Review Kathakali - New Plymouth

Had an early dinner with my wife at 5 pm. We had spinach pankora ad starter and one meatless curry and one beef curry. With a filled piece of bread,like a pancake. It was excellent. I drank a Good George beer with my meal. Can recommend.

Got to experience authentic Kerala sadya!!!! taking us back to Indian roots with Keralan delicacy. Thank you team for celebrating Oman with us with yummy food, thoroughly enjoyed it.

In fact, I'm not a person who leaves any reviews on food but I've got to say that this is the best Indian restaurant in my life. My favourite cuisine turned into Indian food after I tasted their dishes and I really got blown away when I first met these guys about 3 years ago. I had enjoyed so many Indian restaurants in Auckland but no one could beat them for sure. I bet you that you could have a decent and perfect Southern Indian taste here. You cannot say you've had a good Indian dish if you haven't tried this restaurant. I usually visit here at least several times a month and appreciate the fact that New Plymouth has a wonderful place to visit. Moreover, their taste keeps evolving and all my family members can tuck into it all the time. Last but not least, the price of lunch menus is quite reasonable and cheap compared to other restaurants nowadays. You will never regret your choice since I'm always over the moon at this restaurant.

We had a really great time here. The waiter was so friendly and helpful with his suggestions on spice levels! The beverage menu is nice too, offers some locally made beer which we enjoyed. Ambience is good, beautiful decorations and lighting, made for a good evening out. Most important, the food was outstanding. Everything came out hot, and huge! Very generous portions, and amazing flavours particularly to the dosa. Great restaurant experience. Hope they can expand to Auckland one day!

Came here for dinner with my partner and both agree that this is the best Indian food we’ve ever had! We had the banquet, which was a huge amount of food (more than we could eat) and was absolutely divine. Starters were delicious, with particular highlights being the Spinach Pakora and Chicken 65. We had Butter Chicken, Kerala Paneer, and Lamb Mappas; all of which were delicious but the lamb was the star! Incredible depth of flavour. Enjoyed our meal here so much we were discussing coming back to New Plymouth just to eat here! Highly recommend

Good vibes, plenty of options. Chicken biryani taste good but the condiment comes with it is a bit over watery, Aubergine vege curry with thick sauce is also tasty, unfortunately (for me) the aubergine is cut into too small pieces and melted into the sauce, can't really feel the texture. Friendly service, certain items are slightly pricey.

I must say, my recent dining experience at this Indian restaurant was truly exceptional. Not only were the prices reasonable, but the flavors of the goat Biriyani, dosa, and uttapam were simply exquisite. However, what truly stood out to me was the impeccable customer service provided by the staff. Jassi (if I could recall her name correctly, the hariyanwi girl) and Nikhil, in particular, went above and beyond in their kindness and friendliness towards us. I highly recommend this establishment for those seeking both delicious cuisine and top-notch hospitality.

My partner and I have been to the one in Palmy but never this one. I have to this one was probably my favourite as it looks amazing on the inside. If you ever craved authentic South Indian food, I highly recommend going here. Wish there was one up in Auckland too haha!

A night of drinks and food with friends on Saturday. They booked delicious Arranged Marriage NP, which we wanted to visit long time ago. We spotted Faizal Kamsan in the chef’s whites in the kitchen! And we noticed his influence on the menu too. The food was delicious and aromatic and so colourful. My chicken biriyani came in a pot covered with a dough blanket. It had a unique blend of spices and herbs. My companions ordered different types of curry including the goat one. Beautiful night, beautiful food, beautiful company.

Stopped here quite randomly but were surprised by the variety of options and rather friendly prices (especially during lunch time). Food was really delicious, staff was friendly and gave us recommendations on what to order and how it should be eaten 😀 We had 2 main meals and a starter, in total $40. Would recommend.

If you want to reawaken your dull dead taste buds, definitely visit Kathakali. Luckily for my friend it was a quite Sunday lunch and we're treated so superbly.The staff were helpful in explaining the menu, all the options available for G. F Dishes etc. Sadly for all the other Indian restaurants in New Plymouth I won't be frequenting any longer. Kathakali is where the heart is for good authentic southern Indian food.

Amazing food and service. The dosas are incredible. Favourite place in town. Thank you for sharing your lovely cuisine in New Plymouth

Absolutely fabulous food and service. Friendly and professional stuff, relaxing atmosphere and music. I would recommend to anyone who's visiting New Plymouth.

Lunch was amazing ! Tasty and so much food for the price! Great find!

great food <3

Getting....an.....Owzm......nostalgic feelingggggg......with Kerala taste.......

Fantastic food every time with smiling and friendly service.

lovely Food and atmosphere - the boys are always pleasant and very helpful! great value for money! love Love your dosas

Excellent customer service and delicious food, lovin it!!!

