We swung by kathakali to try some authentic mallu food. First impressions wise, we didn't have a prior reservation and easily got a table because of the ample seating they have. The ambience is a bit dated. The service, however, is really fast. We ordered the aapam, kadala curry, parippu vadai, mutton varattiyathu and the idiyappam. The food was delicious and tasted very authentic. The portion sizes are huge and we were left with tons of leftovers that lasted us for many days. The prices were decent too, especially for Seattle area. read more

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I went on a Friday night by myself so already, I'm not the right audience for this joint. Indian food is better shared with a variety of entrees in my opinion. I got the Malabar parotta and the vegetable ishtoo. They both tasted fine. Not amazing, not great, just a little bit under "good." So I would not come back again. Maybe I ordered wrong. Service was very nice and friendly. Staff was great and I enjoyed my time at the restaurant. The food didn't sit well with me the next day and I didn't get anything spicy. I'm glad the staff helped me out to pick something not spicy. read more

Kathakali - Malabar Parotta and Vegetable Ishtoo - Indian Near Me - Kirkland, Washington

Even through they didnt take reservation, we decided to give it a try with a group of 8 since we really wanted to try out this place. They were very accommodating and were able to set up a table for 8 of us. We got to try quite a few dishes including masala dosa.. so dosa was excellent and so was the dipping sauces. TheWe never had the Seabass dish and it was also flavorful! Kids went through a lot of garlic naan. We also enjoyed the pistachio lassi that was good to tame down some of the heat dishes. Services was great and had parking around the building. Looking forward to coming back again. read more

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Got take out from this place and it's a solid South Indian place! So much flavor and even after cooled down, they all still taste amazing. The spicy mutton curry is 1000/10 read more

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While the food was great and you can tell it is specialized to Kerala style Indian food. I was pleasantly surprised to find an egg with my chicken biriyani and I would get it again. The service was not as great. I did feel that I was ignored due to dining alone compared to other tables that had groups. read more

Kathakali - Dosa - Indian Near Me - Kirkland, Washington

I treid this restaurant when I was on a work trip to Seattle. There are no Kerala-style restaurants in my current city (Austin). So it was a pleasant surprise to find this place. There wasn't much parking available, but we were able to find one quick enough. We tried their aapam with cocunut milk. It was so tender, it melted in your mouth. We also tried their kilangu appetizer, and it reminded me of my childood. Kerala food is not complete if you don't try Parotta with chicken curry. The parotta was very flaky and phenomenal. Ther service was quick and the ambiance was initmate. I got some Chai to go, and sipped it on the way back to hotel. read more

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This is the spot I always recommend when no one knows what they want to eat! Very cozy atmosphere and usually super busy around lunch and dinner. I have tried a couple things off the menu but my tried and true is always a appetizer of the cocktail samosas with a delicious chutney sauce. The Paneer Butter Masala is my favorite dish here. Get the side of garlic naan bread, and wash it all down with a Lassi. Service is always efficient and quick. Love this place and will always recommend it. read more

The taste of every dish was so flavorful and rich. The quality of food here is supreme. The service is fast. Definitely try these dishes we ordered - Palakkad Avial, Shahi Paneer.. both were really good. read more

Kathakali - Palakkad Avial, Shahi Paneer, Roti, Kale & Cashew Pakoda - Indian Near Me - Kirkland, Washington

The food was amazing, especially the mutton curry,I absolutely loved it! And Sushanth is such a nice person; the way he welcomed me was truly warm and hospitable. read more

Reently, we have been coming here for their dosa's. We try to come soon after they open on weekends, skip any wait and we get dosa for breakfast. We have been mostly getting Masala dosa, and Gun powder dosa, and have been loving them both. read more

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Returned to Kathakali today! Had the Nawabi Paneer Curry and my friend had butter chicken. We shared garlic naan! Also forgot to picture the Kerala Aapam with the coconut milk which was also good. Definitely will keep coming back. Service is always friendly and fast! read more

Kathakali - Nawabi Paneer Curry and butter chicken. - Indian Near Me - Kirkland, Washington

This is a small location with a parking lot. It is busy. We were able to get a table and the service is efficient. It has a relaxing vibe. We tried Malabar parotta after seeing a feeling patron eating it. It was so good, I highly recommend trying it. I liked that the samosas were smaller and bite sized. The chicken tikka masala was really good as well. This was a great find and we will be back to try other items. read more

