Bollywood Theater

I wasn’t too impressed. It was good but not amazing, definitely not satisfying as I left feeling a bit «meh» and out of breath as if I just ate fast food. I didn’t mind the line or waiting to sit until I ordered as most places I eat at are structured like that (come on, just be patient people). I had the Vada Pav and Paneer Mahkani. I loved the mango lassi and the place is really beautiful, but my food gave me such a huge stomach ache that it woke me up in the middle of the night.

I’ve had their chicken curry a couple times, and I’ll have to say it was pretty tasty. The blend of spices were pretty spot on and they are very generous with their portions. I do wish the curries had more kick in them though. I’d recommend coming here after the lunch rush so you don’t have to wait.

Went here for lunch and thought pretty highly of it. We got the paneer makhani, chicken curry, and the kale pakora all of which were delicious but my favorite was the paneer makhani. They make a really good tomato gravy and serve it with saffron rice which is always a plus. It did get pretty crowded during the lunch rush and they are like Por Que No where you have to order first and then find a table to sit… which personally I dislike. I will definitely be back and it may even be for dumpling week!

Yesterday my life partner and I decided to stop in for lunch. It was my first time to Bollywood Theater but was recommended to me by my partner as she said it was outstanding.
We ordered a few different items to share. The «Lamb Samosas» we’re dynamite especially when combining with the tomato raisin chutney and green chutney. Just the right amount of heat! We also shared a «Vada Pav» which was good. I ordered the «Pork Vindaloo» which again had just the right amount of heat. Great balance of flavors and the pork was very tender and cooked to perfection. My partner ordered the «Kati Roll» which was also delicious.
The atmosphere was loose and casual and this is arguably the best Indian food I’ve ever eaten.

We ordered 2 Kati rolls (one paneer and one chicken), the fried cauliflower dish, Raita, and vada pav. All was good, but the fried cauliflower was amazing. My husband and I are still talking about it.
I had the paneer Kati roll and thought it was a little sweet with all of the cabbage in it and would have preferred if it had a more savory flavor. My husband gobbled his chicken Kati roll down and our 2 year old didn’t even want to share the vada pav. I will say be careful eating the takeout, I accidentally ate the jalapeños in the take out box twice! Whoops! Thank goodness for the raita or I think my mouth might still be on fire!

Great food, a little pricey — fun atmosphere.

My husband and myself had never had Indian food before and were a little nervous. We showed up and the line was out the door– which was honestly a relief (must be good if there is a long line). I was also thankful for the 15– 25 minute wait to ponder the menu and attempt to figure out what to order. I got the beef Kati roll which was bomb and my husband got the pork vindaloo which was also so delicious. Not to mention my Pimms cup was quite tasty! So glad we stepped a bit out of our comfort zone– our stomachs were especially happy that night!

The atmosphere was cool– chill and busy, reminded me of Seattle. It was set up like in a small warehouse looking building– lots of space inside.
It was very busy, we grabbed menus and ordered and sat at a table. When we got the food, I was surprised at the portions, they are pretty big. My friend and I ordered the chicken curry and chicken biryani– it was good and very flavorful. And cold Coke on the side= perfection!
I will definitely be back to this place to try more of the menu :)

This is one of my favorite restaurants, I have never had a bad meal here. The thali is my favorite dish with vegetarian special. This restaurant delivers the same quality of food time after time. If you crave authentic Indian food this is your place.

there’s a lot of hype about bollywood theater and for someone who lives in seattle but comes through pdx on a somewhat regular basis, there’s reason to detour to one of the locations because it’s just too easy in the u.s. to get bad indian food… and why would, you do THAT!!!
having lived and traveled in india, i went right for my favorites off the menu: the Kati roll with paneer and the papri chaat.
the first was excellent; the second disappointed.
the kati roll’s size and contents were both plentiful and flavorful.
i love that they have mirch (hot peppers) to add according to taste and those i added and not at all sparingly. there was enough going on in the sauces that it was the flavor explosion i was hoping for minus the dust and endless cacophony of the delhi streets where i normally eat them.
the papri chaat, on the other hand, looked good but just seemed blander than bland. it had all the right ingredients but it didn’t taste like i wanted it to.
the ambiance of the actual restaurant is fun: lots of paraphernalia from india to look at and tons to be educated about if you go and have any interest in the culture or the food.
i’d go back but i’d be more discerning about what i order next time around. oh yeah, there’ll be more kati rolls exchanged for my hard earned money (and probably some other things as well) but i’ll leave my next papri chaat for the subcontinent itself.

