Kalia Indian Cuisine & Sports Lounge — Restaurant in Washington

Went with a fairly large group and we needed 2 separate tables to accommodate everyone which was fine. They were expecting us and that went smoothly. I ordered the saag gosht curried lamb and some plain naan bread. The food arrived in decent time given the group size though we were waiting some time to order beforehand. When ordering there was some confusion about naan coming with the entrees or separate and it does NOT come with but reasonable at 1.99 for the bread. The naan was good not crunchy or soggy just right. The entrée was 12.99 also quite a good price. The lamb was probably a bit overcooked for my taste though the sauce quite acceptable at level 5 of 6 spice. It has been a while since I have had Indian food and I was expecting perhaps more green separation since this dish has spinach but it is in the sauce only. This is where I felt the waitstaff could have usefully upsold by suggesting a side salad or something with bright colours (orange peppers/tomatoes?) to offset the fairly dull appearance of the dish. White rice was included and I would have used another gain maybe multi-colour (wild). I ordered a chai tea which was correctly served towards the end of the meal and was of good temperature and spice balance though the mug could have been a little bigger. In contrast, the food served could have been slightly hotter in temperature particularly the lamb. The ambience of the restaurant is not great but I focused on the people around me and the food and also was not facing the single tv playing Indian entertainment in the back of the room. It blended and was at a decent volume. The décor was ok....it's in a strip mall what can you expect? Service after the initial wait to order was very good with waters being refilled frequently and staff thus available tableside for any other needs. We had a large group so it is understandable the waiter asked which dish went to whom and also the separate cheques (though I was handed someone else's bill which I quickly sorted out)...

I am giving this 4 stars only because if there was a half star level I would give it 3.5 due to food balance issue (see comment about salad and food colours). But 3 is too inadequate due to service level.

A photo menu might be a good idea because I am sure there are other dishes that would be more...

Kalia Lynnwood just opened up on 10/3/24 and we had the great privilege to get take out from them tonight! I got to chat with the owner, Harvey, for a while as I waited for our amazing food to be prepared and he was very friendly and informative. He told me they make all the food from scratch on site and they are very glad to be open in Lynnwood again after they had to move from their old spot near the mall since the light rail got built.

The food is all so delicious! We don’t normally order quite as much food as we did today but we were excited to welcome them to their new location and wanted to try a bunch of different things and you can never go wrong with leftovers! We got Mango lassis: vv good, quite sweet Masala chai so yummy - add your own sweetener as it seemed to be unsweetened (which I prefer!) Garlic naan: it was “kind of thin but tasty” according to my husband (I don’t eat gluten so I don’t have my own review on this one) Veggie pakora (gluten free) nicely cooked and came with really yummy tamarind and cilantro chutneys Aloo mutter good, needed a little salt but I prefer to add salt rather than wish it wasn’t overly salty, myself Chicken butter masala: Yum! This was a winner with the whole family Lamb jalfrezi: vv good Mango chicken curry AMAZING!!! Honestly the very best mango curry I’ve ever had. We were all very happy with this dish. Annnd they even threw in a free dessert, thank you! Gulab jamun: according to the gluten eaters: so tasty, 5 stars!

The restaurant has a nice big open dining room with lots of windows and a bar on one wall. There’s plenty of parking. The owner and staff are all very friendly and helpful. I’m so glad they’re up...

2ND VISIT UPDATE - Came in today for the lunch special and was so very pleased with the service and quality of the food. They nailed my spice level at a 3.5-4 and it was delicious. This tastes so full of flavor and fresh ingredients.

Was again provided impeccable service by the owner. Friendly, kind, informative, and very clearly takes pride in his restaurant and the food they put forth within their community.

We will be back regularly.

OG Review

I'm new to the area and was craving Indian food earlier today. So I figured I would try the closest one to me and man was I glad that I did.

We had prompt and fabulous service. Our food was delicious and came spiced according to each of our wishes. My partner is very much a white people spice level 0, whereas I trend towards a "make it for me how you'd make it for your family at home" regardless of the spice level charts because they're so subjective and they got both pretty much perfectly.

My lamb vindaloo was tender, flavorful, and saucy. My partner had the paneer mango curry and it was also very tasty. We split a bread basket and an order of the veggie samosas as well. Both were well executed.

The potato naan was a big hit 🎯 with my partner whose never had it before but they were not a fan of the garlic naan, but that just meant more for me.

The veggie samosas were recommended by our server and they were freshly made and prepared. The veggies had a great combination of flavors and just the right amount of seasonings to taste each individual ingredient.

Pricing is reasonable and portions are normal sized.

We'll be back to try out their quick service style lunch special in the...