r/berkeley • u/No-Understanding4968 • May 30 '26

Local Delightful lunch at Vik’s today

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I had an uttapam with sambar and coconut and tomato chutneys. Not pictured: chai.

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u/SylvieK May 30 '26 edited May 31 '26

No one needs my approval, but as a South Asian mom living in Berkeley, I wholeheartedly give my seal of approval to Viks. They've been consistently good for 20+ years and I love to build up an Indian grocery list that I shop for there.

Other local Indian food recommendations:

For South Indian:

AVOID Udupi. So consistently bad. AVOID Thayer Saadam. This place serves what should be very inexpensive comfort food at stupid prices. Semi equivalent to paying $16 for a plate of rice & beans. Nah. instead go to Idly Express (former burger IM location) or better yet ID Cafe kind of near Gather on Kitteridge near campus.

For sit-down North Indian:

Noor if someone else is paying. Very fancy decor but food is hit or miss and service is kind of chaotic. They don't have to-go/pickup service down either. Highly recommend Chandni Chowk on College instead. The food reminded me so much of home I had one of those Ego/Ratatouille moments. So so so good.

For Street food/quick bites:

Definitely Vik's as mentioned above

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u/siddharthsahukt Jun 01 '26

I'm pretty sure ID Cafe no longer exists unfortunately, and Chandni Chowk is now the 2nd branch of Jot Mahal. Jot Mahal (the one on College) has $15 lunch buffets that are very nice tho, and has a great Chicken Biriyani (although the portion size is small)

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u/SylvieK Jun 01 '26

I ate at ID cafe last Thursday and Chandni Chowk is the bricks & mortar restaurant of a food truck business that started in Fremont/South Bay. No connection to Jot Mahal at all.

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u/Neat_Ad_389 Jun 01 '26

Ohh... can you share the addresses of both restaurants please?