Mallu Cafe & Catering

Finally figured out that you need to go saturday or sunday morning to get the freshly cooked food for take out. Biryani, fish fry/​gravy, kappa biriyani, thoran, avial, moru are all great. Dont get the chilly chicken or chicken 65. Not sure if it is kerala style or what but it is never good. The best part of this place is the price and portions.

The best and only restaurant that offers Kerala cuisine. The ambiance is very average and one of the owners who often answers the phone is not polite or accommodative by any stretch of imagination.
Their biriyani, fish and beef dishes are top notch. Wish they have an outlet in Jersey as well.

I placed an order for pick up: chicken tikka masala; to my surprise it came without rice! Was I supposed to eat it with my hands !! Call them they said it doesn’t come with rice
I am not Indian however I’ve order this dish a lot from different places and it always comes with rice

This is the best Indian food we have ever had!!! We have searched up and down the East coast to try to find a spot to top Mallu and no luck! We have been ordering consistently a few times a month for the past year and have never had a bad experience. Our usual order consists of Samosas, Parrotta, garlic naan, boneless chicken biryani and chicken vindaloo. The vindaloo is to die for with a complex spice profile that will haunt your dreams, we have tried to replicate the recipe but it is never as good. The parrotta… i want to live in a parrotta bed… just covered in the flaky bread. The biryani is food fit for the gods, honestly… you will never have a better combination than the biryani and vindaloo. Crispy fried onions, soft cashews and juicy raisins mixed into this magical rice. The portions are huge but my boyfriend and I usually order 3 vindaloo because you are going to sleepwalk to the kitchen to eat some more after your food coma. If I died and this was the best food I have ever tasted I would be completely content. We will have Mallu cater our wedding… best Kerala food ever… you won’t be disappointed!

Delicious food! The meen curry was amazeballs! I have liked every item I’ve ordered from here. Food is also ready pretty quickly, for me anyway.

I got Chicken Varutharacha Curry and Appam bread, and would highly recommend that combination because the bread (really like a pancake) can be used to eat the plentiiful delicious gravy.
The chicken was fresh and good and went great in the sauce, but there wasn’t a ton of chicken either. You are looking at maybe 7 pieces of chicken with bones that can fit in the palm of a woman’s hand. With tax it came to $ 12, so the price was «OK».
I came at 8:30 and it’s supposed to close at 9, so they wouldn’t let me dine in, since they said that they were closing «before 9». That doesn’t bother me that much, it basically means that they don’t get a tip and I don’t fill myself before biking back home with the food.
So I would say that the quality is great, the pancakes (namely, Appam) is great, the gravy is great. I have heard mixed reviews about the meat, but mine was good but on the small side for what I want.
Two doors down is a South Indian grocery where you can get Masala Chai imported from India. It is good with milk, but it seems less herbal and more regular tea-​like than STASH brand chai.

Awesone restuarant. ordered chicken biriyani… satisfied my taste buds like anything. will go back again to try other dishes.:)

I’m relatively new to Indian food, but I’m hooked! Not having had a 5 star Indian meal, or even some good, home-​made Indian cuisine, I certainly don’t know if I’m qualified to write a great review of the spice and seasoning, the presentation, or the authenticity.
I do, however, know what I like!
The short of it is: Food was good. We had Chicken Tikka Masala and Saag Paneer, the two dishes I always order to ‘test the water’. Good portion, plenty of chicken and good flavor in the Tikka. Saag was also tasty. Also had some Naan and lots of rice, both very good. Not a place I would want to sit and eat, but for takeout it was good. If you have a craving, live close by, and aren’t looking for ‘awesome’, Mallu Café will fill the bill.
FYI, we went on a snowy, icy night… so other reviews say order ahead of time. We got our food quickly, but it was a slow Sunday night and that may not always be the case.
I had been ordering from Rasavaat in Krewstown Center, but they closed. This food was cheaper and almost as good. I’ve done takeout from Zaika a few times, but Mallu is better, both in portion size and flavor (for me). About a week ago We ordered from Spice Garden at Bustleton and Lott, and again, Mallu was better, but priced comparatively.
I think it’s a given that from now on Mallu will be my Go-​To takeout Indian joint, but it won’t stop me from trying out other spots in the area as opportunity presents itself.

Somerton, NE Philly
The food is good so u need to order two hours in advance becus everyone is also ordering. Authentic South Indian– KERALA food is my favorite Indian food. Don’t take me to center city or u will make me cry. Take me to Northeast Philly or Edison NJ when it comes to Indian food… I only want my favorite. I know my Indian food… no need to be Indian. Lol
Side dear diary note: So I was thinking about favorite foods. What do we need? I know I need my Kerala food place weekly. I know I need a breakfast joint that opens early and easy to get to. I know I don’t want any chain food but it’s hard becus they are unhealthily ubiquitous!!! Then I need a fast Red meat or iron place, which I have access to two. But I need a better one which I haven’t found yet. I need my phở place, but u can’t rely on one becus they have this problem of not being reliable to be open. I need my hot soup place. I need my hipster weirdo food place. Im still looking for an easy to reach salad place. I need my chicken banh mi place but it kind of having to go thru all the traffic opposite of the highway sux. My wings and nonalcoholic chill bar place. My chill with the girls place. Why do you think shows have this one favorite joint they always film at? convenience.
You are always on the go, so you gotta get pickier than ever about food, foodie.

