Shalimar

Probably the best restaurant on the ave. It’s delicious and not too pricey, and the staff are very nice. I definitely recommend the thali— it comes with an entrée, sides, rice, naan, and dessert for only $ 10!

The kitchen is regularly sloppy. Last week, two of us had the same vegetarian Thali. Mine was all vegetable, no tofu; my companion’s was all tofu, no vegetable. Some attention to detail would go a long way at Shalimar.

Shalimar is nce restaurant and the food is good. The waitress was really nice. She let us order more food even though they were already closed.

We came here with 2 families. Asked the waitress if she had any party platter recommended for our table and size, she suggested the platter that came with Lamb, chicken, and shrimp. She suggested 2 servings would suffice, but it didn’t at all. For our party, we needed to order 4 servings, which alone would have cost $ 100! We ordered the lamb Beriyani, which tasted OK, I have had way tastier Beriyani dishes.
We also ordered the chicken tikka masala for our 4 kids who were under 4, per the waitress’s recommendation 1 serving is «plenty», it came with 5 pcs of chicken breast cubes which were not enough at all. Their naan, although delicious isn’t worth $ 4 per naan! It took them 25 minutes to bring half of our order.
The ambience is nice, but the cuisine and the services are not too notch. They are way overpriced for the portions and the taste.
Definitely not coming back here.

Service is great and atomspher is inviting. I have been a customer for almost 4 years and developed relationships with the owner and waitresses. I will miss this place since I am going back to my country and I hop I take something with me such as a recipe that will remind me of this beautiful place. Best dish for me was Chicken Japuri. It sends your tastebuds to heaven. One critiqu is that the décor is a bit outdated and I believe it will improve the business health if there is remoulding soon.

The food here is his but not great. I always like it, but I never want to tell anyone about it. So it is a satisfying meal, plenty of veggie options, and very friendly owners.

All the ratings given are not by Indian people I guess because the food isn’t authentic Indian food. I had the malai kofota and garlic naan. First off all it was wiered serving Indian food in Italian cusine plates. The naan and the curry were just warm.

It has the very delicious food and premium service，the owner of the restaurant has a kind attitude. My friends and I will come here again soon.

Really horrible Indian food. I can not imagine how can you charge so much for food which tastes so bad. The server seemed totally disinterested. There are already no good Indian places in Seattle. Only people who don’t know what Indian food should taste like have given this place good rating. But believe me, I grew up in India and spent 22 years of my life there. None of the places back home or here have served such bad food. Really disappointed.

One liner: Pleasantly surprised by 2 things: the portion size, and the atmosphere. The price was the big downside. The food was fine, though have had better butter chicken elsewhere. I think my assessment matches pretty closely with others– ok to slightly below ok :)
1. Atmosphere: very nice, clean, spacious and cozy — a lovely respite amidst the busy Udistrict joints. Actually, one of the best ambiances in the area. Very nice and quiet allowing an intimate conversation or a quiet dinner for one. Definitely a HIGHLIGHT!
2. Service: very nice, welcoming, attentive– no complaints here.
3. Food: pretty good with a lot of great options. You must try one of the naans– one of the BIGGEST and BEST naans I’ve ever had. Perfect mix of soft and fluffy, yet nicely toasted, and HUGE. The butter chicken was slightly disappointing, but fine. This is my favorite Indian dish so I’ve tried it at a LOT of places and this just wasn’t buttery or rich enough for me. Still, it was tasty. The vegetarian Jaipuri was quite flavorful and good– would get that again.
4. Price: really, a bit more expensive than any other Indian places in the area, so I honestly don’t think I will return again. It was quite empty, perhaps because of the prices and the population that is served– college students definitely would not be able to regularly afford this.
Overall, good food and good quality– especially the naan. Wonderful atmosphere and service. Prices were the main downside… and not the best butter chicken (though good). (I recommend Cedars of Lebanon).

I love this place! I am (1) vegan and (2) have a nut and coconut allergy, so it’s difficult for me to find restaurants where I feel both safe eating the food, and full afterwards. This place gives me both. The service is fast and the food is so delicious. Let me tell you about when I went there.
I wanted the palak paneer (with tofu instead of paneer), but I wanted it without cream or coconut milk of course. I was told that it wouldn’t be very creamy without either, and I said I was fine with it that way, because you kinda have to just take what you can get at a restaurant when you have so many food restrictions. But the chef was so, so wonderful and accommodating, and they actually made me a special vegan/​nut/​coconut free tofu dish with spinach and lentils and tofu that tasted just as good (maybe even better!) than all the palak paneer that I used to eat before going vegan and I was totally blown away. It was creamy, and spicy, and so flavourful. Also, the portion size was well worth the price, which is always nice when you go out to eat and have to explain to people that vegans aren’t emaciated people living off of tree bark and leaves. Since I couldn’t have the side salad because the dressing wasn’t vegan, I got a side of vegetables that were also quite flavourful, but I don’t remember what it was called.
So yes, I would highly recommend Shalimar for the vegans and omnivores alike in town! I was very impressed and very happy with my experience.

Great food. My colleague knows the owner, so we had pretty good experience with the food and service. Great place!

