Indian Food in Seattle
August 15, 2016 1:12 PM Subscribe
Don't know much about Indian food other than I like it and recently I've been wanting more.
Any recommendations for Indian food in Seattle that isn't the standard Lunch Buffet/Table-Service Dinner kind of place?
I've been to Traveller’s Thali on Beacon Hill, and would love to try another place that serves Thali.
(Oh and vegan friendly would be great!)
I've been to Traveller’s Thali on Beacon Hill, and would love to try another place that serves Thali.
(Oh and vegan friendly would be great!)
Came here to say Poppy.
I also really like Annapurna Café, even though it's standard table service / Nepali.
posted by batter_my_heart at 1:47 PM on August 15, 2016 [3 favorites]
I also really like Annapurna Café, even though it's standard table service / Nepali.
posted by batter_my_heart at 1:47 PM on August 15, 2016 [3 favorites]
This seems like a question for Yelp.
Not to be snarky, I just think that will probably render more results and possibly better ones. Especially since the vast majority of Indian restaurants in the USA are "table-service dinner" style. So a quick Yelp search for your city should make it easy to narrow it down to whatever you're actually looking for (fine dining, fusion, fast casual?). You can also filter for vegan Indian easily on Yelp. You can search for "thali" both on Yelp in general and within restaurant reviews, too. I've also had good luck on Yelp looking at pictures of the restaurant and food, because that can make it immediately clear if it's what I'm after in a way that reviews often don't.
Note that the vast majority of Indian food isn't vegan, as ghee (clarified butter) is typically the main cooking oil. Here in Los Angeles there are few vegan Indian places, so maybe Seattle has that as well?
On the off chance that authenticity is important to you, here are some general styles of restaurant in order of typical level of authenticity:
- Delis or groceries that also serve prepared meals and cater primarily to the local South Asian community. Ditto more specialized places like sweet shops, chaat shops, kiosks specializing in kathi rolls, etc.
- Any sit-down table service restaurant in a predominantly South Asian neighborhood. Look for thali style meals or specific regional cooking styles, especially, but honestly if you head to your local South Asian enclave the food is likely to be better than what you would get at a more American-facing restaurant. Many of these places have lunch buffets. That's not in any way a bad thing.
- Table-service/lunch buffet places that aren't in South Asian neighborhoods. This is likely to heavily favor North Indian dishes and depending on what you order can be slightly tweaked for American palates. But as long as you stay away from Chicken Tikka Masala and Butter Chicken, a lot of these places have perfectly legit items on the menu. Sometimes you'll even find some interesting regional dishes on menus at these spots.
- Indian-Western fusion and fine-dining. Often these are spots opened by a South Asian chef classically trained in the Western restaurant tradition. The menu items are often adjusted a lot for Western palates, but at least in the best case scenario it's being done by someone who knows what this stuff is supposed to taste like. Also sometimes you get really interesting stuff like Indian/British fusion pub fare, chaat/tapas fusion, etc.
- Vegan Indian. Best case, as with the fusion and North Indian table service places, it's a place run by South Asians who either are vegan or have a particular interest in cooking authentic South Asian vegetarian cuisine without ghee. Worst case, you're looking at "tofu tikka masala" and other garbage.
- Fast Casual. Here in Los Angeles we have something called "Urban Masala" which is basically Chipotle with vaguely kinda sorta South Asian base ingredients (basmati rice, tandoori chicken, mango chutney, etc). It's fine, but it tastes nothing like actual Indian food.
- A few cities have chains which cater strictly to Westerners, like Baluchi's in New York, Saffron in Los Angeles, etc. often in a casual chain styled space (a la Pei Wei or CPK). Don't even bother with this. You're a lot better off with your neighborhood mom & pop lunch buffet than eating this shitfood.
posted by Sara C. at 2:00 PM on August 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
Not to be snarky, I just think that will probably render more results and possibly better ones. Especially since the vast majority of Indian restaurants in the USA are "table-service dinner" style. So a quick Yelp search for your city should make it easy to narrow it down to whatever you're actually looking for (fine dining, fusion, fast casual?). You can also filter for vegan Indian easily on Yelp. You can search for "thali" both on Yelp in general and within restaurant reviews, too. I've also had good luck on Yelp looking at pictures of the restaurant and food, because that can make it immediately clear if it's what I'm after in a way that reviews often don't.
