Malabar Coast is my absolute go-to spot for authentic Kerala cuisine in the Bay Area, consistently delivering on tradition and flavor. The main reason for my loyalty is their incredible Thalassery Biriyani; cooked with distinctive Kaima rice, it is incredibly fragrant, light, and perfectly layered with spices, making it easily the best version available
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Kranthi Lammatha
Visited yesterday we had talasri biryani and roasted Fry it's pure Kerala authentic had good time will visit again
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Kerala Porotta, Beef Fry
Chinmay Sardesai
I honestly can't believe this restaurant has been around since 2019 and I just tried it in 2025 after all these years. We're total suckers for Kerala cuisine, and Malabar Coast hit all the right notes for me and my family.
It's near the Santa Clara DMV, tucked into the corner of an arcade complex, so it's easy to miss. The inside has decent seating and felt clean. Service was a bit slow and our server didn't seem too familiar with the menu, but it was Veteran's Day so maybe they were short-staffed. One of the owners, Nagendra, jumped in right away to help us with recommendations, which was nice. The menu was packed with dishes I hadn't even heard of before (Chicken Mappas? Chicken Varuthacharathu? Chicken Ulathu?). I hope they trim down the menu a bit or add some descriptions to make ordering easier.
Now to the stuff that really matters - the food! We ordered a bunch: Shrimp Tawa Fry and Chicken 65 for apps, then Chicken Curry with a Kerala Porotta, a couple of aappams, and a Mutton Biryani. Portions are generous, so plan accordingly. We ordered extra on purpose to try more and didn't mind leftovers for the next day.
The Shrimp Tawa Fry was fantastic. The Porotta and appams were freshly made, flavorful, and hot. Just spot on! The Chicken Curry was tasty but could use a touch more seasoning. The Mutton Biryani had great flavor but the goat pieces were a little tough and could've used some more time in the pressure cooker. Still, the portion and prep were solid.
Overall, I'd absolutely recommend this place. If they can tighten up the service and get the word out better, I think they'll build a strong following. The food quality really stands out compared to other spots, and I hope they keep that up.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 3
ASHWIN NAIK
Amazing taste
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
baljit verka
Very bad food chicken 65
Gopakumar
While the food tastes good, the hygiene standards are seriously lacking. One of the male staff members was serving plates by holding the inside surface — the part we’re supposed to eat from — with his bare hands. That’s completely unhygienic.
The same thing happened with the takeout boxes. He was handling them by touching the inside, showing no understanding of basic food safety.
If this is how they operate in front of customers, I don't want to imagine what happens behind the scenes. Hygiene should be a priority, not an afterthought.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 3
Service: 1
raghul raj
The service is excellent. They always do what we request. Nice Atmopshere
Recommended dishes: Fish Fry
Deep Chahal
Zero service from restaurant
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Kathi Siva Ram
One of the worst service, I have wver experienced! Place is not clean. Staff here does not respond, There is no one to enquire about the food or to order.
Ordered chicken biriyani, the portion size was more than decent however lacked taste, felt random flavours throughout the meal to be honest. Biriyani had boiled egg which was cold.
Cutlet was good, good taste.
Service was decent and quick.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 3
Sindhuja Xavier
Beef roast was amazing!
Food: 4
Mohan V
Was at this place to pick up our order and found this place to be a decent place with Indian taste food. The place has ample parking and it was convenient to pick up our order. One of the items which I liked was corn chilly and the quantity was good enough. Would certainly try more veggies item next time.
Food: 5
Cameron Maddux
Food is great! Service is okay. The constant YouTube ads, I could do without. If you are family of these people gift them a premium subscription, please.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 4
Sreekanth Krishnamoorthy
We were visiting California and decided to try this place for Kerala dish based on the reviews. So we stopped by at this place for lunch (June 19th 2025). The ambience was good and plenty of parking available. The menu does have Kerala dishes with a mix/match of various North Indian and bit of south Indian biriyanis. We ordered Veg Cutlet, Kerala Porotta and Green peas masala. The cutlet looked good until we cut it open and realized some shredded pieces which looked like fish. It did not taste like veg cutlet eventhough there were mashed potatoes along with something else shredded and mixed in it (may be they used the same oil which they used to fry fish). They did not provide any sauce with the cutlet and we had to ask for it. We asked the waitress to confirm if the cutlet is Veg and she did confirm that it is veg. We couldn't eat it because too much fish flavor in it. Kerala Porotta and Green peas masala was good, even though the porotta was not fresh and looked like frozen one. After we finished eating, we had some left over curry which we boxed to take home. However when we left the restaurant, we forgot to take the boxed left over and we came back to the restaurant with in 5 mins to take it. By the time the waitress trashed the container. Who will box left over if they don't want to take it. She could've waited for some time before trashing it. Absolutely no common sense. Never visiting this restaurant again. That one star rating is for Green peas masala which tasted good.
