Not only was the food amazing, authentic, and flavorful, the staff works like a well-oiled machine, all helping each other. It's obvious that all are working towards more than customer satisfaction, but rather inviting us all in to enjoy their hospitality. I saw a lot of smiles on all the staff throughout the evening. Professional, but not stuffy. I especially appreciated the owner's presence and participation in our enjoyment. His unobtrusive moments of interaction were well timed, genuine and quite enjoyable. This restaurant is so much more than a place to eat fantastic Indian food: it's a place where you're invited to join in promoting and building a better community in which to live. Love this!!!
I had the meat Thali for lunch, I loved the variety of dishes that came with it: soup, vegetable, chicken coconut curry, a bean dish, a sweet dessert pancake, with rice and naan. Portion size is perfect, the space is classy, the service was prompt and excellent. 5/5, would recommend.
The reviews and accolades bestowed upon this restaurant are clearly justified. The food was a delight to the palette and the service and staff a pleasure to meet. We rarely eat Indian food when abroad as the Indian chefs in the U.K. Take some beating but we have to say this was a superb restaurant and the owner should be proud of his achievements 10 out of 10
Fabulous, ever-changing array of REAL Indian food. Right now in the middle of "1 Indian state food per month." Always authentic, always different, always delicious, all brought to the table with great service in a beautifully-restored old building, free of the usual fake Indian clutter. Emphasis here is great food and service, made fresh every time. The dinners transport you to the real India, a splendid lunchtime Thali (meat or vegetarian) is a wonderful, satisfying sampler of the kind of unique food they offer.
Cathryn Russell Carpenter-Springer
+5
This is an exceptional restaurant both in food, ambiance, and service. Very personable, flavors and suggestions were spot on. We will be back!
I love Nirmal's. I've been to their restaurant since they opened, and I've always been impressed by their food. I'm painfully aware that most Indian restaurants that I've been to are about as Indian as Panda Express is Chinese food, so I was delighted to see that their food is fresh and high quality. The fact that you can't designate a level of spiciness for their curries also indicated that they truly were stewed over a long period of time rather than made to order. I normally don't partake in spicy food, but I'll do it when it's done well like they do at Nirmal's! I especially love their desserts -- so fragrant and delicately flavored! (The owner is also so warm and gracious!)
Awesome food! Loved it. Nice ambience too. Highly recommend it.
Hands down, the best Indian food in Seattle. I'm still dreaming of Pork Vindalloo I had on Saturday. Great atmosphere. Spacious, un-cluttered dining room. friendly service and, of course, the renowned Indian chef, Nirmal Monterio.
I was never fond of this cuisine, but this place has converted me. I will definitely return. Amazing food and drinks.
Always love this place for the beautiful 19th century building, elegant decor, chat with the owners and incredibly delicious food. The food is mouthwatering home made style, the food I grew up eating ��
There 12 spices from 12 states special highlights the cuisine from a different state in India each month. We enjoyed the cuisine of Karnataka this month with Mangalorian fried bass fish, clam (kube) fry and Angari goat Curry.
One of the most authentic Indian restaurants in the area, since our trip to England we have been hooked on this cuisine, but unable to find anything like the authentic tastes in London until now. Food was amazing and matched by world-class service. Definitely worth a try.
Loved the food, the atmosphere and the friendly service. Enjoyed chatting with the owner who made some wonderful food suggestions.
All in all a great dining experience.
Great dining experience overall. Attention to detail with the food is immaculate. They bake their own pav (bread) which takes you back to the street food of Mumbai. The only reason to dock a star is the service wasn’t absolutely perfect probably due to staffing. As someone visiting from Texas and spoiled for Indian food, I would highly recommend this place. The paneer Amritsari was one of the most flavorful paneer tikkas I’ve had.
We had an incredible dining experience at Nirmal's in Seattle! The variety of dishes we tried were simply outstanding. The Makke di Roti and Sarson da Saag were packed with authentic flavors, making me feel like I was in Punjab. The Vegetable Korma was a delightful blend of vegetables in a rich, creamy sauce, and the Biryani was a flavor explosion. To finish on a sweet note, the Kulfi was the perfect dessert, and the Bun with Pav Bhaji was a tasty and comforting choice. The service was excellent, and the ambiance added to the overall pleasant experience. Nirmal's definitely offers a culinary journey worth taking!🍽️👌
From a foodie:
One large room with minimum sound dampening.
They did not have a chicken tikki, so I asked for something similar. The waiter said to order the Saoji Chicken Rassa. ($29) Which is similar to chicken tikki except with the bone in.
I received two chicken drumsticks.
And a bowl of white rice. It was pretty spicy which I did not mind. I also added a side of butter naan.($5)
The chicken was very tender and tasty, rice was a bit clumpy. The butter naan was not buttery and tasted like plain naan.
Overall it was a decent meal but not really filling. One more price of chicken would have been better for the price.
Unfortunately, the serving size would probably make me look elsewhere in the future. It is only a chicken drumstick.
Good luck to you and thanks for reading!
Went here for lunch. They have a thali, which is a set lunch with a few items (see photo). Everything tasted quite good. All the dishes were well executed and nothing was innovative/unusual. Their chai tea was very good and could be served without sugar.
Got the goat curry with garlic naan. Both were delicious. Got to try out a dessert cheese thing, pretty good, never thought of cheese as a dessert item before but it was nice.
The Thalis for lunch is the best lunch in Seattle. $15 and today i got these 5 cups and naan. The cups rotate and seems like they’re mostly curries. One is rice, one is a dessert. They’ll refill any cups for you too! The quality of food is outstanding, and the quantity is limitless. Seriously the best lunch in Seattle. Do yourself a favor and try it! Lunch is 11-2 Monday-Friday here!
