Apey Kade

Good food and service — we’ll return.
They did a great job making us Sri Lankan food. We ordered several dishes including lentil curry, potatoes fried, eggplant and chicken curry. All were very well prepared. The yellow rice was great.
Place was pretty busy but parking was good on this Sunday.
Only wish they would take orders for string hoppers on weekends.

Apep Kade and its staff must get the first order of props here. Thank you for being great and serving real Sri’Lankan food.
Man, there was a line almost out the door, and the smell will drive you bananas. Real, good. If we waited, really it was because the food is that well .Sri’Lankan food, taste delicious and nice vibe. The customer service was really nice and helpful. I can’t to go back but if i do, I’m going on a Sunday. I had the deviled beef and the yellow rice, my favorite hot spicy. They have the most amazing and unique way of adding egg to their dishes. All the food is really tasty. So well made,
Thank you everyone at Apey Kade. Yall are amazing!

I’m not a negative person and not the kind of writing reviews. But after this bad evening i felt i had to. I went their with my family 12/​12/​2015 for dinner. we drove all the way from Torrance to this place to have some good, tasty Sri Lankan food.
This is the worst Sri Lankan restaurant I have ever been to. The food really tasteless. I don’t think they know the real taste of Sri Lankan food. I don’t know how they made the Cocount Sambol. No salt, no spice, not even the color. If they cant make coconut sambol, there is no point of talking about other food in the buffet.
The lady who worked over there must learn how to treat and speak to the customers. every time when food ran out from the buffet we had to ask them to refill the food and couple of times she pretend like she didn’t hear and purposely she took her time to re fill the food.
I born and raised in Sri Lanka for 25 years and I know how Sri Lankan food should be. Not only that Sri Lankan are well known for the Hospitality. Please don’t ruin my Beautiful country name making this kind of tasteless food and providing bad customer service.
I would never go again to this place for any reason and I don’t recommend this restaurant, not even to my worst enemy.

Came in for an early lunch on a Wednesday. The only option with the curries was rice or the noodles (iddiyapam). The other non rice dish was pittu, suggested by owner. Tried the pittu meal. Appam or egg hoppers can be only had for lunch, if called 4h in advance, on a weekday. Disappointed that a full restaurant doesn’t have all items (specially bread items) that are listed on the menu and needs advance notice for it!
Anyways, on to the pittu meal. Was made of some kind of flour. Tasted okay. Got the jackfruit curry which was sweet. Normally in India we eat raw jackfruit and ripened sweet jackfruit is eaten as a dessert. Mutton curry was standard and good. The owner was nice and asked me to call ahead next time, for the appams.
Overall, okay experience. Will try their appam next time.

Really good and authentic Sri Lankan food just like my mom makes! Excellent chicken curry and great options to try a lot of different types of traditional Sri Lankan dishes!

Soft spot!
Being half Sri Lankan and visited a number of times, I can confidently say this place is authentic.
I absolutely love this place and is my weak spot. I come here almost every week.
This place is run by a Sri Lankan couple — both are extremely polite and hardworking. They have both a la carter and buffet on select days. They also cater to big orders. I have tried almost everything here and have had only praises and no complaints.
A must try would be hoppers (egg or plain) with spicy chicken, beef, prawn or fish curry.
Their vegetarian selection does not disappoint as well.
It will be a very different experience if you haven’t tried this kind of food.
You must have a thing for chillies cause the food can be spicy, but if it’s made to order, then they do adjust the flavor to cater to your taste buds.

This is the best place in whole California if you want to try out real authentic Sri Lankan food. The owners are always friendly and even when they are super busy. The food is delicious and you cannot go wrong in this place.

Love this place. Spends hours talking with Lalith and Nisa. They always welcome everyone with a smile

This is the real thing.
Spectacularly spicy, varied, balanced and nuanced Sri Lankan food with a very «home cooked» feel. Reminiscent of Indian food but quite different, with Dutch and Portuguese influences. There are things on the menu you won’t see in any Indian restaurant, like «Lampreis», «Watalappan» and «Jaggery Cake».
We asked a patron what he was eating and I thought he said «Lampreys» which sounded intimidating. But «Lampreis» turned out to stand for «lump rice», and is a large ball of rice with sides of meat and vegetables all tied up neatly in a banana leaf. A very traditional «to go» food in Sri Lanka according to Google, and as served at Apey Kade, it was spicy, delicious, interesting and substantial. If you come at off-​hours it may be the quickest thing you get and a great choice.
This is a true Mom’n’Pop place. They work very hard and can get very busy, in which case you will wait. They are super friendly and do their best even when harried and over-​subscribed. Help this place survive: don’t go on rushed days, and don’t expect dinner to be ready before dinner time (around 6pm or after). Other patrons recommended calling in your order ahead of time.
If anyone can recommend an Indian restaurant that is as home-​cooked, sincere and authentic as this Sri Lankan one, please let me know.
I can’t wait to go back.