Before starting, let me tell you that I’m Indian, and so pretty critical of Indian food.
This is more of a 2.5 star review, but rounding up for it’s ambiance.
Went here on a quiet weeknight when the university was not in session. So the place wasn’t too crowded. I was impressed at how well the place is decorated, which is atypical of indian restaurants. The lighting and ambiance is laudable.
Since it wasn’t very crowded, we were attended to quickly. The service was nice and friendly.
However, the food tells a different story. It in no way makes up for the good ambiance and service. The only word for it is «tasteless». We ordered a variety of appetizers and entrees. Almost everything was bland and lacking flavor.
The rogan josh seemed to have a weird taste, and the tikka masala was a bit sweet. It’s texture seemed like they add food grade color to make it look good, a complete turn-​off.
The only good thing was the chole (chick pea curry), which is served as an appetizer here.
The prices are higher than that of other places on the ave, probably because of the décor. But the food in no way warrants the high prices.
Pros: Ambiance, service, good chole
Cons: Lackluster food, expensive prices, better places on the ave
I don’t think I’ll be going there again, except for the time I’m craving chole-​bhature.
There are better, and less expensive places on the ave for good indian food.

Honestly, I don’t think it’s only «OK», it’s probably a 3.5 and better than average.
Ambiance: Better than your average Indian restaurant. The fountain and lighting makes it pretty.
Food: I love the Tandoori Tofu (one of the few places that offers this item). Their dal soup is also good. A little pricey for the Ave but portions are huge. My husband likes the Chicken Biriyani.
Service: The owner is so friendly and does not hesitate to make accommodations if you are vegetarian and you want to eat their buffet which has mostly meat dishes.

They have an extensive menu which I am always tempted by, but their prices are simply off the charts. I understand they have a prime location on the Ave and their beautiful décor isn’t cheap, but their pricing just cannot be realistic. This is what prevents me from eating here more often. The food is good, portions are not massive — they’re enough, and the atmosphere is relaxed and on the quieter side.
There are other Indian restaurants that have good food and are cheaper, although perhaps without the more upscale décor.
But oh well, I’m a sucker for cheap!

+5 plus for atmosphere and decorations.
+2 plus for OK service. (although they will look at you weirdly)
–4 for the food.
–2 for the prices.
I told them their Tikka Masala was too sweet (like dessert), when she asked if everything is good, so the lady told me it suppose to be like that. Well, I have been to quiet some Indian restaurants and I never ever had any curry that was supper sweet like this place. We order 2 curries and naan and the bill end up to be $ 40. So expensive for not good food. I don’t think we ever come back.

They have pretty good Indian food. I ordered their mango Lassy with Butter chicken. I’m pleased here but I have a preference for Ceders which is just up the street. :) If you want to stay closer to campus, this is a great Indian restaurant.
My Personal Restaurant Rating Key
One star: the food was bad and I had a negative experience.
Two star: I had a more negative experience and would not come here again but the food was good so I may.
Three store: Everything is good except one thing. Example-​the food is good, the price is more reasonable but the atmosphere is lacking class. Or the food is good, the atmosphere is good, but they over charged us. These three stars are actually my favorite types of restaurants to go eat at if the reason is due to the atmosphere because they are usually delicious and reasonably priced.
Four stars: Everything is great, food and experience. However the price is definitely on the upper end. I would not recommend this first to Obama unless he didn’t like my five stars. These are restaurants you can take your boss or your mother-​in-​laws to impress them, however they still don’t fit into the five star category. A bit fancier than my three stars, hence I don’t often eat here unless there is an occasion for it or there is a groupon that gives me a bit of a discount!
Five stars: I would recommend this to Obama. The price may be on the upper end but the experience and the taste is so exquisite, it is actually worth every nickel and dime.

I went there as a group for a party the first time and the food was pretty meh with bad surface. But hey, it’s a group, sometimes they screw up. So I went back again.
And the made it worse. The rice was both burnt and undercooked at the same time it seemed — laughably bad. The curry was flavorless, and the guava lassi I had tasted bitter, like they forgot to add the guava and the sugar. My girlfriend and I were giggling as we played with our pathetically bad food before we left.
Just awful.

NEVER AGAIN
Seattle already has terrible Indian food but this is probably the worst I’ve had.
My wife and I went here for dinner on Saturday night and a fair few tables were seated which is usually a good sign; not here.
After a very long wait, we started off with the Spicy Kabob Bites. For $ 8 they give you tiny leftover trimmings of the chicken from other dishes that have been pan cooked with some spices. The only think good about this dish is the chutney on the side.
Also, they brought out our butter chicken entrée with the appetizer but brought out our naan 5 minutes later. Didn’t quite get the point of going that. The butter chicken was horrible. It was basically bland unseasoned cream with food coloring and decently cooked chicken cubes. There’s so little curry that it was nowhere even close to enough for the rice or the naan. For $ 16 that was ridiculous.
The place is a complete rip off. Ridiculously expensive prices for tiny portions (served on large plates to make it look large) of horrible tasting food. I’ve been eating and cooking Indian food my entire life and it’s where I’ve spent the first 22 years of my life. I can guarantee that this is not what it should taste like.
Never going back here again.

Oh, Shalimar. I wanted to love you. I really did. But my first visit after so many years of walking past this restaurant has resulted in sheer disappointment. That’s not to say this place is bad, or that its food is of a low quality. On the contrary, the food may be of a quality too high for me. And in that case, what is a restaurant like this doing on the Ave? I’m in the area so I can fill up on food at a low price. At Shalimar, they haven’t really accomplished that.
I ordered a chicken tikka masala. After a twelve-​minute wait, it arrived and was only okay. The curry seemed a little too heavy and the naan did little to cure my hunger. I was still hungry after eating everything, which is pretty sad when the food is massively overpriced. The total came to $ 19.38 before tip, and that’s like twice as much as a regular meal on the Ave. I do have to say I admire how beautiful this restaurant is, though. They need to put more effort on the food and less effort on the decorations.