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Kathakali specializes in South Indian cuisine, which means they've got a less basic menu with some fantastic carby options. The quality is high and the restaurant is p o p u l a r. I went for dinner on a Friday night around 8:10 PM and found a line out the door. I was concerned they would turn us away considering the restaurants hours, but they seated my party of 2 and another party at almost 9 PM. Their parking lot is a bit small and unorganized (no clear lines), which is a little less than ideal. Prawn Pakoras (2/5): Definitely my least favorite item I tried. Batter was bland, shrimp overcooked, but the crunch on the outside wasn't bad. Kerrala Aapam (4/5): A little sour and a little sweet. A bit mild, but the coconut was a great bite to have in between all the heavier, spiced flavors. Butter Dosa (4.25/5): The dosa is huge and the texture is super crunchy. Same slight sourness to the batter, but the weakest part was the chutneys - wasn't a big fan of any of them. Munnar Mutton Kurma (4.5): Surprisingly, the curry was by far my favorite item I tried. Mutton was super tender and the black pepper flavor is deceptively more spicy than the initial flavor would imply. Will be back to try more of their curry options for sure. Overall, I'm giving this 4 stars, but I think if you limit yourself to one carb option and try more of the curries, this would be a very strong contender for 5 stars. read more

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I really really really wanted to like kathakali. Having loved Aahar for over 10 years and wanting to try kathakali since the opened it was on my surely loved list. Likely why it felt a little underwhelming. The place looks cozy, the service is nice. The food was okay. We got masala dosa and Mutton Varattiyathu. The dosa was nice, the curry was okay. And that's about as much impression it made. Nothing pulling me back the again. So yes, if you want to go, it's fine. If you give it a miss, in my opinion that's fine too. read more

We hadn't been to Kathakali in quite a while, but I'm so glad we finally made it back. The flavors are still just as good as we remembered! Their dosa is especially great, really clean, light, and delicious. The portions are on the smaller side, but honestly it's still the best dosa you'll find around here. Definitely worth a visit if you're craving South Indian food. read more

What a treat it was to try Kathakali. Wish there was a Kerala restaurant where I live, haven't had appam in years. You're lucky to have this place. read more

Whenever I drive past past Kathakali I always see a pretty packed parking lot, so I finally decided to try it because I haven't tried much Indian food on the east side. The restaurant gives family-owned vibes and is very cozy with welcoming staff. The food is super yummy without feeling too heavy afterwards. I LOVE the malabar parotta as it is some of the flakiest and chewy breads I've had and goes so well with the curry. read more

Kathakali - chicken tikka masala - Indian Near Me - Kirkland, Washington

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We were visiting from Portland and soooo happy we tried this place. This is better than all Indian places we have tried there. There is no way this isn't 4 stars!! Everything was so delicious and unlike other reviews nothing was too spicy and our wait was 20 mins not an hour on a Friday night. Everyone was very friendly. This place is a must try! I wish we lived closer. They have dishes you won't find at most other restaurants. Chai and the other cold beverages were amazing read more

I have been meaning to check this place out for a while as it is pretty close to me but just never did until now. Place was pretty crowded so I was surprised how quickly that were able to sit us. The restaurant was seemed smaller at first but had a decent amount of seating in the back. The place is clean and very cute. A good variety on their menu with a lot of foods I never tried, including a larger selection of vegetarian options. My partner got the Chicken Masala and I had the Paneer Butter Masala. They were delicious! Great flavor with a good level of spice. The garlic naan was soft with a nice crisp to it in the edges. Service was friendly and relatively fast considering how packed the place was. The owner was checking in with all the customers and working on the floor with the waiters. Had a great experience overall here. Will be coming back again and definitely recommend coming in for a visit. read more

Always lovely to return here. Tasty Appams and Keralite food! Been regular with Aahar & Kathakali Restaurant, over the years! Good service too! read more

This is the best Indian food I have found in the Seattle area. The cocktail samosas were delicious and the dough was perfect. The shrimp pakora were amazing...perfect texture. The butter chicken was rich and flavorful...and no shortage of chicken! The chairs in the dining room were so nice and incredibly comfortable. Will definitely be back! read more

Wonderful service, attentive and quick! This was my first time trying the dosa and I enjoyed it. Crispy and airy crepe with flavorful soft potatoes inside. This was my favorite out of everything we ordered. The curries were decent. As for the garlic naan, I wish it had more garlic. The garlic naan we got was more doughy than crispy. read more

Having "an executive" call your customers when you receive anything less than 5 stars is absolutely insane. Having said executive then threaten to fire an employee who made a simple mistake, while at the same time demanding that I take my 4 star review down?? Absolutely clinically insane. Congratulations, you played yourself because I won't be back as a customer. Great food, decent service when you're in the restaurant. But placing an order over the phone and having it go to a "call center"? Be for real. Not even acknowledging order notes on Uber Eats, resulting in incorrect orders every single time? You deserved to lose the star. But now you lose a customer as well. I will not be removing my previous reviews, as your "executive" demanded. If you want a 5 star review, be worthy of one. Don't send employees to harass customers when it was your employees that lead to the review in the first place. read more