Pretty great restaurant. Watch out for the posted hours, though. They may be open but they may not be willing to cook off the posted menu. It seems pretty clear that on the weekends if you arrive after three you might be limited in your options until dinner gets started, in earnest, at 6. They had lamprais available before then, though, so I was able to snag one and it tasted great.

BEST SRI LANKAN FOOD JUST LIKE BACK HOME. FLAVOUR FOR DAYS AND DAYS
I’ve been going here for years and they’re like family. This will be the best Sri Lankan food anybody would find in Southern California. Fresh great tasting food cooked with lots of love no doubt. The people are really nice, warm and welcoming. There’s so many choices on the menu and everything’s super good. And I mean that. Sorry the review came late. I know I should’ve been one of the first. If anybody hasn’t tried Sri Lankan food they’re missing out. This little Gem will keep bringing you back. Thank you for the uncompromising consistence. I go back to Sri Lanka everytime I eat here.

Thank-​you Apey Kade for showing me how nuanced and flavorful Sri Lankan food can be. After a less than stellar experience at another SoCal Sri Lankan spot (the unnamed restaurant has undergone new ownership and shall remain unnamed hoping that they improve-​we don’t want to encourage ethnic gems to go out of business) I was thrilled to savor the delicious delights that Apey Kade offered.
Sunday Brunch Buffet is the best time to come if you want to try the most varieties of food according to the restaurant owner. They make everything from scratch, including the delicious and spicy sambals. Highly recommend the coconut sambal. It traditionally goes atop the home made vermicelli that is served for breakfast. I couldn’t help but put the sambal atop everything. The delicious buttery coconut made me dig in despite the spicy bite from the bright red peppers.
While I was dining an adorable little girl plopped down next to me and asked if I had tried the eggplant yet. In fact, I had been devouring the creamy, roasted eggplant with great pleasure. It had a slight tinge of sourness that was unexpected and tasty. The little girl declared «Its my first time eating eggplant. It is a little oily, it’s ok to say if it’s oily. I say it and if u think so it’s ok.» I LOL’d at her precociousness. She was so freaking adorable. The eggplant was not oily and absolutely perfect. After a few other statements the darling girl turned to her iPad and was completely engrossed. I faded into the background.
Apey Kade serves delicious Sri Lankan food. The family is cheerful and kind and the little girls will steal your heart.

I can’t believe that this place is near my house and I’ve never been there. One day I was craving for something spicy and unique. I thought about Indian food but didn’t want to drive out to my favorite place (Royal Delhi Palace), so instead of Indian food I thought of Sri Lankan. I did a quick Unilocal search and found Apey Kade. I walked in and the seating area was very small but they have an upstairs so that might be additional seating. This was my first time at Apey Kade so I didn’t know what to do. When I walked in, I stood by the door thinking someone would greet and seat me. So 3 minutes of me just standing there, I asked the owner if I can seat and start on the buffet and he said yes. So note to self, go in, get situated, serve yourself and enjoy.
I got their buffet and there wasn’t a huge assortment of dishes (about 5). I tried a bit of everything and it was delicious. I don’t know what I got but I went up 3 times! I ate so much I didn’t eat for the rest of the day/​night. It was a great buffet for just $ 9, I will definitely go there again.

Five stars!!! Absolutely delicious! If you like curry and spicy type of food, this is definitely your choice!
Try everything here, don’t even hold back!
Their lunch buffet is a great choice to get started if you are not familiar with Sri Lankan food. I am certainly coming back for more, particularly for the roti and thosai, and the Dahl too.

Amazing authentic Sri Lankan food. They got a wide variety of short eats, kottu and lot more. Food made me feel like I’m home. Be careful when you ask for spicy food because they will make it just as how they serve in Sri Lanka.
Only bad thing is restaurant is tiny. You got to kind of be your own waiter and get your own water and food. Also there limited parking so we had to park across the street.
All and all best tasting food out of all the Sri Lankan restaurants in the valley and LA area. Highly recommend the place.