Note that the vast majority of Indian food isn't vegan, as ghee (clarified butter) is typically the main cooking oil. Here in Los Angeles there are few vegan Indian places, so maybe Seattle has that as well?
On the off chance that authenticity is important to you, here are some general styles of restaurant in order of typical level of authenticity:
- Delis or groceries that also serve prepared meals and cater primarily to the local South Asian community. Ditto more specialized places like sweet shops, chaat shops, kiosks specializing in kathi rolls, etc.
- Any sit-down table service restaurant in a predominantly South Asian neighborhood. Look for thali style meals or specific regional cooking styles, especially, but honestly if you head to your local South Asian enclave the food is likely to be better than what you would get at a more American-facing restaurant. Many of these places have lunch buffets. That's not in any way a bad thing.
- Table-service/lunch buffet places that aren't in South Asian neighborhoods. This is likely to heavily favor North Indian dishes and depending on what you order can be slightly tweaked for American palates. But as long as you stay away from Chicken Tikka Masala and Butter Chicken, a lot of these places have perfectly legit items on the menu. Sometimes you'll even find some interesting regional dishes on menus at these spots.
- Indian-Western fusion and fine-dining. Often these are spots opened by a South Asian chef classically trained in the Western restaurant tradition. The menu items are often adjusted a lot for Western palates, but at least in the best case scenario it's being done by someone who knows what this stuff is supposed to taste like. Also sometimes you get really interesting stuff like Indian/British fusion pub fare, chaat/tapas fusion, etc.
- Vegan Indian. Best case, as with the fusion and North Indian table service places, it's a place run by South Asians who either are vegan or have a particular interest in cooking authentic South Asian vegetarian cuisine without ghee. Worst case, you're looking at "tofu tikka masala" and other garbage.
- Fast Casual. Here in Los Angeles we have something called "Urban Masala" which is basically Chipotle with vaguely kinda sorta South Asian base ingredients (basmati rice, tandoori chicken, mango chutney, etc). It's fine, but it tastes nothing like actual Indian food.
- A few cities have chains which cater strictly to Westerners, like Baluchi's in New York, Saffron in Los Angeles, etc. often in a casual chain styled space (a la Pei Wei or CPK). Don't even bother with this. You're a lot better off with your neighborhood mom & pop lunch buffet than eating this shitfood.
posted by Sara C. at 2:00 PM on August 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: I have checked YELP, but only on my phone, maybe the non-mobile interface would be clearer, but I found it difficult to see any actual info about different places.
I have nothing against buffets! Or sitting down! But Sara C. gets at what I'm asking in a more general sense. What would be a good neighbourhood to walk around in and look for a deli or any general suggestions work too. The few I've tried in the last month or so have all seemed particularly bland, and all seemed locally owned. Maybe that's just because I'm attempting to avoid Ghee and Naan and Paneer.
posted by kittensofthenight at 2:15 PM on August 15, 2016
I have nothing against buffets! Or sitting down! But Sara C. gets at what I'm asking in a more general sense. What would be a good neighbourhood to walk around in and look for a deli or any general suggestions work too. The few I've tried in the last month or so have all seemed particularly bland, and all seemed locally owned. Maybe that's just because I'm attempting to avoid Ghee and Naan and Paneer.
posted by kittensofthenight at 2:15 PM on August 15, 2016
Response by poster: Oh and Poppy sounds awesome.
posted by kittensofthenight at 2:15 PM on August 15, 2016
posted by kittensofthenight at 2:15 PM on August 15, 2016
You might try Nirmal's over in Pioneer Square. It's trying to get customers amenable to the idea of upscale Indian (Similar to Ba Bar with upscale Vietnamese). Very tasty, and they do vegan options (though I'm not as familiar with those from there).
posted by CrystalDave at 2:35 PM on August 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by CrystalDave at 2:35 PM on August 15, 2016 [2 favorites]
afaik Seattle has no actual Indian neighborhoods.
