THE CHENNAI CAFE

Reviews

• LM

  Lindsay McCormick

  Apr 3, 2026
  5.0
  Ordered online for take out, the prices were super reasonable and the food was delicious. Got the Okra Masala, Chennai Special Thakali Pepper Rasam (soup), roti, and raita. Okra masala with rice was really, good I would definitely order it again. The soup was definitely my favorite - a warming spicey broth with cilantro. I will for sure order this in the future, especially when it's cold out I'd drink this like tea😄 looking forward to trying their other soups. Roti was good, raita was on thicker side with very chunky onion, which I wasn't expecting but was good! (But I like onion a lot). Great food, reasonable price, healthy...I'll definitely be back soon!
• AR

  Anjali R

  Mar 27, 2026
  1.0
  Bad experience even when not busy. Not even worth for single star We were just two people and ordered only two main dishes. Still, the waiter did not take our order for a long time. People who came after us were served first. They came, ate, and left, but our order was not even placed. It felt like the staff were prioritizing larger groups over smaller ones, which was quite frustrating and unfair. After a long wait, the waiter finally placed our order, and we got our food after around 30 minutes. We were already very frustrated by then. Unfortunately, the wait wasn’t worth it. The taste was very disappointing
• TA

  Thani Anandan

  Mar 26, 2026
  5.0
  Had an amazing experience at Chennai Cafe! The food is absolutely authentic and delicious—especially the vada curry, mutton biriyani, and crab curry. Every dish was packed with flavor and reminded me of home. The unlimited dosas are a huge highlight—crispy, fresh, and served with great chutneys and sambar. Loved the poori and tandoori naan as well! The staff were incredibly courteous and attentive, making the whole experience even better. The place is clean, comfortable, and perfect for a family meal. Plus, there’s ample parking which makes it super convenient. Highly recommend—this is easily one of the best South Indian restaurants in the Seattle area
• AN

  Aarti Narayan

  Mar 21, 2026
  5.0
  We stopped by this place to have dinner as I saw a posting on social media. We came in on a Friday evening around 8:30, we were promptly seated in the back of the restaurant. We place an order for tawa fish, ghee dosa, mutton biriyani, butter chicken and naan. We also ordered a chai, beer and 2 sodas. We were told it will be about 30-35 mins for food to come out. Fine it was reasonable, we had 2 children with us. We got our drinks and fish fry appetizer about 30 minutes into waiting. Then more waiting it was about the 1 hour mark when they came to our table to apologize about the delay. More time passed and they slowly brought everything out. The food was excellent, I’ll definitely go back but with hopes the service gets better. I appreciated that the owner acknowledged their mistake/delay and gave us a complimentary dessert.
• VG

  Vyshnavi Gogineni

  Mar 19, 2026
  2.0
  IF YOU BELIEVE CHUTNEY MAKES OR BREAKS A TIFFIN, READ THIS BEFORE GETTING TIFFIN THALI… Just a note : I’m not expressing any regional preferences here, just sharing my honest experience so people with similar taste expectations can find it helpful. We found this place on Instagram as “The Chennai Café,” but when we arrived, the big sign outside said “Indian Spice Bistro,” which was a bit confusing at first. After checking, we realized it’s the same place. We went here to try their tiffin thali, and as someone from Andhra, I have mixed feelings. The chutneys were a big disappointment, only coconut chutney and a tangy red chutney were available, with no peanut chutney at all. For me, chutneys are what truly bring out the flavor of tiffins, so this was a letdown. The chutneys also lacked spice and depth of flavor, they tasted quite bland to me. I’ve personally eaten food in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu before, so some flavors did give me a sense of déjà vu from my time there. However, my cousins, who usually prefer Andhra-style food, didn’t really enjoy the thali, they mostly ate because they had to pay, not because they were satisfied. That said, the tiffins themselves were actually good. The dosa, idli, medu vada, and uttapam were all well-made. The highlight for me was the kattu pongal, it was absolutely delicious, loaded with fresh ghee or butter, and literally melted in my mouth. It’s the best pongal I’ve had since coming to the US. I also liked the puliyogare, which reminded me of the one I used to have at a temple in Bangalore. However, the service and overall experience were disappointing. Instead of a proper setup, they took orders first and brought items to the table much later, leading to long wait times. They also seemed clearly short-staffed, and I genuinely felt bad for the waiters handling frustrated customers. At times, they served whatever was available instead of what we actually ordered. I also went to get gulab jamun for dessert, but it was already finished and wasn’t refilled, which was disappointing. And I’m very disappointed to find poorly cleaned steel bowls with visible food residue. Maybe it’s just an off day. While the concept is interesting, the execution needs improvement, especially in staffing and service. Unfortunately, the long wait affected our overall experience, and we wouldn’t choose to come back.