Karikku Cafe is an unpretentious spot serving authentic food from the southern Indian state of Kerala. The flavors here brought me back to the port of Kochi, the backwaters of Alleppey, and the tea plantations of Munnar. The item to order for the full experience is the Kerala Meal, a banana-leaf package with Kerala Rice (with distinctively large grains), Aviyal (vegetables in coconut milk), Thoran (cabbage stir-fried with coconut and spices), Pickle, Moru Curry (spiced buttermilk), Kappa Ularthiyathu (stir-fried cassava), okra, and omelette, along with a choice of main (I tried the fish and the chicken). Everything in this meal was flavorful and paired nicely with the rice--I only wish they hadn't wrapped everything together, as all the distinct flavors were mixed. In addition to the meal, we also tried the Kadala Curry, a dark curry made of black chickpeas with onions, herbs, and coconut. But my favorite main dish was the Malabar Prawn Curry, a North Kerala specialty made of prawns in a tangy, creamy coconut curry flavored with curry leaves and spices, paired with a flaky, layered (but not greasy) Kerala Porotta, and Appam, a gooey, lacy pancake made from a fermented rice and coconut milk batter. Overall, the food here was delicious and authentic, and everything came in generous portion sizes at an affordable price. read more

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Great food. Authentic Malayali (South Indian) dishes. Ambiance could be better. Been there a few times. It used to be a Burmese place a few years ago. read more

Kerala cuisine (state in India). You can order from the QR code menu at the table and pay as well. We ordered the Malabar fish curry, Prawn masala, parotta, matar paneer, baby corn Manchurian. Baby corn Manchurian, prawn masala and Malabar parotta were good. Malabar fish wasn't spicy enough. Will try their other curries later. read more

Karikku Cafe - Baby corn Manchurian - Indian Near Me - Fremont, California

Mango fish curry, Kerala Porota , chicken Peralan and thalasseri Biriyani were awesome. Beef dishes were bit underwhelming. We tried Beef Cutlets and it was okay. Good option in Bay Area for Kerala food read more

The fish cutlet was OK - the crust was nice and crispy with no visible oil, but the stuffing was mostly bland. I've had better at other restaurants. The tea took a while to settle on the palette but was nice once it did. The appam was good and tasted of coconut milk. Chicken peralan was spicy yet slightly sweet, likely due to the onions. Pairs well with appam. Friendly staff on a slow day. Plenty of seating space indoors. read more

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Ordered over the phone. Came in 40mins later to pickup although they mentioned 20mins. The person at the counter tells me that it will be ready in a few minutes.....whaaat two doooo ! I am sitting here waiting for food now staring at other people eating. Hope its worth it. read more

I was here with my friend for her birthday celebration. The place seemed crowded but that was for takeout orders. When we came here there were few tables left and so we got to choose whichever we watched to choose to sit in. We were looking for a menu though to our ignorance the QR code menu was already given on the table. Still the server got the menu card as well but the QR code has better menu items. We ordered egg curry, appam, parotta, mushroom varutharicha curry and coffee. We were so engrossed in talking as we were meeting after a decade that we couldn't stop for anything as the food was delivered we were enjoying it wholeheartedly. I think when we saw that chairs were getting flipped, we realised it was time to close the restaurant and hence we happily left the place. The staff is really friendly with great service, delicious food and the simple ambience where people add the galore to it. I will highly recommend this place if you're looking for a Kerala cuisine. read more

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Food was very delayed even though they weren't that busy. When it came out, it was bland and underseasoned. Frozen appetizer were cold in the center. Service is essentially nonexistent, but they still wanted a tip. No heat on in the place no music or sound. Maybe they have a new chef but whatever it is. Lots of people were not happy. I had horrible stomach cramps afterwards too ..Save your money and go down the road to Anantara where you could have much better south Indian food for just a little bit more money. read more

Excellent Kerala food in the bay. We tried a whole bunch of vegetarian dishes and everything was delicious. Their Aapam & Ulli Theeyal were outstanding and I would definitely be ordering them everytime we visit. Gobi Manchurian was in that perfect in-between consistency of dry and gravy which I looved! Parotta and Mushroom Roast (w coconut milk) was yummyyy, I really have no complaints. Everything was fantastic and I can't wait to be back to try the other items. read more