I would go to the east side of Lake Washington and visit strip malls. I would use yelp on my laptop, look at the yelp maps to find concentrations of Indian businesses. Check Bellevue and Redmond.
My favorite Indian restaurant in Seattle is Jewel of India. It's a buffet and table service. The food is really good. Dhosas are on the menu and require a 30 minute advance order. The yelp reviews are not so good. It think that's due to a somewhat hole-in-the-wall ambiance and occasionally cranky staff. I don't care -- I like the food.
posted by valannc at 3:28 PM on August 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
I would go to the east side of Lake Washington and visit strip malls. I would use yelp on my laptop, look at the yelp maps to find concentrations of Indian businesses. Check Bellevue and Redmond.
My favorite Indian restaurant in Seattle is Jewel of India. It's a buffet and table service. The food is really good. Dhosas are on the menu and require a 30 minute advance order. The yelp reviews are not so good. It think that's due to a somewhat hole-in-the-wall ambiance and occasionally cranky staff. I don't care -- I like the food.
posted by valannc at 3:28 PM on August 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
I like Cedars in the U-district. No idea about authenticity, but they have endless Chai to drink while you eat.
posted by owls at 3:51 PM on August 15, 2016
posted by owls at 3:51 PM on August 15, 2016
It might help to know a few places you've tried and not liked. There are a lot of options out there - are there any regions you're looking in specifically?
Saffron Grill (Northgate) was good as recently as last night, and many vegetarian items there can be made vegan, replacing cream with coconut milk and ghee with margarine. Our servers have always been very knowledgeable and checked with the kitchen if they weren't completely sure. We haven't had a dish that was a miss there, though they don't seem to believe us when we say we want it really, really spicy.
Seconding Annapurna, though some of my favorite dishes there are Nepali. Their menu has all vegan dishes clearly marked.
I've only been there once, but The Guilt Trip in Redmond has a tasty rotating "fusion" menu. The vegan options were pretty limited, but everything was pretty intensely flavored - even standards like chai (I had a soy version of their ginger pepper chai) were memorable.
I've only been to a few of the Indian restaurants in the University District, and most weren't that unimpressive, though people seem to really love Taste of India. The vegan options at Shalimar (Indian/Pakistani) are reasonably plentiful, though half of the dishes I've tried there were a little bland.
There are a few Indian markets/convenience stores around - there's a small convenience store in the University District, but I haven't tried any ready-made dishes there, just base ingredients (spices, fresh curry leaves, different types of lentils, etc.) and snack foods.
Also, not knowing where you're looking, it may be better to try searching someplace like here. (Haven't vetted the website much, but it seems like it's actively updated - just make sure to click past the "premium" results when you search.)
posted by verschollen at 3:52 PM on August 15, 2016
Saffron Grill (Northgate) was good as recently as last night, and many vegetarian items there can be made vegan, replacing cream with coconut milk and ghee with margarine. Our servers have always been very knowledgeable and checked with the kitchen if they weren't completely sure. We haven't had a dish that was a miss there, though they don't seem to believe us when we say we want it really, really spicy.
Seconding Annapurna, though some of my favorite dishes there are Nepali. Their menu has all vegan dishes clearly marked.
I've only been there once, but The Guilt Trip in Redmond has a tasty rotating "fusion" menu. The vegan options were pretty limited, but everything was pretty intensely flavored - even standards like chai (I had a soy version of their ginger pepper chai) were memorable.
I've only been to a few of the Indian restaurants in the University District, and most weren't that unimpressive, though people seem to really love Taste of India. The vegan options at Shalimar (Indian/Pakistani) are reasonably plentiful, though half of the dishes I've tried there were a little bland.
