Taste of Mumbai — Restaurant in Seattle

My husband and I went to Taste of Mumbai around noon for the lunch buffet and were surprised to see that we were the only ones there. The space is nice and inviting, and looks like it would be a great place to bring friends and family. We both really enjoyed our meals and thought the food tasted fresh, flavorful, and authentic. The saag paneer was amazing with just the right ratio of spinach/sauce to large pieces of paneer and the naan was freshly baked and warm with a nice slather of butter/ghee (perfection!). My husband loved the tandoori chicken and vegetable pakora. It was a particularly cold day so the hot masala chai was the icing on the cake. I would recommend they serve the gulab jamun warm and maybe add some rose water, cardamom, and chopped pistachio for garnish. Service was pretty good - I think they are still working out some kinks but getting there and all of the staff were really polite and eager to help with anything. I only have three issues/recommendations...1) Lack of restaurant front signage; it still has the former place's name...storefront sign is still a form of marketing and the owners should take advantage of it, plus it's easier to find that way. It's a big deal for an Indian restaurant, particularly a good Indian restaurant, to make its way into West Seattle (not a lot of good options around) so they should make the restaurant name really obvious! 2) change the serving bowls with dishes on the buffet table so the lids are attached and can be easily lifted and closed, rather than having a top that comes off completely and then trying to find a place to put it down as you are also trying to get food out of the bowl. Also add some lights above the buffet table - it was dark and hard to read the sign for each dish. 3) Lunch buffet was pricey! I think it came out to like $23/person but probably appropriate for Seattle (my Midwest roots say it's a big no no lol). Anyway, all in all, great experience and highly recommend eating here. We look forward to coming...

I rarely review Indian places in the Seattle area because they're mostly mediocre and I leave too disappointed to be motivated to review them, but I was thoroughly impressed with Taste of Mumbai and want to keep them in business for as long as possible - so I'm spreading the good news.

I was raised on South Indian food and while I didn't grow up eating all the dishes that Taste of Mumbai provides, I've eaten/made several versions of most of them throughout my life. So I feel somewhat qualified to rate the authenticity of their dishes.

We tried the Mysore dosa, Kerala fish curry, chicken 65, gobi manchurian, and rasmalai. Everything was top notch and I would definitely eat any of them again. The gobi manchurian was maybe the weakest because it was a little sweeter than I prefer, but still delicious. The mysore dosa and the fish curry were medium/medium-high spicy depending on your palate - so be forewarned there. For me, the spice level on everything was perfect. From my very limited experience of eating food in Kerala - all the food there tends to be quite spicy, so I felt like they appropriately scaled back the spice level enough for a broader appeal. If you can't handle spice though, would certainly ask them if the dishes you order can be made mild - do not assume they'll be mild if you say nothing :)

Back to my rating the food - the fish curry was not exactly my mom's curry but a variant that I have had from another family member and really enjoy, so I felt they nailed that. The dosa was perfect in texture and flavor, no notes. The chicken 65 could've been a little crispier but I loved it and appreciated that it wasn't crazy spicy like when I had it in Kerala. The rasmalai is quite sweet (most Indian desserts are) but if you like tres leches cake and you like cardamom then you'll...

My first time trying out this restaurant. I got takeout and was having a tough time on the site so, I called. The gentleman I spoke with was awesome and very attentive. He said they were having issues with the network and to not order online, I ordered with him.

-coconut basil curry (paneer) medium spicy -aloo gobi (hot) -papadum -chili naan -samosas

My order was ready for me as promised when I showed up and the staff was super nice. The person handing me my bag confirmed my order via the ticket stapled to the bag, it was correct so I paid and left.

When I got home, what was supposed to be coconut curry wasn’t quite that. It was something else and it was extremely salty. The aloo gobi wasn’t salty which was a plus but it was incredibly bland and not at all spicy, there was even a random piece of mango in there which was really hard and took me by surprise. Lastly, the naan was totally missing and was forgotten, again super big bummer.

Super bummed considering I took a chance on a new place and despite all the good reviews, the food I had was a waste of time. Really nice folks who run the place but the food totally missed the mark. For spending almost $60, I really...