldn?t eat raita at all. We have seen flieswhile waiting for food but we still decided to eat because we didn?t want to go to another place since we were already sittingthere. When I headed to restroom I smelled spoiled food smelling bad but our food was very tasty and not spoiled. Just therestroom needs to be clean because it was dirty. Overall taste of their food is awesome. Read more
So I've not had a lot of pakistani food in my life, so Im not sure what to compare it to. The chicken curry was really tasty and... their naan is amazing. It's light, fluffy and so soft, probably the best naan i've had. This place is definitely a hole in thewall so don't expect any sort of ambiance here. The service wasn't that great - the guy taking our order constantly seemedannoyed and unhappy to serve us food so definitely not the greatest vibe from him but the food was pretty good and pricedextremely well. Read more
I lived in India for 4.5 years and love Indian food. I had already tried Shalimar from take out at friends house but this was... the first time I went to the restaurant. The location of the restaurant is my least favorite (tenderloin neighbourhood) becauseit is a bit unsafe but we were hungry and at 10pm you don't have too many options in the city because it's too late for dinner.The three of us went to Shalimar and the place was pretty small and crowded so had to wait briefly for a table. I must say, Iwasn't impressed with the place at all because it was a bit dirty :( and having lived in Mumbai for so long, I don't like to bereminded of that but this is something you can expect if you want to eat this type of cuisine, I've had a similar experience inSanta Clara too at another Pakistani/Indian restaurant and I guess it's ok for once in a while eating out at these joints. Weordered dal fry (which was ok but I expected way more flavor from that dish) but also i'm biased because I get to eat Indianfood at home all the time so perhaps i'm too demanding :P, mutton gosht which my husband (who is indian) loved it but i wasn'ttoo happy about it and also because mutton is a not my first choice of meat or dish, tandoori chicken legs was probably what Ienjoyed the most - succulent and not too spicy and shared tandoori roti, garlic naan and alo paratha - the garlic naan stood upand was soft and fluffy and some of our friends say it's just the way its served in Pakistan too so must be authentic. Overall Iliked it but wouldn't say this was a great experience. Ah, and what can upset me most of all is not having fresh cut lime topour on top of the food - they had this sad lime juice in a bottle instead :'(. Friendly and helpful staff and fast service butI just can't get over that it wasn't clean enough! Read more
The best and old style amazing Pakistani kebab is here. It?s still reasonable price too.