Darbar

With most ethnic foods, the less ambiance and the sketchier restaurant makes for much better food. With Indian food, I would have to argue that this is definitely the case. I've had a few nice Indian meals in the city,including Dosa on Fillmore, but I find that the cheaper hole in the wall restaurants are just so much better. I found Darbar in Russian Hill and decided I needed to try the place. It's listed as both Indian and Pakistani, but the menu seems to be pretty Indian. As for the wine selection, which is non existent. I'm thinking that might be the Pakistani influence. Although wine is normally a necessity at dinner, when you are consuming a large quantity of spicy food, water tends to be my preference.

As for the food, the tikka masala selections were definitely the hi-light. Paneer, Aloo and every meat option you can imagine with perfectly spiced tikka masala. The portions are enormous here. And of course, every good Indian food meal (in my opinion) must include garlic naan. Which they had, so I was pretty happy.

Little ambiance, no wine, but AMAZING tasting Indian food makes this a 5 star recommendation. Also, the proximately to an enormous selection of Polk Street Bars makes up for the lack of wine served. I'm planning on going back very soon.