Vik’s Market

love it, mostly because i love their house-​made mango achar.

The market section is a bit cramped and somewhat disorganized with all the restaurant customers coming through on the way to/​from parking lot. Aisles are skinny, hard to get a good look at stuff. There are much better indian markets, this one is convenient if ur already at restaurant but thats about it

Small but clean and well stocked grocery store, right next to the Vik’s Café. Nice atmosphere!

Delicious veggie dosa; peas, carrots, cauliflower. Sambar was just ok.
Cafeteria atomosphere but great for grabbing something on the run. Bought some premade dosa batter too, and it was better than the brand name stuff I’ve had before.

This is convenient due to it being right next door to Vik’s Chaat.
They carry all of your basics and essentials for snacks or cooking Indian food, have decent priced items, and run a clean and organized store… surprisingly rare for an Indian/​Pakistani minimarket.
The staff members seemed a bit grumpy.

Best best best best chole bhature I ever had… Delicious. I will definitely go back and try more delicacies.

My friend took me here for the first time last weekend. It was quite the culinary experience. The atmosphere captures being in Bombay like no other place I’ve been to. It’s chaos all around. They have a loud speaker yelling hard to understand names/​numbers into a PA system to call out food orders. If you order more than N things, you could be called N times to pick up food. Chaos.
The food was very very tasty, I’d recommend this place highly if you’re in berkeley and craving some indian food. We had samosa, bhel puri, and chana masala with the big puffy bread.

Used to love the old site, since they have moved their menu has less variety. Still my fav place to go for indian food esp. snacks.

Beware of price scams!
This review does not apply to the café, which is quite good. I went to buy some cardamom in the market and all the packages were clearly marked $ 2.49 but they charged me $ 2.99 and said that was the new price. When I said that wasn’t ethical, she said it’s only .50 more as if there were no principle involved. She then took the package I had just paid the man for and wasn’t going to give it to me. I think she thought I had only paid $ 2.49. When he told her he had charged me the «new» price, she reluctantly handed it to me and didn’t even apologize. I can’t believe a merchant would try to pull something like this.

I never like the Indian food so much but since a friend took me at this place wow I love it !!! delicious food, very fast service and looks very clean to me .
Definitely I will be back and recommend it to everyone who’s like quality food and nice atmosphere and reasonable price.

Vik’s is an impressive trifecta of: cheap, good, nice looking.
The restaurant itself is charming and upscale in appearance, despite the fact that it is a quick-​service (aka order at the counter and bus your own table) eatery. The atmosphere is pleasant and with a modern charm.
The food is authentic, well-​prepared Indian cuisine. The Masala Dosa was beautifully crispy and light and the chutney and sambar sauces were great. As was the Cholle Bhature. My only regret is that we didn’t get around to trying the Samosas — for which I have ongoing cravings.
Did I mention that this feast was absurdly inexpensive for both the portions and quality. The value is out of this world.
We didn’t have a chance to check out the actual «market» portion of Vik’s Chaat market, so can’t evaluate that.

Vik’s Market is next to Vik’s Chaat, they sell the standard indian groceries. large parking lot to the side.
buys:
–maggi instant noodle (.39)
came out soggy, not sure why
–snacks: corn flakes mix/​peas (.99@)
spicey. cheaper than at other indian groceries.
notes:
–restaurant packed. passed, lines short.

I was shocked with the horrible service. Let’s start by saying I’m 37 weeks pregnant. I went in and started looking at the flats of mangoes. an older Indian woman behind the counter immediately laid into me for touching the top flat of mangoes, which, by the way, were rotten! she started yelling at me for «squeezing the mangoes» and told me to move on to the next flat if I didn’t want the one on top. she then proceeded to tell me that she now couldn’t sell the top flat — for the record they were ROTTEN BEFORE I got there!
I told her that no one should HAVE to buy them. and then she became sensitive that would actually say that.
I will also say that this exchange was in full view of about 10 other people in the store. I told her she needed to develop some manners, and that I would take my business somewhere else. Several other customers agreed she was extremely rude to me.
I have been a customer of Vik’s for about 15 years, regularly since I moved to the bay area in 2009. I have never been treated that way in ANY store, especially now that I am, as they say, in my current state. Most people go out of their way to be nice, but warning: steer clear of the older indian auntie behind the counter!

Mukhwas, boondi, bhakarwadi, horlicks, Mysore sandalwood soap, frozen stuffed parathas, instant uppma mixes, sabudanas, all sorts of jaggery sizes, Dettol, basmati rice, spicy mango juices, indian ice cream…
All found here! Handy

Pros:
Good selection
Good prices
Clean
Cons:
They unabashedly sell expired items
Surly staff

I love going to Vik’s Market. It is clean, well organized and has a wonderful selection of everything you need to make wonderful Indian food. So many other markets I have been so off in the cleanliness department– this one really stands out.
And, when you’re done shopping you just walk through to Vik’s Chaat House and have a nice meal or, as I always do, buy selection of delicious Indian sweets and a cup of chai tea. Perfect everytime.

Coming here has become a ritual when visiting a friend who’s an India expert living in Berkeley. After having a light, healthy and casual meal at the cafeteria-​style, Vik’s Chaat in the same building, we’ll then go to Vik’s Mart afterwards for groceries.
Last time, my friend wanted to stop at Vik’s Mart for a jar of Sweet Mango Chutney made in India — Vik’s own brand. Since other Unilocalers suggested checking expiration dates, we made sure to do that and the chutney’s good through January 2014. Also got Britannia cookies which are chocolate cream filled biscuits made in India and oh so yummy — dates also not expired.
Selection of fresh produce is limited, but they seem to have all the standard dry goods such as teas, starches, spices, etc. They just carry the basics — kind of like an Indian version of 7 – 11. I read the review of a Unilocaler who said they couldn’t get any helpful advice on cooking Indian cuisine so if that’s what you need, they you might consider going to one of the mom and pop Indian stores on University.
All in all, Vik’s Market and its adjacent Vik’s Chaat is a convenient place for one stop shopping and eating.

Halal meat is served here. Had the keema samosas– pretty good. The papri chaat was good too. The shami kabob was a little on the bland side. Skip the mango lassi. Get’s pretty crowded on the weekend, but they have a lot of registers.

So eating next door is too crazy, but the dark little shop has dates that are excellent and they always can help me out with ayurvedic soap.
Keep the craziness next door!

I just bought some cake rusk from Vik’s a few days ago. My husband said it tasted «bad». I thought he was just bein picky again. He looked at the expiration date. It was ⁵⁄₂₀₀₆. Uhm… it’s 200EIGHT!!! WTF?!
I think Vik’s is capitalizing on the Berkeley Indophilic population. Beware people… they may be conning you. I am going to take back the item and complain.