Thanks Yelp for this gem of a find! I have been craving dosas for weeks now and we happened to be in Kirkland today. I searched up a spot that served dosas and this place popped up. We were a bit early as they opened at 5 pm.... But to my surprise a lot of people were waiting in their cars for this place to open up! That definitely got me excited. You know the food is good when there are people waiting outside before it even opens up! The service inside was amazing - they made sure to check on everyone - the place filled up pretty quickly! I can only speak for my dosa and sambar and idli that I got and they were delicious. Of course I think my mom's is better but this was pretty close. My husband got the butter chicken + garlic naan and was happy with his meal too. So glad to have found this spot and can't wait to come back again! read more

Kathakali - Indian Near Me - Kirkland, Washington

Finally stopped in to try this southern Indian restaurant. It's only 5 min from my house, and I always see the line outside on Fri and Sat night, but we always seem to be headed somewhere else. Finally stopped in on Sunday night with friends. We ordered the Mushroom dosa, the spicy fish steamed in banana leaf, an egg plant dish and a lamb dish (see photos for Indian names of dishes). All were very delicious and flavorful; much more so than other Indian places we have been to. Our fav by far was the lamb and the eggplant dishes. Got to run now, but highly recommend read more

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The mutton black pepper curry is amazing, the meat is super tender. I'd get one of the dosa or the kerala appam, they are kind of similar, difficult to eat both for two people volume wise(if you have more your good). I'd skip the shrimp pakora and try more curries, I want to come back and eat more of their curries. read more

Kathakali - Indian Near Me - Kirkland, Washington

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Went back here after 2 years. Food & service still outstanding. We got the mango curry, chicken stew, appams with coconut milk and some nice hot tea. Food was filling, ambiance was good as usual. My only feedback would be to improve on the cleanliness of the restrooms and the curtains near it. read more

First time here. Food was absolutely delicious and the service was great. Like the atmosphere too. We will definitely be back!!

A tremendous THANK YOU to Kathakali for a job SO VERY WELL DONE in executing our family celebrations -- a birthday, anniversary, and graduation all rolled into one! The catering team made our event truly magical. From the elegant table settings to the gourmet Indian menu, every detail was flawless. The entire experience was highly organized and delivered seamlessly on a very tight timeline. Every dish was a hit -- our guests couldn't stop raving about the flavors, and we deeply appreciated the personal touch in each preparation. Kathakali brought warmth, professionalism, and culinary excellence to our celebration. I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for exceptional Indian food catering in the Kirkland area. -Fidelis read more

This place is always busy, both in person service and with to go orders. Great sign they have good food, so here we are. We started with Coco Paneer and Masala Dosa. They were good with beer we tried, though we find the beer was a bit too sweet to our tastes. Loved the chutneys served with both appetizers. For dinner, we had Mango Pulisery and Chicken Biriyani. Pulisery was beautiful, very creamy. Never had mango in my curry, but it is very well put together. I have been a fan of biriyani, and love Kathakali version too. Great flavors! We finished our dinner with Pazhampori - fried banana. Nice touch to clean our pallets with the sweetness. This is such a popular busy restaurant in Juanita area, and it is hard not to get rushed. Waiting people were attentive, maybe a bit too much so, and we could not take some leftovers as they just assumed we finished our dinner before asking us if we wanted to box up our food. But again, food was good, and I think I will order a to-go next time when I am hungry for solid Indian food. read more

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Food is good, if served hot and on time. Service is an abomination to the good quality food that they serve. Its a simple case of "where else will you go ?" Kathakali is close to our place and while I am used to mediocre service post covid, this was beyond terrible. Curry came half an hour before the malabar paratha. My entire party was done eating and I was sitting waiting for my paratha to come. No reason, no excuse given, just told, o u didnt receive it. I do give kudos to our server that he smiled when I shared my predicament about what to do with this parath , if my curry is already colder than the seattle weather. No customer service, no waiving off the cost of paratha, no response to get me fresh hot curry. You really need to meet a low bar for me to comment and Kathakali finally meet than low bar yesterday. Ambience is ok. Presentation of food : they may claim to be "fine" dining, but the chutney is spilling all over the plate and they couldn't care less. read more