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Neighborhood Kerala Place- Decided to order an entree for an evening dinner. Wanted to do an egg gravy; there were two options to choose from: Egg Roast and Egg curry - ordered Roast as it sounded more promising; felt like they are going to put some effort. We were utterly Disappointed with the outcome- it was blend of boiled eggs in tomato & onion gravy; tasted below average. Didn't feel like it was coming out of restaurant; some amateur putting it together. While I would love to try their Mappas and Thalassery biryani, a little hesitant after first experience. Ambiance is actually decent for an Indian Dine-in in South Bay (Hence the 3 stars). read more

Karikku Cafe - Ambience - Indian Near Me - Fremont, California

Honestly one of the few dishes I was able to eat during my 1st trimester was from Karikku cafe. We ordered the idiyappam and kerala style chicken curry. It was delicious and I enjoyed this meal a lot. Hubby had it with parota and loved how flaky and delicious the food was. This years Onam Sadhya hosted by Sangama also served most delicious and authentic kerala Sadhya food by Karikku cafe. Can't wait to try out other amazing dishes at this restaurant. read more

We like the chicken peralan, chicken varuval curry, and their parottas(soft and flaky). read more

Karikku Cafe - Chicken varuval curry(top), chicken peralan, parottas - Indian Near Me - Fremont, California

Horrible service, rude staff. Food was below average Price was ok for what you get. Overall experience was not good the service was slow and they were not too busy. read more

Great restaurant for traditional and authentic Kerala cuisine. Amazing fish options - karimeen pollichathu is must try. Also good to find Kerala style porotta and beef. The interior decor can be improved to add a Kerala feel with paintings, plants etc to take it to the next level. read more

I was really excited for a new Kerala spot in Fremont and I really wanted to like this place with the authentic photos and dishes, but this was a massive disappointment. Given the reviews here, I'd say this is a 2-star restaurant in SF/LA and a 5-star in Fremont. The food was just bad, overly salty, made with old/overused oil, and zero consideration for any spice control (which makes me think a lot of it is ready made/frozen). read more

Very good Kerala food ! Not many of those in the Bay Area ! Love their mutton biriyani !

Authentic Kerala cuisine. My Malayali friends were delighted by the Aapams, goat curry, and Chemeen Curry. We've been back multiple times and really have not had a dish that was not good. Reasonable prices, good portions. Must try, especially as one of the very few Kerala restaurants around. read more

One of the best Kerala food in Santa Clara, Malabar meen curry, porotta, Appam must try from their menu. read more

This place specializes in Kerala food. Loved the food here. I stuck to vegetarian dishes and ordered mushroom roast and parotta. The mushroom curry was AMAZING, creamy with some kind of coconut base and full of flavor. I keep day dreaming about when I can come back here and have this dish again. My husband ordered the Mango meen curry with parotta and loved this as well. He has already been to this place twice in a week and swears by everything he has ordered. Ambiance was decent and service was courteous and quick. Lots of parking available around the restaurant. Will be back here soon to try their other vegetarian dishes. read more

Food was not kerala style like what they are saying , Many of them tasted sweet and fish curry was not cooked so we just ordered and none of us touched it. Really sad , since we spend so much time and time and food came out bad, Porrotta was great though read more

There are few authentic kerela restaurants in the Bay Area and Karikku is one of them. The beef Peralan was spicy and delicious but slightly overcooked. The porotta was fresh and yummy. read more

Karikku Cafe - Beef Peralan - Indian Near Me - Fremont, California

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Went for lunch dine-in right before its closing time & I was amazed to see it being still crowded. Ordered masala fish fry for appetizer, thalassery chicken & mutton biriyani, porotta & beef peralan & as a malayali I should say that it is one of the best kerala food I have tried in recent times. The masala fish fry, well coated & fried & yummy! The biriyani was both good but the mutton biriyani stood out a notch over the chicken. The meat was tender & well cooked in both & enough quantity in 1 plate. The porotta was so soft & the beef tasted homemade & so tender. Overall really satisfied with the food & the ambience of the place. read more

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The Chicken Peralan with Kerala Porotta was excellent. The marinade wasn't too spicy.