Awesome food the best indian in town, one of my favourite places to eat.

Excellent place with some great South Indian classics, especially from Kerala. Unfortunately the gobi Manchurian was a little unusual, a bit soft, a shame because everything else was pretty great.

This place is delicious and the service was fabulous. We’re a family of vegans and they really took care of us. We had the okra & aubergine curry, koonu (mushroom & broccoli curry), palappum (lacy bread made with fermented rice flour), and curry puffs (great for kids). We were extremely happy with our meal. The curries and palappum were different from what we’ve had elsewhere and far exceeded our expectations. Highly recommended!

After a very long time I tasted Indian food...<br/>Ambience.... 4/5<br/>Service....4/5<br/>Food....4/5<br/>All in all I enjoyed my experience and will definitely be coming back here...keep up the good work cheers!!!<br/>

Best ever meduvada and maska dosa at kathakali... New menu is really Good now, service was excellent too this is my favorite restaurant in New Plymouth,.

I had some great fish dish from this restaurant fish wrapped in banana leaf with spices it’s one of the great dish they have in there menu,you should try it with there garlic bread.Service was friendly and too professional.

Good for South Indian delicassen. Went for dinner last night I ordered for a Mysore Masala dosa which was not part of the menu but wait staff was confident of chef making one specially for me instead received a Masala Dosa. When asked wait staff said he forgot to put through my request. Sambar & chutney is authentic nevertheless food was good.

Arguably the best Indian restaurant in town. This is not your conventional North Indian restaurant with curries that can be found elsewhere. Their selection is predominantly South Indian and is a much needed shift from the monotony of butter chicken and Tikka masala.<br/>Food is their usp. This place can get bustling during weekends and dinner times and for good reason too. Their curries taste lip smackingly delicious and on point in terms of actual flavor. Kerala parathas is a gem to accompany the curries with. Staff is courteous and know their menu well.<br/>An excellent place to dine in overall.

Amazing, genuine South Indian food. This place offers authentic and clean flavours at decent price!! Will highly recommend to others and will be visiting again!

This is where I experienced my first Masala Dosa and ever since then I have been hooked. The only downfall is that I always want more of everything! The Dosa has a nice crispness, the potato interior is just 😍. If you enjoy eating with your hands (tearing bits off n dipping it into stuff) this is the dish for you!

Don't miss the good here best south Indian restaurant in NZ. I visited new Plymouth on a trip and found myself going there everyday... Ambiance is great, staff are friendly and the good is amazing 😍 I will fly in just to have a taste of south India in NZ

So after double recommendations we decided to go here on my b'day night - PRESSUREE!!<br/><br/>The ambience is quite different to a normal Auckland Indian restaurant with south indian style diya stands and kathakali dancers' photos but the large chair covers need to go guys!<br/><br/>Our server was over friendly but defo give 100% for effort. The real highlight is the food though as it should always be:<br/><br/>For entree we had kerala beef from the mains and masala fish fry. The fish reminded me on my mom's cooking but it was too hot for my liking. None-the less it was delish! Partner ordered a plain dosa to mop up the beef which was a good call. Authentic dosa too btw. <br/><br/>For mains my partner had the chicken stew with kallappam which she inhaled pretty quickly and I had the prawns fry from entrees which wasn't as good as the fish as what our server had said.<br/><br/>I wish we had a restaurant like this in Auckland - defo going here again on our next visit - well done!

This is my all time favorite restaurant, I have been coming here for years and I am never disappointed. The food is amazing, so different from any other Indian restaurant around, is priced well and is always good, plus they have so many vegetarian options, which for me is very important. The atmosphere is great, usually lovely and quiet unless its a busy night, then it can get a little loud, but that's more about the people there than the actual restaurant and the staff are always so polite and attentive. The location can be confusing at first but having the restaurant located on a higher floor than the main street actually gives it a much quieter and nicer atmosphere. I would say this is the best restaurant in New Plymouth and by far the best restaurant I have been to. If you are thinking about going here you definitely should. 10/10 amazing.

Nice restaurant, food is good but taking us almost one hour to wait, better order in advance!!! We ordered davas, fish and beef butter chicken!

This Indian restaurant was located on 1st floor and easily missed when you drove pass the street.<br/><br/>When we visited, it was quiet and only two tables were occupied.<br/><br/>The set up was very Indian feel. <br/><br/>We ordered beef dosa, chicken masala & roti paratha and chicken briyani rice. The food was good especially the briyani was hot and tasty!<br/><br/>A not to miss restaurant if you opt for Indian food in New Plymouth.

Very nice meals here. A change in style for sure on most of the other Indian restaurants in New Plymouth. Not as hot as the northern cuisine and I have asked for it hot. Still very nice. I just love the Dosa and Biryani. Very nice staff, feels like it is family run, although I'm not sure about that.