Oh god yes. Some friends had recommended this place, and having been in the area for an early lunch at Pok Pok (best time to go!) we came back to try out Bollywood Theater.
It wasn’t the warmest night, so waiting in line just outside the door was not my favourite thing — luckily the line did move so we got inside fairly quickly. The line was very slow, I seriously do not understand how it was that slow, but the food more than made up for it! I was agonising over what to eat because holy moly there’s so much delicious! I really wanted one of everything, but then I would have died from overstuffing… Sad.
The décor is kitschy and cute, very open and light, although I was sad there wasn’t a movie playing — there was a projector so I assume that happens sometimes. The tables are clean and well spaced, which is impressive given how many people come through here.
I ended up ordering the chicken curry with a side of paratha — I wanted the meal sized one but just couldn’t have eaten it on my own! For being a small plate this was an absolutely perfect size, and completely packed with flavour. It certainly isn’t the rich, heavy curry you might be used to, but the flavours are fantastic, and the meat was very well cooked. The paratha was a great choice, I used it to wipe up every morsel of sauce on that plate!
Super delicious, very reasonably priced, HELL YEAH!

My favorite thing here is the Kati Roll, hands down. I’ve been eating healthier (and much less meat), so the kati roll was perfect to share. The kati roll can (and should) be shared, especially if you’re getting more dishes to share. I really enjoyed the pickled vegetables, and the chicken itself was perfectly grilled.
We also ordered the chicken curry and gobi Manchurian.
The chicken curry was good, but I wish there were more sauce for the rice. Also, I missed the yummy, thin basmati rice I see from other indian restaurants — the rice here was thicker. The chicken fell off the bones easily, so we shredded the meat off the bones to share.
The gobi Manchurian was a surprise — I expected a plateful of fried cauliflower, but I didn’t know it would look like Chinese food. The cauliflower itself was delicious, but I wish the breading on the fried lemons wasn’t so thick.
Try the chutney by the silverware/​water/​sauce station! Listen to their advice and only grab a little — it’s REALLY spicy.

Friday night dinner time and the wait is ridiculous. Out the door, and they still only opened one cash register. The line moved unnecessarily slowly.
Also, their signage for the specials are terrible. Many of the specials are written in light orange marker and tiny font. If they sold generic food that the average person didn’t need defined for you, fine. But no one in my party knew what anything was! And yet you can’t read the sign describing what the food is until you are right under it.
Loved the string of lights they had over the outside seating area.
Seat yourself after you order at the register.
After you order, though, the food comes out pretty quickly. I tried the sweet potato chaat and corn specials. Excellent! My two favorite dishes of the night. Corn is grilled and seasoned with Kashmir butter and spices. The sweet potato chaat is cold! Surprising, but in a good way! The mix of textures with the soft sweet potato, cilantro, little nuts, tomato, and spices was phenomenal.
The pav bhali would have been better if it were spicier, but you can get the jalapeño chutney to eat with it at the self serve. The shrimp thali was kind of a let down.

Visited Bollywood for lunch on Wednesday. Just arrived from the East Coast hours before. I was hungry and ready to experience my first Portland restaurant. We were three and ordered a variety of large and small plates, and ate family-​style. One was dal and coconut curry. One was sweet potatoes chaat. Both these dishes were bland, dry, and hard to tell apart. I never tasted curry without a hint of simmer sauce. The Papadam came with three forgettable sauces. No spice no heat and no menu option to crank them up. Where were the one, two, three, chili pepper icons on the menu?
I did give my review one star. The Kati roll with paneer and pickled onion was very enjoyable and the only thing that I would order again.
If Bollywood is Indian food than Taco Bell is Mexican.

It’s a place with a very Indian soul! It’s authentic but not pretentious. Memorabilia of Indian life are painstakingly collected and displayed. The placards while you wait are surprising nuggets of history, culture, art and daily life. The restroom has a display of family pictures from early 1900s in India. There is always a glorious Indian movie from the yesteryears, like Sholay or Pather Panchali playing on the wall-​screen. Another wall crowded with posters of random movies, actors and other things is a story of changing times and changing interests.
Oh, you are here for the food! Well, you eat in hardy steel utensils food made from fresh, healthy ingredients. They have seasonal specials now with delightful finds every few weeks. You don’t rate the spice, you just enjoy it. The menu is unconventional. The preparations are extremely well made and they pull off a fantastic whole wheat roti.
I do come here craving the food, but mostly I come here because they celebrate India and Indian food like none other.

Went there after a while. Felt like the food quality has gone up a few notches. Tried the chicken biryani (new on the menu). It was yummy! Served with mirchi ka salan and raita, it’s as good as it gets. Good portion size for one meal and well priced at $ 9.

