Ettan

Beautiful restaurant plating up delicious Indian meals.Ettan is tucked away, but easy to find through the help of GPS directions, just look for the signage and big blue door. It's neighboring Salt & Straw and Maruwu. No reservations but was able to grab a table promptly, but would recommend it especially during lunch/dinner rush.Menu has a good selection of dishes without being too extensive. Love that they offer lunch specials as well! Crispy Shrimp $18 - this is a great starter if you enjoy shrimp and a bit of heat, it's perfectly crispy, basically shrimp eaten in it's entirety, head to tail with shell on. The fry was light and crisp, wonderfully spiced with a bit of heat and great with the lime aioli to cut through the richness. Butter Chicken $25 - you get a bowl of Butter Chicken, with tender pieces of chicken and a delicious spiced curry. Flavorful and great paired with naan or rice. Opted to order the Garlic Naan $5 which was freshly made, piping hot, fluffy, slight chew and perfect for soaking up the curry.Lamb Kebab Wrap $22 - great lunch deal, the roti encases a lamb kebab that is juicy, spiced and has a wonderful gamey flavor. The aioli went well with the lamb and loved the refreshing house salad of arugula, tomato and cucumber.Service was prompt, waters refilled and staff gave great recommendations. Every food item was delicious and makes me excited to come back to try the rest of the menu!Also while out front trying to get photos, the host stepped out and snapped a few photos of us which I really appreciated. She went out of her way to even get different angles.

Came here for my friends birthday celebration and it did not disappoint. The food was quite delicious and we ordered an array of options. We started off with some apps which were good but we felt rhetorical sauces for a lot of them carried the flavor. Overall was delicious. For mains, we got the butter chicken, black cod, chicken biriyani, and naan etc. I would rate it all at or above an 8. The black cod with coconut rice had to be my favorite. Very soft and the sauce it came with was tasty. We got the passion fruit dessert which was eaten up immediately. Very good! Service was quite good. We had a reservation but had increased the number of people and they still were able to seat us with no wait outside. The outside decor was cute with umbrellas hanging from the ceiling. You can take nice photos here for a celebration as we did.

There's many things I want to try, but my stomach isn't big enough for that. I ordered the Sesame leaf, cast iron monkey buns, the signature chutney sampler, tahini, and their ghee roasted lamb chops.This was my first time dining at an Indian restaurant and this was the right restaurant to get a taste of their culture. The service was great and the ambiance was lively. I got to meet some cool people at the bar who also were their first time eating at Ettan. Here's my rating on what I ordered...Chutney sampler 5/5: The perfect appetizer before the small plates! The lentil papadum was so crispy and flakey, it tasted amazing with the chutney.Sesame leaf 4/5: It was okay! It did look good in the pictures, but didn't taste as expected, it had too much yogurt for my liking.Monkey buns 3/5: It was alright, I wouldn't recommend it. It was a lot of carbs. I wouldn't get it again because it fills you up pretty quickly.Tahini 2/5: I think I would like this drink if it wasn't too thick and sour.Ghee roasted superior farms lamb chops 5/5: Amazing! I have never had ground byadgi and now it's my favorite seasoning. It's spicy, but tolerable for someone who can't take spicy. It came with quinoa pulao and it was such a good combo.As a first timer, they left me a great first impression and I hope to some day dine upstairs because the view looks so beautiful from up there. I'm also looking forward to try their chicken biryani, cauliflower, Kerala fried chicken, and their passion fruit dessert.

Tldr: Food was great, beautiful space, but I wish I could have packed my own food. Server forgot the main dish. This is located in the cutest street/alleyway in Palo Alto. It's absolutely gorgeous and I'm glad they still have their patio dining.SESAME LEAF - skip- The sesame leaf is super fried and hard, which in a bite, it takes most of your bite, so all the other toppings lose their flavor. But when we picked off the yogurt and the sesame brittle, or the herby green sauce, those themselves were good. While it looks unique and looks like it would pack a punch, we don't recommend. - Sesame leaves themselves have such a unique fragrant grassy and bitter flavor that's strong and herbacious (kkaennip is also used in korean food) so it would be great if we could actually taste that!So this dish would be better if the sesame leaf was more delicately fried (it's ok, we can use utensils!) so it's crispy, not hard. And if there was more yogurt, sesame, and sauces so it would be more flavorful.MONKEY BUNS- Super soft bread with a snack-like crumble. Served with butter and eggplant chutney. It's great to be shared and always so special to have homemade bread.SEABASS - Get it!- This was the highlight of our meal! It's also the chilean seabass variety which is tender and meaty. Honestly this was a great combo meal of seabass, coconut rice, green beans salad, and chips. We were so full through these meals that we didn't finish all the dishes, including like 1/4 of the seabass. So... the server kindly packed it all to go. I really looked forward to the seabass, but everything was packed minus the seabass. T_T So sad! Everything would have been great, but I just wished I packed my own to-go boxes.