Tiny takeout places do have the best food occasionally.
I first tried Mallu Café at a friend’s house warming party. They had ordered a catered affair and I really liked the Chiken Tikka Biryani. I loved the aroma, the plentiful chicken in the biryani and the interplay of flavors.
Recently on the way back from JFK, I called and ordered two chicken biryani, a mango and fish curry and some naan. There was so much food that we had leftovers for two more meals.
The mango and fish curry was really unique to me since I had never had it before. Pieces of cooked green mango interspersed with morsels of fish in a coconut gravy definitely hit the spot.
When we got there, our food wasn’t ready so we stopped at the grocery store next door. The owner came looking for us with all our food packed and it was still pretty warm when we had it 30 mins later. Loved the fact that they are concerned about providing the freshest food possible. I will definitely be back
After having the biryani a couple of times — this might be my favorite biryani place on the east coast. Go there now and thank me later.

Its a best takeout place for South Indian Kerala style. Not a good dine in place as this is not considered as a family dining but a quickie. Best takeout food and cheap.

I have mix experience at this place so giving 3 stars. If you call and the kid pickup then you are in luck if the old man pickup who speak crypted english then you are out of luck. I called in for fish biryani and got response no one hour so I asked it will be ready one hour you mean he said what do you want I was like fish biryani so I again asked for fish biryani and he said yes yes one hour anc he hung up. I knew something was wrong so after 45mins I called back to check on my order and old man picked up again. So I asked is my fish biryani ready he said no fish biryani I am like I want to check on my biryani order he okok let me check he comes back and tell me no biryani I was like you said it will be ready in one hr. After a pause he says no fish biryani he hung up. I guess he was busy and did not care

I had been to Philly on a business trip and after having stayed here for 2 weeks, my wife and I really wanted to have some authentic kerala food. Unilocal and other sites suggested this malayalee restaurant. The great reviews fueled our desire to have food from here. I called them and they said they close only late. It was a 30 min drive from downtown; we got there on a Saturday evening at about 530pm or so. We didn’t find any street parking, but found parking space in front of the restaurant. Parked the car and walked in and the owner with big attitude said that is not the parking place and they want the space to load their catered order in their truck. I was okay with that at the time. However. we told that we came to dine-​in and wanted to order food. He had a lot of attitude and he didn’t care that we came to eat and said that we have to wait for 30 – 45 minutes. We were okay to wait. Soon, some young guy came out of the kitchen and the owner turned to him and tells him about having to seat us. He said its not possible today. They just did not want to seat us that evening and said that they have a big church order and cant do anything at this time.
The food may be great; but they just don’t know how to treat and take care of customers. For them, catering was more important and hence refused to seat us. They did not even apologize for not able to seat us. They probably could have handled us better.
I mentioned these to some of my Philly friends and they suggested that its better to get to-​go orders rather than sitting there and they agreed that he does have attitude, but the food is tasty (according to them)

Eaten for the second time at Mallu. I have tried the chicken tika masala and the tandoori chicken. So far, the food is very good. I have eaten at many Indian restaurants in Philly and this place is winning so far. Can’t wait for my next meal there.

Warning: you will eat a lot, and you will go into a food coma after eating here.
Everything I tried was rich and delicious. Fish fry, lamb, chicken, goat, turmeric-​yogurt, paratha, YUM. Wish this place were easier to get to from the city without a car!

Awesome food, had been here for the first time. I’m a big fan of Kerala food. Don’t miss Kerala parotta (flaky wheat bread), also kerala fish curry. Food is not expensive and quantity is great :)

This place really is the tsar bomba of all Indian restaurants in town. It really is authentic indian RESTAURANT food. Just the way you go to a good old time pub here and order finger food; you can go to this place and expect them to cook food that woul be served to you in a popular restaurant in India.
As an aside this is run by a south Indian person — so the things to order are the coconut gravy based dishes and the dosas. But I’ve heard he is pretty good with the north Indian/​Mughal-​ai dishes as well — the tikka masala, the biryani, the palak paneer etc.
The south Indian food will be a revalation to you. coconutty gravies that you might like or not like — I like some of them not some of them.
I’m an Indian, I’ve been a foodie all my life — this is spicy good Indian restaurant food. I’m not a snob — if you like your whitish creamy Indian gravies then by all means ENJOY — but you owe it to yourself to try this food.
Ps — the dosas are awesome.
EDIT: Cannot really recommend this place any more. On a recent visit, the food was uneatable — The chicken was not really fresh, so much so that I left the large piece of chicken after taking a few bites.
Maybe it was a strange day, maybe it was a mistake, a lunar eclipse, the solar equinox… but… really… I wont be going here again.
I loved you Mallu café… then you kicked me where it really, really hurt… :(

Everything here is authentically Kerala (South-​west India) delicious.
All their biriyanis are exceptionally good, but if you’re looking for something a little different, try the Chicken Tikka Biriyani. All their food is great.
I’ve never dined in. The multiple times I’ve gone there to pick-​up my order, the atmosphere/​ambiance is acceptable for a hole-​in-​the-​wall place (think corner chinese take-​out spot). Eating there would guarantee straight-​off-​the-​stove delciousness. This will continue to be a staple to my take-​out locations.

Chicken briyani from this place is outstanding… very very close to what it taste like in the briyani back home. One of the very very few restaurants in US that has such a quality briyani. Must try for every desi… Dont go to Edison… try this once then you would stop going to Edison for Briyanis!!! I’m serious!!!
Pro: Great FOOD (specially BRIYANI) and Price
Cons: average ambiance and service.

We used to live around this place, and used to order from here all the time. It is maybe the biggest thing that we miss about our old neighborhood.
The name is appropriate: «Mallu» is the word used for people from the southern coastal state of Kerala, and this cuisine is very well done here.
It is not your typical chicken tikka garbage, but unique to the region and true in authenticity. The fact that it is a great value is also a plus.
I have never eaten in, only taken out, as there dining room is minimal to say the least. Service can be slow, but it is worth the wait. Just call an hour ahead of time.
If you want a truly UNIQUE Indian takeout experience, this is it.