Royal Malabar

We LOVED this place! It’s our first experience with Keralan food, so I don’t know if it warrants 5 stars (sorry if it messes up the streak, but this is a good HONEST review), but we are definitely coming back again! We couldn’t believe this kind of place exists in Glenview – right around where my husband grew up, and you know my MIL never set foot in here! We’re adventurous eaters and are travelling to Kerala this winter and had a lot of questions for the lovely woman in the front, who graciously took care of us while juggling a stream of customers who were coming in for their fix – all of them speaking what I assume was Malayalam. The food was delicious – very spicy and rich and different from most of the other Indian food we’ve eaten, even traditional south Indian food. We’ll be making this a regular stop in the future. Thank you so much for sharing your food and culture with us!

Malabar catering is great for any size party!!! William is the man to deal with! He will take care of all his customers! Anything from small get togethers, all the way to big engagement parties! Great working with malabar!

Reminds me of the great discoveries in the hinterlands of the New Jersey South Asian scene. Unpromising strip mall with amazing food. A whole parallel world where Kerala cuisine is supplied to locals who seem to know the secret menu (no menu visible, cash only). Try anything, it was all great. Take out only. Tiny parking lot. Cater food for a party from here for sure. Nothing like this on Devon or elsewhere in Chicago (land)

Keralite (from the state of Kerala) food is a rather elusive gem, and you won’t find it anywhere on Devon or anywhere that I know of in the city limits. This place isn’t really a restaurant, it’s a catering business that sells the extra food they make each day. As a result, if you want to ensure that they’ll actually have items to buy, you should get there earlier .
While I know quite a bit about most south asian cuisines, I’m least familiar with food from Kerala, which is a shame because it’s a truly unique cuisine that is informed by a confluence of several cultural traditions (Arabs, Portuguese, local, Tamil, etc). From what I understand, their English skills are there, but limited. Luckily, I went with someone who could speak to them via Tamil (it’s similar to enough to Malayalam). That being said, they are very friendly and answered all our questions patiently. For instance, they gave us for free a few vada type snacky things about which we were asking.
We got almost everything they had to offer, and I was impressed. Since I don’t know the exact names of the items, I don’t want to spend the time dissecting each. However, suffice it to say that this food reminds of home-​cooked food prepared by someone who is an amazing cook. For example, the food isn’t «light» — they certainly use oil, and coconut oil is the traditional cooking fat in Kerala. However, despite the richenes of the food, the dishes are completely balanced, and they don’t seem oily at all. This is in stark contrast to a lot of other desi places on Devon, where you can see the oil floating on the top of the dish. All in all, I was really impressed. The food is amazing and would go more often if I was closer.
FYI — cash only.

If you want to cater Indian food for a dinner party, a family event, or you simply want a few small plates-​worth of Indian food for family dinner — Royal Malabar (originally known as Malabar Foods) is the place to go. They have a large kitchen area in the back, and are heavily staffed by many Malayalees from South Kerala. This isn’t like your typical Indian food establishment where they serve you — instead you only order carryout. This way you get to spend more $$ on a HUGE serving size (trust me, you’re going to be surprised how big the servings are).
Now as far as ordering goes, that’s where it gets interesting. This review is going to be helpful to those who have had Indian food before. The fact of the matter is, since all the employees are born/​bred in India before coming here over the past decade, they know how to make EVERY and ANY kind of indian dish. I kid you not. All you have to do is call them and ask them what they are currently making in the kitchen, or tell them what you’d like, and how you’d like it prepared, and they will do just that. Your order turnaround time depends on the size and is roughly a half hour if you ordered a family size serving, or a few hours if you need catering for an event.
Now here is just a list of some general dishes that people like to order from here (and I’ve had all of them):
–Samosas are a great appetizer, you can get veggie or meat stuffed in them, and they go great for serving a small work group or to eat during coffee or tea time.
–Eythaka Appum (fried banana) is also a great appetizer that they make at this establishment, and one of my childhood favorites. It is literally a banana that is fried and prepared in such a way that it has a soft outer shell that’s delicious to munch into.
–Biryani is a common order for people catering to a family dinner party or such; basically Indian fried rice with pieces of chicken and moderate vegetables mixed in.
–Butter Chicken (chicken makhni) is a common favorite, and I almost always mention it in every Indian restaurant I review, and goes great with pieces of bread like naan, porottha, chapathi, all of which are also great to serve at a family dinner party.
Now if you have no idea what you want, I would highly suggest that you just walk into the store with a $ 10-​$ 20 bill and an appetite. They have different serving sizes’ of appetizers and entrees that were made fresh a few hours ago, and are put in the freezer for Indian families to come, grab, and go. They almost always have a free sampler for guests to walk in and try as well!