Fine dining meets Indian as Chef Mayur Thapa combines different regional Indian cuisines for a unique culinary experience. My partner and I love Indian food and this is some of Seattles best. We’ve been a few times and tried a variety of foods on the menu, they do specials and they’re always worth a try. We loved everything, but the roti (you might, it just wasn’t for us). The vegetable kofta curry is a great vegetarian/ healthy option and the ice cream is a must so save room for dessert!
My family had great evening tonight. Food was great and staff was friendly. Our waiter Jordy was nice.
Amazing experience eating at Nirmals. They have good Indian food with a balance of flavors. Ambience is nice to celebrate large group of birthdays or meetups.
Food - try the misal and paneer appetizer. Misal is spicy ..almost true to its taste. Try the bharwan Mirchi.. there are 3 peppers stuffed with paneer and cheese. It comes in huge quantity and can suffice 3 people easily.
Dessert - definitely try chocolate cake and chickoo ice cream. That combination is heaven
A must visit if you are in the area.
Pro tip - if you are walking from the 3 rd ave, just be careful as the area might get shady at late evenings. Highly recommend doing an Uber!
I liked their street food! Particularly the vada pav! My friends liked their misal pav and stuffed bell pepper. I tried the chocolate cake and chikoo ice cream - I didn’t love the cake. The ice cream was a bit too sweet - but! I absolutely loved the chikoo flavor coming through in the ice cream!! I’d definitely recommend the ice cream! 🙂
The hosts were gracious to find us a table though we didn’t have a reservation, just had to wait for ~10-15 minutes. It may’ve been a day off - but taking orders was a bit slow and I didn’t get my chai(wasn’t billed for it ultimately though).
I never find Maharastrian cuisine-inspired restaurants in the USA. I’d definitely recommend this place for trying out the cuisine and then decide as you go! 🙂
Absolutely delicious! A new favorite! Service was impeccable. Go early if you can… before lunch rush hits! We had the meat version of the lunch platter (Thali). My husband and I could not pick our favorite out of the 3 offerings. I believe one was chicken Tikka masala (but I am probably wrong 🤦🏼♀️). Don’t want to take away from the other dishes with my naïveté, so I will just say that each one was full of flavor and like tasting heaven with each bite. Definitely sounds melodramatic, but I don’t know what else to say about the perfection I experienced today. Bottom line is, if you enjoy Indian cuisine, this is a must visit. I already told my husband I want to have a meal there at least once a month.
Addressing the negative reviews concerning their service and staffing… yes, this is a very busy place if you go during peak hours, and they have limited staff… but that should be a non-issue if you value quality food. The awesomeness of the food far outweighs any deficits in the service.
This fine-dine Indian restaurant has the best quality food. The misal pav that we ordered was just delicious and the best. I was happy to see the Indian rum, Old Monk on the menu that was mixed with mango flavors for the cocktail, just what an Indian needs. I also loved their kebabs, fresh and tasty. The owner is super-friendly and also came to have a conversation with us to know the reviews and talk more about us. Really loved the hospitality and the food. 10/10 recommend!
Translating the different flavors of Indian cuisine in prepared food is no mean feat and this restaurant succeeds in doing so. Some of the rice in the goat biryani were undercooked but the raita was delicious! The pieces of meat used were tender and juicy. The pompano fry was perfect! The service was friendly and very welcoming. The owner takes a genuine interest in his customers. The exposed brick decor beings a sense of warmth to the place.
Jackson Hong (xenoverse)
+4
I first came to this restaurant with my coworkers after an offsite meeting and they blew me away with the food. That’s why I took my wife here since she loves Indian food and naan.
The restaurant is very close to pioneer square and is in a part of the city that some may find uncomfortable in at night. It seemed to be the only restaurant store open on the street when we arrived. There is very limited street parking but a pay parking lot is just around the corner.
We love their interior decor. It seems many restaurants in the Seattle area prefer to have this type of decor, perhaps due to many of them in older buildings with brick walls.
The service was good and the staff there were very attentive to our needs. We ordered our favorite garlic naan. It was good but I wish I had a little stronger garlic taste. The other dishes were a lamb and beef based which I don’t recall the exact name. One of them had a special side pita type of bread and it was very tasty.
Overall I highly recommend this place for anyone who loves Indian food.
Wow, just wow! I came in with several folks who know Indian food growing up and/or visiting India. We've been to places that call themselves authentic but somehow they get muddled in a fusion confusion. This is no fusion, and it's the real deal according to my peers. Very rarely can you sit down and witness food take someone back several years back home and bring such joy to someone. This definitely did the trick. As someone not proficient in any if the foods, I tried it all and was blown away. The flavors were on a whole different level than I'm familiar with and found myself digging right in. It's almost not fair at how good this food was, and I'll 100% be back again.
Truly artesanal interpretations of Indian dishes!
This is one of my favorite restaurants around town. In fact, it was on my list the moment I knew I was coming back to town. The Alu Vadi (rolled taro leaves) was an incredible starter choice - never had anything like it! The Bharwan Simla Mirch was divine… so much flavor extracted from a pepper dish!! The Kadhai Massala had the perfect amount of heat and went especially great with Garlic Naan (irresistible)! Oh, and great drink selection - even some of the cocktails were laced with signature Indian spices/elements.
Our server, Misha, was the best!! Super kind, very funny, and very attentive. We mentioned our affinity to this place and he hooked us up with some complimentary ice cream, which tasted so unique! Dessert will be a must next time around.
One of the best restaurants around - be sure to make a reservation!
An error has occurred! Please try again in a few minutes