Madurai Express Fremont — Restaurant in Seattle

Indian food is something I would definitely say is close to my heart and not a lot of Indian restaurants around PNW are experimental or doing something unique so when Rasai popped up on my recommendations I was excited to try them . I made reservations because Friday Evenings are notorious and I really was looking forward to eating here . We walked in on time and alas , our table was not ready . No explanation or any estimate on how long it will be .. the guy at the counter told us to just wait !!! We waited for a while and had to ask a few times before they finally sat us down after 20 minutes . So the point of the reservation is moot!!! The restaurant is pretty small but has a nice intimate vibe. The seats are very cramped, and it get loud if you are seated next to a big group. The menu looked very inviting, and we had a hard time deciding what to pick. We had - Jackfruit Bao– It was good but texture wise it was not what I was expecting . This had a more minced than crunchy texture for the filling . It did taste good. Chipotle Paneer – Nothing special about this one Fig Kofta – This was one dish that we all loved and from the flavor of the curry to the melt in mouth koftas , this dish was ten on ten Lamb Ossubucco – Tangy and more stew like ,so not so much Indian flavors in my opinion , that doesn’t mean that the dish was not delicious . However , if you are looking for a traditional Indian gravy this is not the menu item for you. Sage Naan /Roast Beef and Chorizo Naan /Umami Naan Rabri Tiramisu- definitely wouldn’t recommend. The cream had a very weird consistency that brought the whole dessert down with it . Cocktails - Shikanji ,Kala Khatta Sangria,Mango Vesper,Rasai Old Fashioned - Loved the Sangria and Shikanji . Traditional Flavors married with great alcohol choices . The Rasai Old fashioned was the only dampener as it was more gimmicks than taste .

The service was extremely bad and I can say that all in my party felt it. From being downright uncourteous about the reservations , Pushing us to order as soon as we sat down ,to slamming plates on the table , messing up our order and not getting it fixed for a long time – it was a shi* show as far as the service staff goes. If you charge prices for a high end Indian restaurant and charge an automatic gratuity on every bill please at least train your staff to not snatch plates from peoples hand and slam things on the table. I understand things happen and some evenings can be busy but a smile or a simple explanation goes a long way and the wait staff here is so indifferent to their own bad behavior that it kind of brings the whole...

Gave Rasai another try after alot of great reviews and my not-so-good dine-in experience a month ago. This time we walked in on a Thursday night for dinner. The restaurant dint seem busy and there was plenty of seating available. Vicky - the person at the front desk was really nice, warm and welcoming. My husband and I were hungry so directly ordered some food and drinks:

Drinks: Afza (mocktail) & Kewra Smash (cocktail) Appetizers: Jackfruit Bao (the best) Main Course: Seared Sea Bass (really good) & Paneer and cactus roll (good flavors) Sides: Bread sampler (this was good) Desserts: Dates pudding with chai ice cream and butterscotch (delicious)

Jackfruit Bao - this appetizer is by far my favorite at Rasai. The flavors are spot on and omg I cannot believe that was jackfruit. The best dish. Seared Sea Bass would melt in your mouth. This time around this was another favorite dish we devoured. perfectly cooked and seasoned fish with a mild yet flavorful gravy. The paneer and cactus roll was delicious too. The gravy seemed like a nice makhani curry and all the spices and flavors were on point. The paneer and cactus rolls are filling. We ordered the bread sampler so we can relish the gravies that came along with both our main course dishes. Now for the desserts, the last time I was here I was not fond of the broken matka so based on Vicky's recommendation, we tried the dates pudding and it was the best we had. Nice soft moist warm dates cake (pudding) with chai ice cream (very mild but u can taste the chai) with butterscotch crumbs. This dessert was truly an icing on the cake. Highly recommend. As always the cocktails were amazing tried the Kewra Smash and enjoyed it. The mocktail was tasty too.

Presentation of food is over the top. Every dish is presented beautifully so 10/10 for presentation. The food looks great and this time it tasted amazing as well. Service was top notch and our food did come out pretty quick. I am okay waiting for my food as long as I know it is fresh and it did seem freshly prepared so no complaints. The prices are definitely on the higher side but thats what you pay for at a fine dining restaurant. This is not your traditional indian restaurant so if that is what you are looking for look else where. Rasai has added an innovative twist to traditional indian dishes. This time around - food was great, service was awesome, cocktails were amazing. All in all had a great dining experience. I am glad I gave you guys at Rasai another try. Cant wait to taste those delicious jackfruit baos and seared...

My partner and I had dinner here and overall we were unimpressed. The food was presented nicely, but the quality was not worth the price, and the service was overly attentive to the point of making us uncomfortable. We were asked for our drink order about 30 seconds after the menus were handed to us, and then again within a minute or 2. Normally I think attentive service is a plus, but in this case it felt like we were being constantly cajoled into ordering more - my partner declined to order a cocktail, so they nudged her towards ordering their $8 mango lassi. After ordering our main food they also nudged us to order sides and bread, and our relatively basic seasonal bread plate plus raita were $20 total - which is more than anyone should ever spend on bread at a restaurant. My $15 cocktail sounded interesting - a mix of tequila and mezcal and some herbs, but all I could taste was the tequila with some fruit.

My partner and I are ok eating an indulgent meal every now and then if the food quality matches the price, but unfortunately that was not the case here. Our appetizer - jackfruit bao buns ($18) - was mixed; the filling and ingredients were nicely spiced but the bun itself tasted like it had been sitting in a refrigerator overnight - the texture was extremely unpleasant like tough rubber. My halibut entree ($32) was quite disappointing - the texture of the fish was almost mealy and the fish itself didn't have much flavor apart from the odd combination of pesto and coconut curry they paired it with. I'm not sure whether that's related to the quality of the fish they used or the preparation.

The biggest strength of this restaurant seems to be presentation - both entrees were quite attractive looking. The best thing we ordered was the tiramisu we ordered for dessert, and even for that it came with whipped cream that tasted like cool whip.

We can't really claim that the overall price was a surprise given the prices are clearly on the menu (around $200 with their automatically-included 20% gratuity, which could be easy not to notice on the bill), but the quality of the meal was not even close to being worth that. We are responsible for deciding to order everything we ordered, but we were nudged into some of those regrettable decisions by their uncomfortably attentive servers ($20 for bread...). It's possible we ordered poorly and there are some great dishes that we missed, but there was enough that put us off from the restaurant that I don't think we'd be willing to give it...