Malabar Coast is my absolute go-to spot for authentic Kerala cuisine in the Bay Area, consistently delivering on tradition and flavor. The main reason for my loyalty is their incredible Thalassery Biriyani; cooked with distinctive Kaima rice, it is incredibly fragrant, light, and perfectly layered with spices, making it easily the best version available
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Visited yesterday we had talasri biryani and roasted Fry it's pure Kerala authentic had good time will visit again
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Kerala Porotta, Beef Fry
I honestly can't believe this restaurant has been around since 2019 and I just tried it in 2025 after all these years. We're total suckers for Kerala cuisine, and Malabar Coast hit all the right notes for me and my family.
It's near the Santa Clara DMV, tucked into the corner of an arcade complex, so it's easy to miss. The inside has decent seating and felt clean. Service was a bit slow and our server didn't seem too familiar with the menu, but it was Veteran's Day so maybe they were short-staffed. One of the owners, Nagendra, jumped in right away to help us with recommendations, which was nice. The menu was packed with dishes I hadn't even heard of before (Chicken Mappas? Chicken Varuthacharathu? Chicken Ulathu?). I hope they trim down the menu a bit or add some descriptions to make ordering easier.
Now to the stuff that really matters - the food! We ordered a bunch: Shrimp Tawa Fry and Chicken 65 for apps, then Chicken Curry with a Kerala Porotta, a couple of aappams, and a Mutton Biryani. Portions are generous, so plan accordingly. We ordered extra on purpose to try more and didn't mind leftovers for the next day.
The Shrimp Tawa Fry was fantastic. The Porotta and appams were freshly made, flavorful, and hot. Just spot on! The Chicken Curry was tasty but could use a touch more seasoning. The Mutton Biryani had great flavor but the goat pieces were a little tough and could've used some more time in the pressure cooker. Still, the portion and prep were solid.
Overall, I'd absolutely recommend this place. If they can tighten up the service and get the word out better, I think they'll build a strong following. The food quality really stands out compared to other spots, and I hope they keep that up.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 3
Amazing taste
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Very bad food chicken 65
While the food tastes good, the hygiene standards are seriously lacking. One of the male staff members was serving plates by holding the inside surface — the part we’re supposed to eat from — with his bare hands. That’s completely unhygienic.
The same thing happened with the takeout boxes. He was handling them by touching the inside, showing no understanding of basic food safety.
If this is how they operate in front of customers, I don't want to imagine what happens behind the scenes. Hygiene should be a priority, not an afterthought.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 3
Service: 1
The service is excellent. They always do what we request. Nice Atmopshere
Recommended dishes: Fish Fry
Zero service from restaurant
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
One of the worst service, I have wver experienced! Place is not clean.
Staff here does not respond, There is no one to enquire about the food or to order.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
This is the best Kerala food
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
Ordered chicken biriyani, the portion size was more than decent however lacked taste, felt random flavours throughout the meal to be honest. Biriyani had boiled egg which was cold.
Cutlet was good, good taste.
Service was decent and quick.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 3
Beef roast was amazing!
Food: 4
Was at this place to pick up our order and found this place to be a decent place with Indian taste food. The place has ample parking and it was convenient to pick up our order. One of the items which I liked was corn chilly and the quantity was good enough. Would certainly try more veggies item next time.
Food: 5
Food is great! Service is okay. The constant YouTube ads, I could do without. If you are family of these people gift them a premium subscription, please.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 4
We were visiting California and decided to try this place for Kerala dish based on the reviews. So we stopped by at this place for lunch (June 19th 2025). The ambience was good and plenty of parking available. The menu does have Kerala dishes with a mix/match of various North Indian and bit of south Indian biriyanis. We ordered Veg Cutlet, Kerala Porotta and Green peas masala. The cutlet looked good until we cut it open and realized some shredded pieces which looked like fish. It did not taste like veg cutlet eventhough there were mashed potatoes along with something else shredded and mixed in it (may be they used the same oil which they used to fry fish). They did not provide any sauce with the cutlet and we had to ask for it. We asked the waitress to confirm if the cutlet is Veg and she did confirm that it is veg. We couldn't eat it because too much fish flavor in it. Kerala Porotta and Green peas masala was good, even though the porotta was not fresh and looked like frozen one. After we finished eating, we had some left over curry which we boxed to take home. However when we left the restaurant, we forgot to take the boxed left over and we came back to the restaurant with in 5 mins to take it. By the time the waitress trashed the container. Who will box left over if they don't want to take it. She could've waited for some time before trashing it. Absolutely no common sense. Never visiting this restaurant again. That one star rating is for Green peas masala which tasted good.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 1
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