NIRMAL'S — Restaurant in Seattle

Tl;dr: The food is great, but definitely ask for salt if you feel that anything is under-seasoned. It's not the spices that are lacking - it's salt. Spice levels cannot be adjusted, but that's fine because they're authentic. Ask your server about the spiciness if that's a concern. Service can be improved. The ambiance is excellent.

Notes to the staff - if they're reading this: Please make the chai less intense. It was not very enjoyable because of how strong it was. Please do not have lilies on the tables as decoration. Literally any other flower is okay. Lilies are extremely toxic to cats - so much so that if some pollen gets on someone's clothes, and a pet cat later rubs against these clothes and ingests it while grooming themselves, it can cause a serious, if not fatal, reaction. I was extremely worried about this and was thankfully seated at a table without the flowers.

This place is seriously understaffed. They need to hire more people because, during rush hours, you'll have a tough time getting the staff's attention.

Make a reservation - especially on weekends. It was packed, and my partner and I had to wait 30 minutes to get a table even though we had a reservation. Once seated, we waited an additional 10-15 minutes for the table to be attended to.

Now, coming to the food: We got the misal pav for starters, paneer makhan masala and saoji chicken rassa for mains, and the chikoo ice cream for dessert. We also got mango lassi and Hindi 75. The spice levels cannot be customised, so if you cannot tolerate spice, get yourself a mango lassi or some yogurt for your meal. If you don't have a problem with spice, or if you're south Asian like me, have no fear. The levels are authentic.

Mango Lassi - 500/10. It was amazing. Definitely order this.

Hindi 75 - This left a weird aftertaste that wasn't very enjoyable. Mango and lime is not a flavour combination I would say is great.

Misal Pav - Spicy, hot, and overall delicious. Did it taste like misal? I would say no. It tasted more like misal made with pav bhaji spices.

Paneer Makhan Masala - There was a severe lack of salt in this dish. Even the roti had zero salt, so it felt very underwhelming. There were no salt shakers on the table, and for some reason, I didn't ask for them. However, I took the leftovers home, added a bunch of salt, and heated it up - and it was freakin' delicious.

Saoji Chicken Rassa - Extremely flavourful. My partner devoured this dish.

Chikoo Ice Cream - Very tasty and tasted exactly like chikoo.

We also got some chai to end our dinner, which was on the house. The chai was extremely strong - I'm not sure if this was because we were close to the end of service or if it was simply...

I really do not know where to start the review. we spent $1200 for Team dinner (Group of 12, south/north Indians). we ordered almost every item on the menu thinking that at least we can find one tasty food item, but everyone failed to at least one!

Fish Fry: Too salty. maybe they dumped salt and chili powder top of fish. No one felt they are tasting fish fry. We had returned the ordered fish fry, which never came back fixed

Chicken lollypops: this is another disaster food item. No salt and no taste. It’s just raw chicken dipped in batter and fried. This is Zero taste.

vada pav: we can play baseball with vada. I really felt we need send this guys to India to train on cooking.

Tandoori Chicken: Same as Fish fry. Salty and with lots of chili powder. Salty means its not just salty, you have to drink a large glass of water to get rid of saltness from your tastebuds

Chicken Angare/ Afghani Chicken Sheekh Kebab: I do not remember which item we ordered in these two. But after eating this dish, I could recollect my school days (eating rubber erasers). I am sorry, I can’t describe this item taste and still I am googling to find some words for tasteless food.

Samosa: only fried at top, may be they forgot to cook inside. We had to eat only samosa shells.

Broccoli: I am sorry, I can’t describe this item taste as I am speechless

Nizami Goat Curry/ Rogan Josh: again not sure which item we ordered. This is very very little better. Gravy is not great, but at least I can feel goat flavor. Its like cooked goat and mixed with curry

Goat Hyderabadi Biryani: Every person from Hyderabad will make full of fun if we say this is Hyderabadi Biryani. May be we can rename it goat malsa rice and that too I can easily find masla, goat in this dish the rice is missing. I personally felt this is pure masala with missing meat.

Veg Biryani: I can hear the sound of the rice serving rice. Such a dry veg biryani..

The best part is consistency maintaining the tastelessness in every dish. Kudos to chef..!

Finally. Everyone is very happy with their ice creams and flavors. We really re-ordered again. This is the only best part and amazing in this place. I would give 5 out of 5 for ice cream flavors and deserts. But Zero rating for food and taste.

My colleagues suggested this place as best Indian food in seattle downtown. But ended up with disastrous experience. I do not think anyone in this group will try...

We left this restaurant with really mixed feelings. I've never felt compelled to write a review before but this was just so unusual. First off the food was excellent. Unique flavours that were complex and with a generous portion of Naan. The goal of showcasing different types of flavor profiles was well achieved.

The prices overall felt somewhat high, so we didn't feel like we could try more than one dish which is usually how we like to enjoy Indian food. The portions were big for the appetizers (4 samosas) but for two of us 4 was too many and the price was off-putting for samosas. The curry portions were also large but again seems a shame for a two person meal that we couldn't try more things.

I understand they are trying to foster a fine dining experience and unique flavor profiles to justify the cost, but the atmosphere was so incongruous with that model that it was impossible to enjoy the meal. First off, the restaurant was freezing, the tables around us were wearing their parkas and we were shivering just waiting for our food. The bright lighting and trestle table style seating made it feel more like a BBQ joint rather than a fine dining experience. Finally the bathroom condition was inexcusable for a restaurant at this price point. You had to go into a (freezing cold) hallway and the bathroom was covered in graffiti and roach butts. Again, not a problem for a cheap lunch spot but completely discordant with the price point. Finally the service was mediocre. No one checked on us after we received our food, asked how the meal was or checked if we needed anything else. The bill was brought just as a small slip of paper, no clipboard or folder or even decorative paper weight. It was so bizarre. No one apologized for the temperature in the building or seemed concerned that all of the guests were still wearing their jackets. Overall the food quality was good, but it was overpriced and the atmosphere prohibited us from...