We recently tried Ettan for a birthday celebration. Reservations are highly encouraged. The restaurant is beautiful and full of color. You can't go wrong sitting inside or in the covered patio that has heat lamps. Our large group was seated right away. Our server was friendly and overall good, but should have been a little more attentive such as when we were ordering the small plates he could've guided us in how many pieces are in each plate so we could have ordered the correct amount. We enjoyed the monkey buns, squash cutlets, and sesame leaf chaat. The sesame leaf was my favorite of the small plates. The fenugreek kebabs were ok.Paneer burji and kabocha curry were my favorite of the large plates we tried and others in the group agreed. They were well seasoned and full of flavor. The remainder of the larger plates (kale and saag, brocollini Malai kofta) were underwhelming- they were not seasoned enough and mostly disappointing. Maa ki dal was pretty standard.. Most of the group enjoyed mocktails and were happy with them.Overall a 3.5/5 star experience when considering the price point. The food was not quite as good as I would have hoped.

Second visit and this time is brunch inside instead of dinner outside. The decorations inside is bright, elegant and beautiful. We sat in the middle booth, the side facing the front has less view than the opposite side when taking pictures with the background. The food is small in portion in general, so don't be fooled with the large plates category naming. For example, the cod we ordered, after dividing the fish among the 4 of us, each of us had a one-inch cube. The fish did taste soft. Overall the flavors were modified to suit more for the general public that can't stand the authentic level of spiciness, which I like. We had a few items: -Small Plates: Gulf Shrimp Roast ($19), Kerala Fried Chicken ($17) Honestly had no recollection of how they tasted after a couple days. After reviewing the pictures, I still don't recall the shrimp roast, I only remember the chicken tasted good, but fried food can't really be that bad.-Large Plates: Black Code ($45), Butter Chicken ($30)Both tasted good, again, just not enough portion. Adding extra butter naan costed $5.....Brunch: Lamb Kebab Wrap ($22), Mysore Dosa ($22)-Did not taste the kebab, but the presentation is nothing special. The dosa on the other hand was very good and it was my first time trying it.-Mango Lassi ($10): pricey but tasted fineLastly on service. The waiters were all Indians, fitting to the cuisine of the restaurant. But I felt like they lacked a bit interaction with customers in a casual way, like where you get a bit of chit chatty but not overly taking over your time. Ethal's Fancy wait service did a better job with more high spirit and cheer.

For our 24th anniversary, we expected a special dining experience at Ettan, but unfortunately, it fell flat in two key areas--the food was spectacularly unspectacular, and there was no effort to make our celebration feel special. Despite noting our anniversary, we were simply seated upstairs, side by side, with no gesture--big or small--to acknowledge the occasion.Now, onto the food. While the presentation was stunning and the ambiance beautifully designed, the flavors just didn't deliver. We ordered: Ettan Salad - The best of the night. The curry leaf thovial was an unexpected and interesting addition that made this dish stand out. Butter Chicken - Not overly sweet, which was a plus, but otherwise nothing extraordinary. Lamb Galouti Kabab - Tender but lacking a memorable depth of flavor. Fried Kerala Chicken - The most disappointing dish of the night. Despite a crispy coating, the flavors just didn't shine.Service was polite and professional, but overall, the experience felt more transactional than warm or celebratory. Ettan's stunning ambiance and upscale plating set high expectations, but the flavors and attention to special occasions didn't match up.Would I return? Time with tell(Photos attached: Beautiful presentation, but food that didn't quite hit the mark.)

Ettan is not just a restaurant but an experience complete with beautiful decor, friendly service, and top tier food.I've been here a handful of times for special occasions and their food has been stellar - ettan salad is my favorite and you definitely can't go wrong with a classic butter chicken and garlic naan. The food portions are very small for the hefty price tag but the flavors of all the foods are the star of it all - I just wish there was more! :(The design of both indoor and outdoor seating are so beautiful, culturally rich but also modern in setting. Will definitely be back for special occasions!

Nicely decorated restaurant by University Ave with some delicious options! I came here twice, and so far my favorites are the monkey buns and the brûléed mango yogurt! The Maa Ki Dal was also good but I would get it to share with some rice and/or naan rather than as a personal entree because it's a lot. Other appetizers I've tried and were decent: octopus, sesame leaf.I would skip on the cod (not much flavor imo) and Jamun Ring (dessert). All the cocktails were just fine.

Kicked started 2025 with a birthday brunch to celebrate my Dad. Everything was perfect, from the service to the food. Our server Mayur, was the sweetest. Our initial server when we were first seated (I didn't catch his name) was also adorable!At first, we were seated directly in front of the beautiful blue doors, but it was so cold we requested a warmer table. The staff quickly assigned us a seat upstairs, in the sun, and made the reassignment seamless. Despite new seating both servers continued to check on us throughout our visit. The food was amazing. Presentation was so creative and colorful. Great options for the entire family; vegan, vegetarian, gluten free. Our tastebuds wished for more spice...as we prefer spicy food. I was most impressed with how the lamb and fish were cooked perfectly! Crisp, charred, crunchy as you bite into it. Delicate, moist, and juicy throughout. The interior is beautiful and the ambiance is a vibe. When dinning, you can't help but talk about all the art before your eyes. Ettan is the perfect choice for family gatherings and celebrations. If you're planning on being in the area, you must make a reservation!