Taste Of Kerala Kitchen

Great place for South Indian food, especially food from Kerala. Food’s authentic and the Kerala lunch thali is delicious (also good value for 11 $)

I am pretty sure this is the only Kerala restaurant in all of NYC (this is in NYC, right, and not LI — hard to tell ?!)…anyway, the food is amazing — many dishes and preparations that you cannot get at any other restaurant in NYC… I went w/​someone who’s father’s family is from Kerala, and they said that the food tasted just like her grandmother’s cooking growing up… this place is a bit off the beaten path, so I don’t get there much, but this place is def. up there in my top 5 fav. restaurants in NYC… Kerala is a coastal state, so get any seafood dish & prepare to be happy!

They have a buffet with 10 different items + 2 deserts for only $ 12! And it’s all kerala cuisine — which I love. I have ordered from the menu in the past and it was amazing. The buffet is good but ordering direct from the menu is even better! Come by if you are familiar with and enjoy the cuisine of Kerala. Otherwise you might be turned off by the simple self-​service and the unfamiliar palate.

We went to this place with high expectations but throughly disappointed. The food was cold, tasted stale and they didn’t seem to care. There is a tremendous EGO competition going on amoung the men there and everyone pretends to be above the other guy. Anger management is vital for this joint to survive. Customer service is pathetic any request was like pulling teeth. Above all we were over charged. It is not a matter of a few dollars but the principle behind it. The printed menu price is not what is billed to you after you are done. So everyone please watch your bill. Plus the guy had the audacity to ask us for a service charge.
I gave it a one star for the shiny bald buffet dishes on display upon entrance.
VERY SAD and POOR, PATHETIC representation of our Kerala,!!!

Good for Kerala food
Typical Kerala food
Don’t expect service or anything just the food good Kerala food

This place has improved food wise, slowly over the years and over all the food was good/​fresh over this memorial day weekend. But customer service, which is virtually non existant at Kerala kitchen has to be worked upon and improve a lot. The 2 guys working behind the counter, just stand looking /​gawking at customers instead of clearing used plates and refilling water glasses, even when the restaurant is not busy at all. Customers have to refill their own water glasses and dispose off their used plates/​forks /​spoons, while going for a refill at the buffet .When I asked about sevice, I was told that the customer has to refill their own glass and dispose off their own plates by the guy standing behind the counter .I don’t think Wilson the chef/​owner knows of any kind of this high handedness going on. This kind of attitude does not sit right for customers and will spell disaster for Kerala kitchen, while these counter guys/​waiter/​server just don’t care.

I see the place has average reviews. Decided to try it out since it’s local and always looking to try something different. If you like typical indian food with naan, chicken tikki masala, etc that’s not even spicy enough for someone like me, this isn’t it. It’s authentic south asian food so just know what to expect. I see some hit or misses here with what to order, so I ordered the kappa biriyani based on a prior review and what i was in the mood for. It hit the spot. The owner’s son came in around the same time I was getting ready to leave. He greeted me. I think he said his name is Shawn. He said he helps his father with deliveries and catering, so it must be a family business.

Got there with my girlfriend at 12:05 PM.
The door was open but not a sole in sight and all chairs were on top of the tables.
The place was empty so we headed back towards the kitchen where a guy peeped out and told us they were open!
I was trying to figure out just how I was going to sit on one of those upside down chairs. A bit perplexed, we headed out the door to one off the other local Indian restaurants with chairs that I could sit on.
Very strange… and very disappointed because we drove quite a distance to check out what I read was a very authentic South Indian meal.

So my husband & I had heard good things about this restaurant and decided to order out from them. We ordered the chicken and beef curry. There was so much spice in these two curries that my husband actually got sick and we ended up throwing away the uneaten portion. As Keralites, we’ve tried different variations of both chicken and beef curries but this was just careless combinations of whatever spice they got their hands on, that day. Would never order from here again & would not recommend. Def not authentic South Indian cuisine.

Decided to venture out to the burbs for a food hunt with some friends last week at New Kerala Kitchen.
We tried some things we couldn’t find in other Indian restaurants (in Manhattan). The kappa briyani was very different as it has no rice. The jackfruit seed curry was on the sour side but refreshing and enjoyable. Duck curry was just ok. The duck had no meat.
Don’t expect any service or ambiance. It is true that you will have to eat with styrofoam plates. BYOW — Bring Your Own Water.

So, the 3 stars are for the food… no ambiance, no Americanized service standard, styrofoam plates and plastic forks.
But delicious food. But be prepared, it is not made for you… it appears that it is premade, then heated up for you. But frankly, that doesn’t bother me at all. Most curries taste better a couple of days after they are made. And the curries here are delicious and authentic South Indian. I ordered the fish curry. the fish was mediocre, the curry (or the gravy as Indians would say) was incredible… I want to go back and try other meat curries. Also the kappa (mashed yucca with spices –curry leaves, and mustard seeds) was lip smackingly yummy, especially with the gravy…
Also although the waiter didn’t want to clean the table, he’s the one that helped decide what goes with what. and even suggested that I get a half order because a full order would be too much.
All in all the food is totally worth the cost and the trip.

