Kanishka - restaurant review

Kanishka, in Redmond, is one of Seattle's top 100 restaurants. This is probably because everything on the menu is mouth-wateringly fantastic, and all of the ingredients used are organic. Prices are moderate (about 20-30 a person with wine, appetizer, curry, nan, and dessert) but definitely worth it. You can easily spend under $15 if you just wanted some curry and a soda, however... but who wants to do that, really? They have an extensive wine and beer list, and they also offer Indian alternatives to your st. Michelle wines and your Budweiser beers which are fantastic in themselves. The staff is extremely friendly and closely knit. They know me by name, for instance. I was turned on to this restaurant about a year ago, and have been eating here once or twice a week ever since. Kanishka also offers pickup if you wanted to eat some bomb ass Indian cuisine in the comfort of your own home - maybe the spices will make you cry, and you don't want to be seen crying. It's okay, everyone cries their first time. Believe me... wow that was kind of creepy. Anywhoo, it is located right on NE 85th st. right across from the Aqua Quip and Chevron, in the B&B autoparts stripmall.

These two little cuties are going to be your best friend all night, and you will go through many of them:



The appetizers at Kanishka are somewhat diverse. They offer everything from calamari to hot wings to this, vegetable pakora, or fried vegetables. Everything is scrumptious and definitely worth a try. Most appetizers are served with their sweet coleslaw, which is an acquired taste for some, but not for my omni-eating ass.



Kanishka offers a wide variety of curries (tomato, cheese, garlic, vindaloo, and nawaratan). They also have a few different meat options to go with each curry (lamb, salmon, shrimp, halibut, chicken, and tofu). The menu is divided up by these meat dishes, and it is very easy to pick out something that you want; unlike the menu at the Cheesecake Factory, for instace, that bombards you with clashing entrees and ends up leaving you dumbfounded when your server comes to take your order. Kanishka also offers a spice level, 1-5, that can suit your spice fancy. (Sundays are usually the days when the spicy chef is working, so order your 4's carefully).
I order off of the vegetarian menu every time I go to Kanishka... which ends up being once or twice a week... the Vegetable Jalfrazi is my favorite as it has a thicker tomato-based curry, but tonight I felt like going a bit lighter so I ordered the Nawaratan Veggie Curry (green peppers, cauliflower, tofu, potatos, and peas) with a spice level of 4. I went through multiple glasses of water... and paper napkins.
I also ordered some Garlic nan to accompany the curry and take the spicy tingle out of my mouth at my leisure. Kanishka offers many types of nan (spinach, fruit, garlic, plain, etc.) but their garlic nan is the best. It's like getting garlic bread with your spaghetti, for Pete's sake - you gotta do it!
Basmati rice automatically comes with your curry entree, and the water/soda refills are free. Order wine.
Also, feel free to order multiple entrees if you come with a group. Although it comes in a separate dish, each entree is really only big enough for one appetite. If you have leftovers, they have doggie bags.



Finally, the dessert. Kanishka has many unique and scrumptious desserts like fried low-fat cheeseballs, fried doughnuts in rosewater, and many more, but I always go straight for the rice pudding. The rice pudding has a bit of spice added to it, which makes it almost melt in your mouth... mmmmmmmm.



My rating: I give Kanishka a 10/10. The customer service is immaculate, the cuisine is significantly better than any other Indian joint that I have been to, and it is consistantly good. You can always expect the food to be just like it was last time - fantastic. I highly suggest that you at least give it a try if you are not open to foreign cuisines, you won't be disappointed.

I'm going to go spit flames out of my ass now, bye.