Great experience .. Totally different from your usual indian restaurant... The food and service was good :) I didn't recognise anything on the menu but I wasn't disappointed!

Fantastic restaurant - lovely menu and service

Good authentic food, lots of fish and coconut, not your standard curry. Service good, staff happy to advise you on the food. Feels much more real than other Indian restaurants

I was put on to this place by a friend and so glad we went. I'm a little tired of the traditional Indian restaurants you get in NP - all butter chicken and heavy naan breads. The food here was light, interesting, original and the spices were beautifully balanced. We had very attentive service and its obvious that the staff want the restaurant to succeed. Our maitre'd gave us some good advice about wines to match the food. I fully intend to go back - in fact I'm making a booking for this weekend for my family.

Discovered Kathakali three weeks ago and have been four times so far. Sadly only in NP for another few days but am going back for my last night in town. If only I could take it back to Tauranga with me. Best restaurant I've eaten in for years. Beautiful, unassuming, friendly people; varied, surprising and exciting menu and divine food. Love the anecdotes and derivation notes supplied with some of the dishes. Entertaining DVD playing highlighting their unique part of the sub-continent. Not your usual Indian place with naan bread heated in microwave making it tough; tastes here are mellow and aromatic. Don't know how anyone could complain it was 'too hot' - they go to great lengths to make it to each individual taste. Deserves to be busier than it is. The lunch menu has to be the best value in town by far. If I HAD to make a suggestion for improvement it would be to get damask napkins to match the beautiful table linen. The food deserves better than disposable serviettes! Sorry guys! <br/>PS; Please consider relocating to Tauranga!

Arrived late in town and decided to eat at Kathakali on the recommendation of the owner where we were staying.<br/><br/>Arrived and were welcomed by a very friendly member of staff. He was very accommodating with regard to our requests for gluten free meals and we were impressed by the quality of the food. Nothing was a problem for the staff, would recommend.

This is a really nice south Indian restaurant. Wonderful staff, friendly and welcoming, beautiful food, a good menu on offer, very authentic and plentiful. Relaxing atmosphere. Thanks Sree, we'll be back.

Food too hot when we asked for mild, we left without finishing even 1/4 of our meal, we usually have mild-med, but this was too hot to enjoy, staff didnt want to know about it but offered us a free coke for next time, sorry, there wont be a next time boys.

Amazing food, impeccable service, certainly cannot complain about anything. The Chicken 65 is an explosion of flavours in your mouth, but the Lentil Doughnuts with soup are fantabulous! I highly recommend Kathakali and can't wait to dine there again :)

Fantastic authentic South Indian food. The Dosas, the chutney, the paratas really brilliant. The non traditional fare such as the duck and the scallops were really well interpreted to fit within the South Indian ambit. Great service and a good selection of local and international beers. Well done! Come to Melbourne

After living for 7 years in Sydney I have seriously felt starved of and ethnic eateries that really "float my boat". <br/>Firstly, they have done such a nice job of refurbishing it after it was Bangkok gardens. It looks tasteful and feels a little dreamy.<br/>I have been there 3 times and over all of those I have felt that the service was amazing. Relaxed style, but amazing. Sri is a very good host I hope your lucky enough to have him serve you :)<br/>The food that I have tasted is the Dosa (a rice flour pancake filled with potato and other things) Delish! That comes with some sort of curry sauce and a coconut paste. I have also had the Mutta Paneer (pea / cheese), a fish curry in coconut milk, veggie cakes (entree) and a lentil curry. All food was amazing. NOT over seasoned and had all the delicate flavours coming through. I find other Indian restaurants make the sauces far too fatty, over salty and heavy. <br/>The menu here is smaller than most other Indian Restaurants but for me that equals fresher food. You can almost imagine a for example your Indian friends mother out in the kitchen preparing it for you 100% from scratch every time. (It reminds me of an experience I had in "Hampi" a little Hindu village 8 hours from Goa). Be warned... you won't find butter chicken here, but would you want to??? Try something different and indulge your senses. I will go back again and again. Absolutely Love it.

I think this is the best place in New Zealand to experience the real taste of Indian food.. It's not the place where we get the meat in a sauce.. Here it have the same taste that I experienced in India on my visit.. Real spices and the staff ready to explain the name of each dish... The decor and the atmosphere is amazing.. Must and worth a visit to see the place even if you are not eating..

Had a fantastic meal last night. Such a change from our usual Indian food. The restaurant is nicely furnished and the staff are so friendly and helpful..I didn't know very much on the menu.<br/>If I lived in this area I would definitely go again and can highly recommend.<br/>My only disappointment was no coffee on the menu and I love a liqueur coffee after a good meal.