Amber India - Los Altos

Review summary

1. A

   Andrew

   VIP

   San Francisco

   16 reviews

   3.0

   16 reviews

   Dined 3 days ago

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 3
   3. Service 3
   4. Ambience 4

   I specifically asked for my dish to be spicy multiple times. Not sure if the communication break down was but my dish was at best mild. Very disappointing…. Again. And on top of that they are very expensive.
   

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2. C

   Christopher

   New York City

   2 reviews

   3.0

   2 reviews

   Dined on February 16, 2025

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 3
   3. Service 3
   4. Ambience 2

   I've been eating at Amber since the early 2000s when it was further down El Camino in Mountain View. Back then, it was the considered the best Indian restaurant in the area. Sadly, once they moved to the current location in Los Altos, it has gone considerably downhill. I suspect the Pandemic also had something to do with it as well. We ordered takeout from Amber once during the pandemic and it was not good at all. It still wins "Best Indian Food" awards by local media, but I find Passage to India, further down on El Camino on the same side of the street a far superior restaurant. Both a la carte dishes and lunch buffet is just better there. We had a party of 6 this past Sunday to celebrate my sister's birthday. We had a 12:30 reservation and were really surprised how few patrons there were. It did fill up by the time we left but the old location used to be packed for lunch buffet. The buffet selection was decent but every since dish was abnormally spicy. Service was unfortunately below standard. There was a baby shower going on in the other room which could have diverted resources but it was still an mediocre experience. The weekend buffet price of $27.99 is also just not worth it. 6 people with the automatically added gratuity and sales tax was $218. It used to be the pinnacle of "fine" Indian food dining. It's now just overpriced and average.
   

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3. P

   Paul

   San Francisco

   2 reviews

   5.0

   2 reviews

   Dined on February 16, 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 4

   everything was excellent. Waiters were attentive and listened to requests. Food was outstanding and ambiance and noise level were great. Will go here again.
   

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4. OT

   OpenTable Diner

   VIP

   San Francisco

   1 review

   5.0

   1 review

   Dined on February 7, 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Always so pleasant and the hosts and servers are so kind and polite and friendly.
   

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5. C

   Charu

   San Francisco

   1 review

   5.0

   1 review

   Dined on January 30, 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Very authentic north Indian food. Reminded me of my mother's cooking. The service was great and fast. We could have a relaxed and hearty meal in a comfortable setting.
   

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6. K

   Kirti

   San Francisco

   31 reviews

   3.0

   31 reviews

   Dined on January 4, 2025

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 2
   4. Ambience 4

   For Lunch, on a weekend, we had a buffet. One item was wrongly labeled. The person who waited our table wouldn’t even offer a smile or a kind word. Some of the items were greasier than normal. All in all it was nothing amazing. Fortunately for us because we went earlier than the crowd arrived it was quiet. Time was when Amber used to set the bar. Now it’s just about mediocre for the price.
   

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7. S

   Suzanne

   VIP

   San Francisco

   21 reviews

   5.0

   21 reviews

   Dined on December 15, 2024

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Uber India is always delicious, the venue is lovely throughout, inside the main dining room, on the courtyard patio, and in their event rooms. The service is friendly and professional. All in all, it has been and remains one of our favorite restaurants for many years.
   

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8. S

   Suzanne

   VIP

   San Francisco

   21 reviews

   5.0

   21 reviews

   Dined on November 10, 2024

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Amber India remains one of our very favorite restaurants, as it has been for many years. The food is delicious, the ambiance is charming, and the service is impeccable.
   

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9. OT

   OpenTable Diner

   San Francisco

   1 review

   4.0

   1 review

   Dined on October 26, 2024

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   The food is excellent and consistent. The only issue is that the service fee is 20% on top of 4% living expenses, for a total of 25% on top of published prices.
   

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10. M

    Mary Ann

    Omaha

    10 reviews

    3.0

    10 reviews

    Dined on October 11, 2024

    1. Overall 3
    2. Food 3
    3. Service 3
    4. Ambience 2

    Although we've been to dozens of other Indian buffets in the past, a recent Friday lunch visit to Amber was our first try of their "brunch buffet." The pluses for me were the broccoli pakora and the saag edamame. Both were very unusual and tasty variations of buffet regulars! However, the rest of the buffet didn't measure up. There weren't that many vegetarian items, the desserts were only okay (except for the stale burfi, which was not even okay), and their watery chai was definitely not worth the $5/cup extra. The restaurant was only half full but quite noisy, the tables were placed incredibly close together, and the $27.50 was way more than this buffet was worth.
    

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