Top 3 words to describe this fantastic place: spicy, delectable, and delightful.
Appetizers:
1. Chaat — crunchy, beany, sweet, and oh-​my-​goodness SPICY! It’s like ordering nachos but. Indian style. A great way to start your meal, especially if you don’t mind the sweat! (Disclaimer: spice tolerance is still being built up!)
Small plates:
1. Goan-​style shrimp — jumbo shrimp in this tasteful curry sauce served with biryani rice, basil, onions, spinach. All things good in this plate. Definitely would recommend this small entrée!
2. Chicken curry — again, YUM to dish as well. IMO, a classic dish that could not go wrong.
— Overall, these small plates were less spicy compared to the chaat, but it could possibly be due to tolerance from earlier.
Would I come back? Oh, absolutely! And have already! I love this place. The ambience with its adorable Christmas lighting and open space is charming. This is somewhat of a self-​serve place in that you must order food before sitting, and you must bus your own table when you’re done eating. Water is free for all! But if you would like a drink, I’d recommend the mango lassi. It helped to soothe my burning mouth from eating the chaat.

I was nervous & excited to try this place. Nervous because I’ve never had Indian food before; excited because it has the coolest outdoor seating adorned with café lights above!
Oh my word. The food is so dang good! I’m contemplating going back tomorrow! It’s a place where you walk up to the counter, order, they bring your food out & you bus your own table type deal. Warning, the line is looooong, but sooooo worth it! It took us maybe 10 minutes, 15 min at most to get through the line. So it really isn’t. Plus, it’s Portland. All the delicious pdx places have insane lines!
I got the chicken Kati roll & the Vada Pav. I didn’t know whether to get one or the other or both. I got both. The Kati roll, I would’ve been satisfied with just that. The Vada Pav is a good size if you’re looking for a snack or not starving. Both were so good! I’ll be a returning customer! Don’t let the line scare you off!

I’m not usually a big fan of Indian food since I sometimes leave feeling a little sick from the food being too heavy but Bollywod theater had some really unique street food dishes that I’ve never tried elsewhere. I’m glad I went with a couple friends because it allowed me to try more dishes.
BHEL PURI ($ 6): ⁵⁄₅ My favorite refreshing dish of puffed rice mixed with chopped potatoes, vegetables, cilantro, peanuts, spices, and chutney sauce. I loved the mixture of crunchy and soft textures.
DAHI PAPRI CHAAT ($ 6): ⁵⁄₅ My other favorite dish. Housemade crackers with chickpeas, potatoes, yogurt, cilantro, and tamarind chutney. It reminds me a bit of Bhel Puri with the mixed textures. Flavors was amazing and very light feeling
VADA PAV ($ 3.25): ⁴⁄₅ Reminded me of a slider with a spicy potatoes and chickpea patty.
KATI ROLL ($ 9): ³⁄₅ Flatbread rolled with paneer, pickled onions, coleslaw, and chutney. I may have enjoyed it a bit more if it had meat but we had ordered ours with paneer cheese.
PAV BHAJI ($ 6.50): ⁴⁄₅ Vegetarian dish of potatoes, vegetables, tomatoes, and spices served with delicious buttered rolls.
PORK VINDALOO ($ 10): ³⁄₅ Usually vindaloo is supposed to be very spicy but this one wasn’t and was very salty. It was served with buttered rolls but I wish it was with flatbread instead. Good thing we ordered some paratha on the side
GOAN STYLE SHRIMP ($ 11.50): ³⁄₅ Shrimp with curry leaves, coconut milk, and lime served with a saffron rice. Shrimp seems a little unfresh.
CHICKEN CURRY ($ 9.50): ⁴⁄₅ Pretty good chicken curry served with saffron rice.
GINGER LIME SODA ($ 3): ⁵⁄₅ Delicious and refreshing mix of ginger and lime. The flavors are just right to be strong enough to taste the flavors but not overpowering.

Like their consistency.
Love the Kati roll with chicken: just awesome… very consistent.
They were out of Gobi manchurian quickly.
They serve Kingfisher beer (and only $ 4) and that too on draft.
Beets dish was okay… but very well cooked with the mustard seeds perfectly cooked.
Parata: great taste.
At their other branch, ordered teir chicken thali meals: this was just okay: chicken tender, but not flavorful (the gravy was good); Rice was good, but the not as much quantity; Dal: not good; Sambar, Raita: just ok.
Could get crowded for weekday or weekend dinners (around 7pm)