Chennai Kings Express

I was deceived by the Unilocal ratings that this restaurant had. I went there on a Sunday afternoon and the restaurant was almost empty. I had chappathi and the masala dosa. The vegetable kurma that came with the chapathi was so watery. And the dosa was cold and I can very well say that it was not made fresh. I wouldn’t recommend going to this place.

Tasty Indian food. Some dishes are very authentic south indian, my favorite is Parotta with Goat curry — best I’ve had in USA. Only gripe is sometimes they take a bit more time when the place is packed. Packed for a reason of course!

I have been here twice, i only ordered biryani. Because the biryani is so good that you can not even think about the other food. The chicken biryani is like average, but the goat one is super delicious. So all the goat lovers, thats your place.
Even the interior is nice, clean and quite, this time i have a chance to sit outside, i am glad they do have a burner outside. But a nice place and strongly recommended.
Ps. Get a hot n spicy goat biryani in the winter cold night sitting outside. Its worth it! :)

Great South Indian food
Hole in a wall kinda place, easy to miss
But well kept and organized
Looks like it is a frequent stop for SJSU folks who enjoy late outings. It was open through 11 pm, which works for some late night munching.
We had Medu vada (dumplings) and Kottu parotta– staple breakfast item that takes day old Roti and eggs all spiced up
They have good consistency Dosas. Chutneys and Sambar on the side has good flavor and variety
Drinks menu is negligible, something they can get better at. Good prices too.
I haven’t had many options for good South Indian food, this one fits the bill!

Chicken Biriyani — Below Average
Adayar Fish Fry –Below Average (Too much red color powder)
Gulab jamun — Good
Fish Curry — Good
Ambiance — Average
Little costly

nice place to have south Indian food in San Jose downtown.
Its worth giving a try.

Stopped by for dinner with my husband and cousin because this restaurant participated in the ‘dine for chennai’ program — all the money you spend today (¹²⁄₀₈) goes toward flood relief efforts in Chennai. Since Chennai’s my hometown, I was super excited to go eat a lot of food and still get to feel good afterwards:-) With our wallets full and stomachs empty, we started out with mango lassi, madras coffee and the marina beach molaga bajji. The lassi and coffee were really good, the bajji was super spicy though. Marina beach was my favorite hangout spot and I remember the bajjis being much thinner and crispier.
Our second course was chicken biryani, (medium spicy, very good) Mysore masala dosa (my favorite, especially the lining of peanut chutney inside) and onion dosa (can’t comment on that because my cousin didn’t share!!)
For dessert we had the rasamalai (a bit too thick and dry) and falooda (I liked this one although there was no vermicelli)
Overall the food was more like 3.5 stars and I think the more traditional South Indian dishes were better than the others on the menu. Service was excellent and portion sizes were very good. Rounded up to 4 stars because of the initiative to donate to the floods — great job!

Actually the chicken biriyani is worth 5 stars. Absolutely loved it. One of the best in Bay Area. The sitting arrangement is relatively small. It is a good option for Sjsu students. The chicken curry with paratha was decent. Not great. The bhajiya are great. Also loved the idli and dosas. The service is pretty good.

Food tastes decent but half of the items we ordered was cold. Biryani was served with very little Raita and extra raita was charged for. Service is pretty slow and bad

I have visited this place for almost 4 times now. They have excellent chicken biryani. The chicken in the biryani is properly marinated and the rice is flavored with different Indian spices which makes it tasty and authentic. I even like the raita they serve with the biryani. If you are a sea-​food lover, then you must try the Adyar Beach Meen Varuval which is like a tandoori pomfret. I wish they could increase the portion for this dish. Their vegetable biryani is also good.
The only thing that I didn’t like at this place was Lassi. I had ordered a mango lassi and a Gulab Lassi, separately, on two different occasions. Both were a big time turn-​off.
Overall the ambience is just fine. It’s a small place with outdoor sitting as well. The staff is very helpful. Must visit this place to eat some delicious chicken biryani.
P.S: SJSU students get 10% discount on the whole bill if paid by cash.

Not even close to average South Indian restaurant in San Jose. Very expensive .
The serving was good, but the food is just okay.
The chutney is not good.

Tried this place at weekend. Finally, a good indian restaurant that serves tasty and spicy food.
We ordered mini idlis and mysore masala dosa. Yummy! The chutney were really authentic taste.
Also tried the nethily fish fry which was crispy and good.
Goat biryani was good too.
Overall, reasonable priced and nice service.

Finally downtown San Jose gets a fine Indian fare! No show put up just plain good south Indian food. This place is really not a find as I have been to the mountain view location. But, in every way, this location is way better in terms of food and service. The first couple of times I was here, I ordered the simple South Indian idli and Dosa, right on spot! I especially like their milagai bajji (chili pakora). We make it a point to order that every single time. Very recently, We tried their idiyappam with chicken curry, it’s at its spiciest best! If you prefer mild, you may want to tell them to tone it down a bit. I love the curd rice! What’s great about curd rice, right? You have to try it here to tell the difference plus, it really helps with all the spicy dishes on their menu! what else? Service is impeccable! They are really really sweet and take good care of their customers. They have complimentary desserts for the dinner orders every now and then. I have tried the Payasam with jaggery and sugar, delicious! They go far and beyond to make your meal delightful! If you do find yourself in the downtown San Jose area craving indian, stop here!