Walked in on a whim to get take-​out.
Staff was exceptionally friendly and asked if I had tried Sri Lanken food before.
Of course, I have…
I’m white and blonde and blue eyed, duh!
And exceptionally traveled.
Sri Lanken food is one of my favorite cuisines in the world AND Apey Kade does it justice.
I forget about the world for a second while I enjoyed my string hoppers, curry, sambal and chili. Pow, wow, sizz, hizz, bang… yum. I asked for extra spicy and I got hooked up
with a special paste.
I’m coming back for more folks… it’s THAT good.

I can’t believe I haven’t tried Sri Lankan food until maybe 2 years ago. Sri Lankan is the new Indian food. LOVE IT! Spicier, healthier, tastier (sorry India!). This is practically a hole in the wall, family run business with 2 small tables to sit, a great lunch buffet option, or order off the menu. Practically everything there is delicious. I recommend the Goat curry, the spicy chicken dish, any seafood dish… What I love is that everything’s spicy.
It is mandatory you get String Hoppers with the side of Spicy Coconut chutney, it also comes with a side of coconut milk you pour over the String hoppers (think of thin rice noodles in a small pile). I’m Obsessed.

delicious.
i never knew sri lankan food was so good! the buffet style was great. this food is SPICY, which i like. the spiced potatoes were the spiciest thing on the menu. the fried chicken was great, really crispy without any batter on it. how does she get it so crispy??!
my favorite was the vegetable carrot condiment at the end of the buffet line. it’s like a pickled carrot that offsets the spicyness. the coffee was great, homemade with condensed milk. so was the rose water drink. SO GOOD

Apey Kade has the best service I’ve experienced for a Sri Lankan restaurant. The owners stayed late frying family up some fresh short eats today and they were so nice about it. Thank you for accepting us even after it was past closing.
Like I said before, definitely try Apey Kade out. In my opinion, it is the best Sri Lankan restaurant food I’ve had in California… oh and. I’m Sri Lankan born and raised in Cali. I’ve tried em all. yeah it’s that good.

There are only 3 Sri Lankan restaurants in LA: Curry Leaf (Torrance & Reseda), Café Lanka (La Crescenta), and Apey Kade (Tarzana). I actually traveled 2 hours in traffic from Orange County to Tarzana so that I could add Sri Lanka to my map of international food eaten. I chose Apey Kade because it is the first Sri Lankan restaurant established in LA, and the numerous years of staying in business is typically a positive sign.
When I walked up to the restaurant counter, the owner told me that the a-​la-​carte choices are only available during dinner after 4PM. I had really hoped to sample their hoppers, curries, and roti, which are unique to Sri Lanka. He gave me some excuse about how he can do me a favor and probably prepare some string hoppers, but it would not be as many as 12 as indicated on the menu. But why would I pay full price for an incomplete order?
Instead, the owner directed me towards their $ 7.49 steam table buffet. It looked awful, with only around 6 varieties including two types of rice, and most of the food trays were 90% empty. The chef had no desire or intention to refill the trays. This buffet was not even worth $ 5. Clearly, their strategy was to lure me into finishing their left-​overs. If this restaurant had been local to me, I would have walked out immediately, but given the long drive over already, I reluctantly stayed for the lunch buffet.
The buffet is very low-​key as paper plates were provided. Out of all the buffet dishes, the kottu, mallung (kale), and pumpkin curry were my favorites. Eggplant curry was extremely oily and the devilized dish was just too tongue numbing that I couldn’t taste any other flavors. I ate three plates not because the food was exceptional, but because I wanted to leave on a full stomach before going to do field work.
On a positive note, Apey Kade’s buffet offers several authentic Sri Lankan dishes which are unique to the island. Sri Lankan food is rich and spicy. I had to stop after my third plate because the food was just too hot and their water pitcher was nearly empty. Their chicken curry is unlike those at Indian buffets, as it was Sri Lankan spicy. In fact, everything in the buffet is extremely spicy, except the rice and mallum.
I was disappointed that the buffet did not include any sweets. Any Indian buffet would have highlighted their desserts or at the least included cheap fruits. I had to shell out an additional $ 2.75 for a taste of wattalapam, a popular Sri Lankan coconut custard pudding. It was heavy on the eggs with notes of vanilla and coconut. Not bad but it brought my bill to exceed $ 10.
I left paying a premium for this mediocre lunch and what I wanted to order was «not available». Maybe I will have a better experience if I come after 4pm next time.