I used to love eating here because the food was really authentic and true to southern Indian cooking. I had to stop coming however when they started skimping on quality. I found out that they freeze large fully prepared batches of dishes at the start of the week and then reheat them to order.
How do I know this? They mistakingly gave me a frozen portion of curry without reheating it. When I complained to the manager and said he should try making food reasonably fresh, he brushed me off and didn’t care. He said that’s just the way the business works.
Sorry sir, but that’s no way to respond to customer or to prepare food at a restearaunt.

I went to them tonight for the first time, look and the menu on the wall and them the take out menu, the prices were different. Maybe the board or printed menu were out of date, not too sure.
No service, two guys dressed in their coats talking like customers, after 10 minutes waiting they asked what I wanted. Didn’t even know they worked there…
Prices
All the dishes seem priced a bit higher than other local places but the reviews on Unilocal are good. So I asked about a few dishes to see what came with it, nothing!
Sorry, had to leave; between the lack of service and price combine with what didn’t feel right from these guys jerking me around, I had to leave.
They Unilocal reviews are what brought me here, but the service basically killed it for me and I didn’t even get to try their food.

Warning: come here for take out or beware of the styrofoam plates.
Now…that being said, being Malayalee or Keralite, the food here is amazing! It is so rare to have a restaurant that caters to the Malayalee palate, so you can expect that I will be planning many a trip from Brooklyn to get this food again!
If you like Indian food and love the naan and creamy curries that aren’t spicy – this is a way different cuisine, so be prepared. AND, BRANCH OUT! This is real home cooking! This is the food I wish I could eat and cook regularly! It reminds me of my ammachi (grandma) and it just made it nostalgically tasty.
I got the kappa biriyani. It is one of my most favorite meals in the WORLD! It’s basically smashed spiced yucca with spicy beef mixed in. My husband got the mutton biriyani (yum!) my sister the beef olayathu and fried king fish. AMAZING! Seriously, go there. Be hungry. The portion sizes are huge and the price is amazing.
I definitely plan on putting their kids through college through my stomach. :)
GO GO GO!!!

This is «THE PLACE» to go if you are Keralite (Mallu) and miss mum’s food! Absolutely delicious! Their thali which is non-​vegetarian (i dont think they serve a veg thali) consists of red fish curry, beef fry, avial and thoran served with rice, sambar, puliserry, a small serving of pachadi and pickle simply priced under $ 10 is my absolute favorite!

Being Keralite this place was a few pegs less than what my mom cooks, which is saying a lot. Granted, you kind of need to know what you are getting yourself into. First off let me start by saying if you are expecting a classy atmosphere this is not the place for you. I don’t know of many Keralite restaurants and part of the reason may be that we don’t really care to share our food in a business setting, or the simple fact that preparation of these dishes can take many hours (as I’ve witnessed first hand from my Mom’s amazing cooking).
I brought my fiancé, who is Punjabi, but also loves my mom’s cooking as well as two newcomers to Keralite food, an Iraqi and Colombian who were familiar with North Indian cooking.
My Iraqi friend stuck to the Chicken Tikka Masala, which he said he enjoyed (wasn’t the best, naturally), but was thoroughly impressed with the amount of chicken he received. He has a pretty massive appetite and was only able to finish about half the curry along with 2 naans, ½ basmati rice, and 1 paratha. His wife ordered the goat curry (keralite style), and was pretty happy with it as it was the least spicy thing on the menu (as long as you avoid biting into the fresh green chilis). Again she was only able to finish about half the dish. Their total meal cost them about 25 $ which is an excellent deal considering that they had enough for lunch or dinner the next day.
My fiancé and I decided to go with the beef ulatha (which roughly translates to fried beef, not to be confused with «beef deep fry» also on the menu), avial (a diverse vegetarian dish which is filling, yet healthy) and the traditional par boiled rice. We also asked for some mango pachady on the side and more curry (pronounced more-​uh and is a must!!!), both of which was provided at no extra cost. The food was delicious (not quite my mom’s level, but definitely the same idea) and again the amount given greatly exceeded our expectations. Our total came to around 20 $ (without tip), and again provided 2 extra meals later on.
Bear in mind that Keralite food is also coconut or mango based, so if you are not a fan of those things don’t come here (even the beef was fried with chunks of coconut). Other things that I would recommend to new comers is the appam (if they have it) with goat curry and any kind of thorin, but always the beef as it is a staple of Keralite Christian cooking. If you can’t have the beef, the veg dishes are also very good and not as buttery or cream based as North Indian cooking, though usually cooked in coconut oil (medium chain fatty acids can be very good for you). Also one of my favorites as well as my fiancé is my mom’s shrimp curries, which we were unable to try at the restaurant, but I can’t imagine being all that bad.
Anyhow, I recommend coming here with a Keralite friend, or if you need any other recommendations or advice just let ask!