Wanted to stop by because I was craving Indian food and I'm glad this location was discovered. Kathakali offers quick service and authentic food. Here's what we ordered: - Gunpowder Dosa: crisp and delicate crepe filled with a spicy and aromatic mixture of ground lentils, spices. This was my favorite. - Coco Panweer: lightly fried to crispy perfection, along with the refreshing mint chutney (and I think cranberry sauce?). This dish provided a delightful fusion of textures and flavors that exceeded our expectations. - Chicken Tikka Masala: a classic favorite. Comforting and flavorful choice Great authentic southern Indian food. Friendly staffs - would recommend visiting if around the area! read more

Kathakali - "Gunpowder" Dosa - Indian Near Me - Kirkland, Washington

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Tasty south Indian dishes at a reasonable price point! My party of 3 had dinner here on a Saturday with only a 15 minute wait. Service was quick and attentive even with a packed house. The employees were really friendly, lots of smiles and kind advice about the menu. We ordered the gun powder dosa, mango green chili prawn curry, parata, bullet naan and kulcha. Everything came out surprisingly quickly and piping hot. Nothing was painfully spicy, though the green chili prawn curry had a good kick. The dosa was my absolute favorite. I will personally skip dessert here though. It's not their strong point. read more

Kathakali - Gun powder dosa - Indian Near Me - Kirkland, Washington

There are a few types of Indian restaurants: there are the second rate restaurants that give you a massive heap of extra-buttery curry that for some reason tastes vaguely of Chef Boyardee, but is delicious nonetheless (and who can complain about a trough of butter chicken for $15), and then there are the restaurants that make the real shit. I love them all, but I'm happy to report Kathakali is the second category of restaurants, they have a real respect for the ingredients and make the kind of food you can't find just anywhere. One of the best Indian spots in an area with a ton of them, everyone should go and appreciate one of the best parts about living in this city. read more

Food overall was good, the service was just okay, not real attentive and the young man seemed to want to be somewhere else... Ambiance nonexistent... definitely don't go for the ambience, but do try the eggplant and the Tikka Masala , both of which were excellent! read more

I and my friend went in for dinner last night. There wasn't any wait, probably because it was a Wednesday? During weekends and on Friday, the wait times are crazy. This is not a typical Indian restaurant you find in the US, it's South Indian food, specifically a cuisine from the state Kerala. The menu is quite extensive, the description of the dishes on the menu are detailed and easily understandable by a person not familiar with the cuisine. The food is both authentic and delicious, whatever I have ordered here were all great! I got the palakkad avial which was flavorful, this is not a spicy dish, it is very mild. Chicken tikka naan was great as well, not spicy. My friend got the naattu fish moilee, she loved it! The service here is excellent, I would highly recommend this place. read more

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The dosa here is absolutely incredible. The best in the Seatte/East-side area I've had so far. Coworkers recommended this and was on point. The sambhar, coconut chutney, and third spicy sauce were so good. The chutney was vibrant and perfectly zesty in that fresh way that not all Indian restaurants achieve. The sambhar also tasted authentic and brought back memories of my travels in India. The potato inside the dosa was incredibly fragrant and well flavored. The food came out fairly quickly. Dosa was so crisp, with the perfect mild undertone of fermentation and browned flavor in the exterior. Will definitely come here again. read more

Our second time here and the food was excellent! They don't take reservations. Get there as soon as they open to grab a table on the weekends. We went 30 mins after they opened and had to wait for 35 mins for a table. It's a small restaurant and tables are quite cramped. But the food is to die for! It's a unique South Indian cuisine influenced by taste of Kerala. We started with kale cashew pakora - huge portions & shareable. So delicious! We then went on to order the mains - pancharatna adai and avial, chakka thoran dosa, white truffle masala dosa, mango pulisery , malabar parotta & date apple pradhaman. Everything was lip smacking, finger licking good. Literally. The quantities were right for the 6 of us. Highly recommend trying this unique cuisine! read more

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As an aspiring dosa connoisseur, I can confidently say this was some of the best dosa I've had. I had the gunpowder dosa(personal favorite) which was not as spicy as expected but had great flavor very good. Shortly after I enjoyed the Chaka thoran dosa (unique as it has jackfruit). Also the classic masala dosa (great) and the beetroot kurma which was also different for me and great. All the food was great and the people who worked there were super accommodating and friendly. Definitely some of the best dosa I've had and would happily come back. read more

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An absolute nightmare where service is concerned. It took the guy 45 minutes to serve us our first dish. Then another 10 minutes to come with the second and then a wrong item was served. Which meant another five minutes or so. We were enraged and hungry. The dosa was OK but the paneer tikka was awful - just some plain paneer slightly sautéed with no marination at all. The audacity was when I was presented with the check - they gave us 20% discount while adding the wrong item to the check!!!! ALL IN ALL A NIGHTMARE OF AN EVENING AT KATHAKALI!! They won't see us anytime soon. read more