Everything we ordered was really good. Plenty of meat, tender, no bones to pick through, and flavors were strong and delicious. The lunch combo is well worth it with 2 parottas. read more

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One of the best things about the bay area is the diversity of people, languages and cuisines. Karikku Cafe is an excellent example of this diversity. Serving traditional cuisine from Kerala in South India, it has an interesting menu spanning both veg and non-veg dishes. Be prepared for bold flavors, coconut in all forms and varieties, and unique spices. I've tried a couple of their dishes thus far and have liked all of them. The fish cutlets are my favorite appetizer - 5 dollars for 2 tasty fish croquettes, a good deal indeed. The masala fish fry is also fine though a bit dry for my liking. The goat biriyani is quite different from what you're served at North Indian, Pakistani, or even Hyderabadi restaurants - the taste grew on me as I worked my way through the generous portion. The chicken varuthara was a tad too sweet for me from all the coconut in the dish, but I really enjoyed the chicken veralan with their flaky porottas. If you can handle spicy food, do try the meen vattichatu - salmon pieces in a fiery red curry, which pairs well with both rice and bread. For those of you in South Fremont, Karikku has taken over the place where the Burmese restaurant Mingala used to be. Do give this neighborhood place a try and open your world to brand new flavors. read more

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Tried biriyani, Pothichor and kerala porotta Porotta was really good. Beef was okay. Biriyani was average and Pothichor lacked flavors . read more

We loved the food!! Very simple ambiance and great service. The food came out fast. We had a variety of dishes along with Malabar Parotta and Appam. Very strongly recommend read more

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Very good Kerala food to try. My family enjoys it. Our go to place for some authentic Kerala flavors.

It's been a long time since I had great food from Kerala and Karikku ticked off all the boxes. You know it's authentic when the Kerala parotta is soft and flaky while the appam has the perfect lace around it. The beef fry and mutton curry were on the spicier side and that's how it should be! The only reason I gave 4/5 for service is that the time for the food to arrive was a bit slow. But they had a ton of pickup and delivery orders so maybe it's a good sign that the service is slow due to popular demand. As I don't live close to the restaurant, I ordered additional appam, parotta , chemeen and even some thoran to remind me of the good old times. Highly recommend it to those who want to taste a different side of the Indian cuisine. read more

Excellent halal food! Lots of beef on the menu which I am thankful for because a lot of Indian places do not have it on their menu. Loved the food, great service too. read more

Went again to order mutton biryani this time. Was really good! So glad this restaurant delivers authentic Kerala food! read more

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Delicious food authentic felt like i was in India spicy and lots of flavor must have

Authentic mallu food. The chicken roast and kappa were exceptional. Service was wonderful, very promot. 10/10

We found this gem by chance. And what a find! We have always said Bay Area doesn't have any homely restaurant. But this one fixes that problem. The porotta is to die for. Kappa is also a must try. read more

Food is really good (Im a malu from Kerala). The parotha was really fresh and fluffy. The beef vartha (fry) was great and the meen curry was good. Only negative is it's a little oily read more

Good food. I got the beef roast and egg curry as a togo lunch. Both entrees were nice. Both curries were a perfect combination of spicy, sour and sweet tastes. Tender coconut bits in the curry were also killer. Loved it. Only con is I ate twice as much as I should have :) read more

Amazing pothichoru with authentic flavors and side dishes.. Too bad this item is only available on weekends

I drove all the way from Fairfield to have their food.! It feels so close to home. This was recommend by my cousin and I have been going back ever since. read more

The reason I am giving one star is because the price does not justify the ambience or the quantity. Went for lunch and ordered their chicken curry with Appam lunch. It's 15 bucks but the quantity of chicken was too less to justify the price plus when I asked for paper napkins after I finished the meal,the restaurant guy asked me to go to the toilet to wash my hands. It's seriously low on the ambience. My friend loved the fish curry but I thought the chicken curry was just ok. read more

The biryani wasn't the usual andhra style and not too spicy. Chicken 65 was amazing and everything was authentic and fresh.