There are a few Indian markets/convenience stores around - there's a small convenience store in the University District, but I haven't tried any ready-made dishes there, just base ingredients (spices, fresh curry leaves, different types of lentils, etc.) and snack foods.
Also, not knowing where you're looking, it may be better to try searching someplace like here. (Haven't vetted the website much, but it seems like it's actively updated - just make sure to click past the "premium" results when you search.)
posted by verschollen at 3:52 PM on August 15, 2016
Thirding Annapurna, which the Actual Seattle Vegans in my life love.
posted by charmedimsure at 7:23 PM on August 15, 2016
posted by charmedimsure at 7:23 PM on August 15, 2016
Seconding Chili's, which is the only place I know of in Seattle proper (as opposed to the Eastside) where you can get dosas (and other South Indian dishes). They're not the best dosas I've had, but they're still pretty satisfying.
whyyyyy is there no Saravanaa Bhavan branch in the Seattle area yet? sob
posted by karayel at 7:45 PM on August 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
whyyyyy is there no Saravanaa Bhavan branch in the Seattle area yet? sob
posted by karayel at 7:45 PM on August 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
hmm, looks like Traveller's Thali has dosas too, actually. That's going on the to-do list!
posted by karayel at 7:47 PM on August 15, 2016
posted by karayel at 7:47 PM on August 15, 2016
Indian Sweets & Spices, a mile north of Seattle in Shoreline, is a good deli and grocery store.
posted by The corpse in the library at 1:43 PM on August 16, 2016
posted by The corpse in the library at 1:43 PM on August 16, 2016
Indian-American here, with about 13 years living in Seattle. Indian restaurants in Seattle, in my opinion, range from pretty awful to mediocre, with very few exceptions. There isn't a "little India" type neighborhood; probably the closest thing to it would be in Bellevue, just because of the number of working locals in proximity to Microsoft, but it's not exactly a cultural center or with a lot of public-facing flavor (or any, considering it's just a series of large gray boxes which house people and computers).
My favorite place is Moti Mahal, on Broadway in Capitol Hill. In some respects it's closer to what you're looking for, in that it's a tiny, tiny place (somewhere around three to five tables) in what used to be a Taco del Mar outlet. They have an unusually wide delivery radius, however, and they're pretty fast. It's not just my favorite because it's the best of a bad lot; I quite enjoy them and get their food routinely.
I've only been there once, but Bengal Tiger on Roosevelt in the U-District was pretty good too. It's much more of what you're going to find everywhere, though, which is a sit-down table-service restaurant.
I also like Annapurna, but it is much more Nepalese than it is Indian. Still, it's the only place I've found which does idli sambar, so that's a big check in its plus column. They appear to be branding themselves more as a late-night bar these days though, so I don't know if the food is going to suffer accordingly.
Poppy is pretty good, and it's served thali-style, but it's not really Indian cuisine in any meaningful sense.
posted by Errant at 4:40 PM on August 16, 2016 [2 favorites]
My favorite place is Moti Mahal, on Broadway in Capitol Hill. In some respects it's closer to what you're looking for, in that it's a tiny, tiny place (somewhere around three to five tables) in what used to be a Taco del Mar outlet. They have an unusually wide delivery radius, however, and they're pretty fast. It's not just my favorite because it's the best of a bad lot; I quite enjoy them and get their food routinely.
I've only been there once, but Bengal Tiger on Roosevelt in the U-District was pretty good too. It's much more of what you're going to find everywhere, though, which is a sit-down table-service restaurant.
I also like Annapurna, but it is much more Nepalese than it is Indian. Still, it's the only place I've found which does idli sambar, so that's a big check in its plus column. They appear to be branding themselves more as a late-night bar these days though, so I don't know if the food is going to suffer accordingly.
Poppy is pretty good, and it's served thali-style, but it's not really Indian cuisine in any meaningful sense.
posted by Errant at 4:40 PM on August 16, 2016 [2 favorites]
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