Strongly recommended only for Indians who know the south indian spicy non vegeterian dishes. Vegeterians may not like it a lot.
do try the chilli chicken and chicken curry they wer gr8. mutton stew and fish curry were good. other curries were beef and pork and typical kerala dishes. so unless you know them dont go or try them. instead get ala carte or take out order of chicken curries.

Queens is a freaking massive borough. It’s amazing to think that the long ride to the last stop on the F train only gets you maybe 60% of the way to the border with Long Island. To get to places like Floral Park, a painstaking bus transfer is necessary in a land where people mostly have their own vehicles. Kerala kitchen is located one and a half blocks west of the border between 718 and 516, a place no longer known as New York City, but on these blocks at least, no different at all.
After our long journey (which in this case was actually by car but still seemed arduous), it would have been nice to arrive with warm greetings and smiles, but we seemed to be disturbing them more than anything, despite the fact that the place was 95% empty. On this frigid evening though, the tropical balminess and backwater attitude of the state of Kerala in southern India did not seem to register.
I could not help but think I was in a hair salon with all the rounded shiny domes of the lunch buffet table in a row along the wall. I wanted old ladies in curlers to be sitting under them the whole time we dined.
Regardless of the general feeling of intrusion, the most disappointing part about the restaurant was the lack of many dishes on the menu, and no way to know what was actually available. A friend who recently visited Kerala was looking for a few specific things but found them all to be unavailable this day.
What we did eat though, was delicious, and made the trip worth the time. We ordered many different types of breads to accompany our dishes, the first of which was the padavalanga ($ 8) which somehow translated to «snake gourd» in English. Listed in the vegetarian section, it still came with fish within, so don’t say you haven’t been warned. The soupy mixture was the most flavorful of our selections, and was the best item to use the bread on. The blend of spices and peppers got us off and running.
The beef deep fry ($ 10) looked like it would be dry and possibly tough, but the pieces were both juicy and tender, topped with raw onions, and sufficient enough for the five of us all to have a few bites. The porotha bread worked even better than a fork and spoon for shoveling it in.
The fish curry ($ 10) was also full of flavor, spice, and richness. A few bones were scattered here and there, but for the most part it was entirely meaty, almost to the point of seeming like something more on land than at sea.
The table also ordered Chicken 65 ($ 10) despite my warnings of it coming from another distinctly different subgroup of Indian cuisine. It was unsurprisingly boring, quite a bit overcooked, but did come with tasty cashews and white raisins, something I had never seen before from this bright red dish.
The love-​it-​or-​hate-​it dessert payasam also was served, a sweet pudding with thin noodles and ginger that has a very creamy consistency. I find it a very refreshing palate cleanser, but not everyone at the table enjoyed it.
The moral of the story for any Keralan food connoisseur is to call ahead and ask what is on offer each day, but for the layman such as myself, the meal was completely satisfying. I would love to go back again and try more, especially a fish thoran and some mango curry.

Don’t miss this restaurant if you love seafood and do not order anything other than seafood :-). If possible, get the paper from the waiter and try to write down the orders yourself, the waiter messed up the order even after explaining him clearly.

Now New Kerala Kitchen, one door to the right of (old) Kerala Kitchen. Same address (267 – 05 Hillside Avenue).
I came here for lunch on a Friday with a group of 7; although the website and menu offers a daily buffet, we were informed that buffets were a weekend-​only affair. I guess they’re not getting enough business to support a daily buffet as there were no other diners there during our meal.
I ordered the fish thoran, which kinda looked like a rice biryani studded with miniature shrimp and chiles, but the predominant flavor was shredded coconut. An interesting dish that I’ve never encountered at an Indian restaurant before, but one that you’ll probably want to order as a side to share.
Other dishes that I sampled off of other people:
Thali (assorted platter):
There were a few chunks of beef deeply burnished with spices. Quite yummy. There was also a sad piece of fish sitting in a pool of curry that was quite forgettable. I don’t remember much about the two vegetable sides other than that they were also dishes that I hadn’t encountered before. I’ll probably try this myself the next time I go.
Chicken Tikka Masala:
Not bad. Not great.
Chicken Masala:
Not great. Not terrible. Definitely leaning in a direction other than good.
Dosa Masala:
It was a beautiful color and looked really good but I didn’t try it.
The rice was interesting too as it wasn’t the standard long-​grained basmati. It was a lot puffier and I think it had really low starch content.
I’ll probably be back out of curiosity. The menu is promising and quite extensive but somehow I get the feeling a lot of it is unavailable on weekdays. I mean, there was venison (!) on the daily specials board. Mutton and rabbit too. Mmmm… rabbit. And mutton.
(oh yeah, the waiter wasn’t particularly helpful and communication was a bit difficult. Difficult as in hard-​to-​order-​a-​diet-​coke difficult.)