Annapurna Cafe — Restaurant in Seattle

"Have you tried Annapurna?" asked my German friend when I complained to him about the lack of Indian restaurants that serve food that an Indian would appreciate! I took his word and decided to give this place a try. I tried 5 times over 4 months before finally getting a table here without being told that the wait time was some absurd number! You know how people say that the world talks to your through daily events? Clearly in this case the world was asking me to stay the heck away from here! Don't get me wrong, this is probably the way a guy who only enjoys Indian food would feel here, and being a vegetarian severely stunts my options. Maybe if you aren't Indian or if you enjoy cuisines of the world and you consume meat you may enjoy the place, but I can only assume the best for you.

Let's get to the best part, the food, did I say best? Scratch that. The worst part, the food, as a vegetarian the menu was pretty scarce in the number of options I had. We ordered samosas, maas do baara for appetizers and chana masala with poori, we also ordered vegetable kofta. The waiter asked if we wanted 3 samosas instead of the 2 they regularly serve since we were a party of 3, I really appreciate that! Anyway the chai arrives and it's gross, absolute disappointment :( they put atleast 300% more cardamom than required! I'm still keeping my calm and I tell the waiter that it's kinda bad and there is too much spice in it to which he just scoffs at me and says it's pre-made and walks away. I decide to leave the chai for the trash. The maas do baara was a very poor attempt at making Hara bhara kabab which is a famous Indian delicacy, but that's ok it was still edible. The real kick came with the poori and the accompanying dishes, the poori was gravely undercooked! The thickness reminded me of the carpet sellers on Indian streets selling really thick tough carpets! Nobody wanted the carpets, nobody wanted this poori either! The chana masala was pretty decent, the kofta was a dish that was as sweet as dessert and frankly just tasteless. We took a vow to never go here again and always choose saffron grill when we don't want to experiment with the food.

If you like the food I respect your opinion but this is definitely not a place for a simple desi boy hoping to eat some delicious authentic Indian or...

This place smells like heaven. Every time I exit the light rail exit here, the aroma of garlic, chili, curry, and freshly baked naan would lift my appetite immediately.

We came in on a Tuesday night and was seated immediately in the basement Yeti Bar. I'm not a fan of the dim lighting, makes it harder to read the menu as well as distinguish certain like-colored curries from another. Despite it being a basement, the air did not feel stuffy or warm for it being a mild summer night in July. Though I don't know how the basement would feel if it was on a night during the heatwave. They do have a dining area on the ground level a long with a small patio, though I believe the ground level closes earlier than the basement area.

From the menu, we ordered chili momo (seasonal special), paneer naan, motuk soup, Khasi ko masu, and I believe the lamb Madras. For someone who had a decent spice tolerance (extra hot at Dave's hot chicken felt mild, struggled with the reaper level), the curries at hot felt great. I especially liked the chili momo's texture. The skin was much more structurally sound than a soup dumpling and the stuffing melted once inside the mouth. The paneer naan comes presliced into 8 pieces. I recommend tackling the naan earlier to avoid it getting cold, or eat it along with curries for best experience.

There is no need to tip at this joint and they have a very helpful disclaimer when they send out the check stating that there is an automatic 15% service fee and customers do not need to tip. I would've preferred the service fee to be eliminated and just reflected in the menu price instead, though I still prefer restaurants that remove tips and offer workers a...

I wanted to love Annapurna Cafe after a mishap nearby with a restaurant not being open, but sadly it was just an okay experience food-wise.

The restaurant specializes in Indian, Nepalese, and Tibetan cuisine from the mountainous regions. While I usually go some apps and a curry, the selection of Tibetan dishes definitely intrigued me so I differed from my usual orders... and that was probably a slight mistake on my end.

We tried their Annapurna Curry with Tofu, the Tibetan Vegetable Thukpa soup, and a Stuffed Paratha. The curry felt very watery and unflavored to the point of it being almost too bland. Paratha was flaky but also bland to us. The thukpa was probably the biggest disappointment. It tasted like a bland vegetable soup that you could throw together at home so I regretted not going for another type of daal or curry.

I also noticed their menu was confusing when it came to labeling what was vegetarian or vegan. They'd go back and forth either listing an item as 'vegan' or using a symbol, or not at all on items I was confident would be vegan friendly.

While the food was bland, I did find the ambiance quite nice with the restaurant being on a lower level and the staff creating quite the mood lighting for us.

Perhaps these dishes were just misses on our end and they have other great items to try. Hopefully if you come, you'll have a better food experience...