Seriously, all these positive feedback here are deceiving. We tried their Mysore dosa and spring dosa. First of all the sambhar was old and didn’t taste anything like sambhar. The spring dosa was way too salty. The vegetarian korma wasn’t served hot and the vada we ordered was way too oily. I’m not a very picky eater but boy this place doesn’t deserve a five star review.
To give these guys a benefit of doubt, we only tried their vegetarian options, they might have an okay non vegetarian selection, Which I don’t know anything about. The only thing I could say is «try this place at your own risk».

Biggest reason for a 5 star: I love the taste of food here.
Chicken curry, mulbar paratha, idly, medu vada, all the chutneys, everything we tried was tasty.
Biryani ++
Service is good and the servers are polite. However it is a bit pricy though but the portions are good enough. I hope they steal all the dosa and curry customers who pay a lot and dont get good food. In my opinion this is the best indian restaurant in downtown SJ. Will come here again and again.

Very tasty food. Tried most of the recipes. They serve authentic south indian food, must try mini idlys and dosa.
For non-​veg lovers try chicken/​goat biryani mouth watering. Mango Lassi, umm its heaven.
Kothumali Rasam (rasam served as soup) was delicious.
Marian Beach Milagai Bajji (Mirchi Bajji) perfect evening snack. Loved it!
The only reason i give 4 stars is kothu paratha has no authentic flavours and it is saughy.
Well, Customer service is excellent. Though the waiting time is more worth the wait. This has became one of my fav restaurants in sanjose.
Must try!!!

I had masala dosa and my hubby had chicken biryani and we shared. The food was really yummy and totally flavorful. I can’t wait to come back!

Newly opened chennai kings is a decent south Indian restaurant with a significant room for improvement. Located just across San Jose state university, I expect it to be very busy in coming days. Being a foodie I have some cardinal recommendations for them to iron out these creases and I hope the owner takes it seriously.
1) Food– Mysore masala dosa came half burnt and the sauces had no taste. I have been to chennai and I understand the authentic flavors of Tamil Nadu state in India. Sambhar (the lentil soup) was relatively thick with drumsticks. The nice thing about sambhar was it had drumsticks which I personally like but the thick consistency really ruined the taste for me.
Chicken curry with parotta was pretty good. I liked the spice levels and the layered bread tasted pretty good. Their mini idlis were ok and came with same sauces as dosa.
Mango Lassi– served in blue plastic glass ruined the look of it and made it insipid. Taste was ok!
2) Cleanliness — They are privileged to have really nice outdoor seating but c’mon guys get tables washed up. The food droppings were dried and remain stuck on wire mash tables. The waitress did clean it but it demanded thorough cleaning. Got spare napkins to work as table cover which the hostess provided very kindly. The Toilets– Can’t imagine how filthy they were especially in an empty restaurant, this is unacceptable guys. Get it professionally cleaned and ensure the floors are moped regularly.
3) Parking– They have limited restaurant parking at the back but on a busy day which they may or may not have, it can be tricky to locate one on this street.
4) Outdoor seating– seemed nice and quiet with one more family sitting close to us. However the cleaning is an issue and the tacky restaurant banner with prominent red colour make it look putrid. Interiors seemed pretty stuffy thus decided to get some fresh air and sat outside. Do something about the décor chaps and make it look refreshing if not trendy!
I may come back again to try few other dishes before ruling this place out completely.

I went to Chennai Kings Express for lunch today and ordered my meal to go… there was nothing «express» about it. I waited over half my lunch hour before I got my food, and there were only two people ahead of me.
I ordered the butter chicken and basmati rice. There are no combo plates. Everything is ala carte. My meal was just a few penny’s short of 18 dollars. Way over priced in my opinion.
This location is right across the street from San Jose State. The smart business’s in the area know that an overpriced menu will keep most of the students away in droves, and this business is right near SJSU housing
The other demagraphic in the area are all the employees of SJSU, which I am a part of. And I can say with certainty that if it takes over half your lunch hour to be served most people will avoid it.
The food was decent. My butter chicken was nice and spicy, but it didn’t have the velvet consistency that I’m used to. It was more like a thick soup or bisque, and it was soupy, and sparse with the chicken.
For half the price of what I payed here, I can go up the street and have the butter chicken at the Indian buffet at Punjab Palace, where it’s fast and a much better value.

The spring dosa was super delicious and filling! It came with hummus and a spicy sauce. The service is very attentive and polite.
Plus! The complimentary rice kheer was perfect. Definitely would come back again. Two thumbs up!