We absolutely love Nirmal's and wish we lived in the Seattle area as opposed to being on the Eastside (Bellevue). But we decided to go and celebrate Diwali (Indian Festival of Lights) at Nirmal's as part of Seattle Restaurant Week. We went over the weekend, and glad we did, because with the recent covid-19 restrictions, this restaurant, along with all the others in WA state, will have to stop doing in-person dining. So please patronize them with take-out orders. Their food is absolutely delicious, portions are large, and the dishes they serve, are regional Indian food, which you do not find in most Indian restaurants in the US.
This time we were even more excited to go for dinner, and try their $35/3 course meal, because they had Vada Pav on their menu, as part of the appetizers. When we had visited Nirmal's a while back, the owner, Ollie, had mentioned he had purchased a commercial kitchen on the Eastside to bake real Mumbai Pav (bread). We were eagerly awaiting this, because most of the Vada Pav dishes you get in the Indian restaurants in the US, use hamburger buns or sweet Hawaiian rolls, hardly what Mumbai pav is supposed to be. We started off with a couple of cocktails, with me going in for something called the "Filter Kappi" a play on the S. Indian Filter Coffee you get in India, and my wife had the Garden Gnome, which included Rose Syrup.The Vada Pav did not disappoint, the potato patty encased in a chickpea flour batter was perfectly fried, and the pav or bread was the icing on the cake. My wife remarked that I was treating it like gold in my hands as I ate it :-). Our 2nd appetizer (since we did the Restaurant Week Menu for each of us), was the Lamb Sheekh Hussaini kebabs. These were melt in your mouth tender, and I have never seen my wife enjoy a kebab so much.
For our main course: We had their Beef Ularthiyathu, aka Kerala Beef Fry. This is from the state of Kerala in Southern India, eaten with the Malabar Paratha (flat bread). It is cooked with onion, coconut, peppercorns, fennel seeds and curry leaves. This had a hint of creeping spiciness and I was pretty sure I was going to pay the price the next day, but damn, it was delicious. Too much to finish, so took home leftovers.
Our other entree was a Saoji Chicken Rassa. This is a Maharashtrian dish from the Nagpur area in the Vidharbha region, known for their spicy food. It has lots of peppercorns, but they tone down the dish quite a bit in the restaurant, also includes char grilled onion, coconut, chili, cardamom, cloves, nutmeg, star anise, and stone flower (lichen). This too came back as leftovers with us, including done of the steamed basmati Pulao, and garlic naan.
To end the meal we had Gulab Jamun and Rasmalai, very traditional Indian desserts
What made the meal extra special, is the owner Ollie, who came and chatted with us to find out how we were doing, and also tell us about how things were going with the restaurant. Ollie does this every time we've gone to his restaurant, and with all the customers. It's a really nice, caring touch. When we told him how much we enjoyed the Vada Pav, especially getting authentic Indian Pav (bread/bun), he returned from the kitchen with four Pavs packed in foil and gave them to us complimentary, telling us to enjoy them with an "egg bhurji" (Indian scrambled eggs) at home the next day. We were so touched by his generosity and graciousness, and yes, we did eat the Pavs with an egg bhurji the next morning at home, and they were yummo.
I hope folks will continue to check out Nirmal's as a take-out/delivery option during the current lockdown period, and visit them for in-person dining when the restrictions are lifted. I know we will... read more