Dosa King

The food tasted amazing but I found a drain clog in my rice — massive ring shaped matting of hair and food waste chunks. It was sad because I wanted to love this place. Sad to see they are closed and they they couldn’t get their act together.

This place is closed now for months and the number does not work anymore. Don’t knew the reason but people next door know about it

This place used to be good. It seems it is under new management or has been for about a year. Typically, they are out of something on the menu & what is on menu is not as tasty as I remember — new cooks? Place was always dumpy-​looking; food and service now reflect the look. If this place isn’t closed yet, it will be very soon. No longer worth the trip!
Step up Blaine: there is enough of a Southeast Asian population in the adjacent town to take over or launch a decent authentic Indian restaurant in the area!

Yum! Excellent lunch buffet. Would of given it 5 stars if the bathrooms had been a little cleaner. Not a fancy place, but pleasant, and a courteous staff.

This was one of the worst dining experiences EVER! We ordered Samosas, took our first bite, and they were frozen in the middle. We were charged for every soda my boyfriend drank, which came to the tune of close to $ 7 for soda. Booths were ripped and fixed with duct tape. Music was too loud. Food was not great, very bland for Indian. Would tell you to just stay away and go somewhere else. Truly a terrible dining experience and it wasn’t a wonder the place was empty on a Saturday night.

This place… I can’t be more straight forward when I say this place sucked. Everything — dosa, masala, chutney sambhar, vada, pakora, was stale tasting, had no real flavor or even a hint of aroma.

Duct taped booths, cold food littered the buffet, servers eating takeout Chinese at the front counter, one with a fabulous smokers cough, unlabeled foods at the buffet, no other customers in the whole place, QVC on the TV. This is a hole in the worst way.

Had to lower from four to two stars because they stopped the lunch buffet. Used to be you’d reliably find three or four great dishes that were distinctly different from one another. Now, for ten bucks, you get your choice of dosa, (you used to get one free with the buffet).
We tried it anyway since we had driven there and lunch options are light on the ground in this part of town. I ordered the only dosa that said «spicy» and it was, a bit. My friend ordered the paper dosa. Other than the dosa, you get a little doughnut thing and two «blandies”– I don’t know what they’re called but that’s what we came up with because it’s quite descriptive – and a couple things to dip them in that rescue them from utter blandness. Overall, not very satisfying and not very interesting.
My lunch partner said «that’s the worse meal I’ve paid for in a year.» I didn’t agree (probably because my dosa was a little spicy), but the change is extremely unfortunate and the guy at the register seemed completely uninterested in our opinion on the matter, which to my mind is the kiss of death for a restaurant. He also didn’t have change for my friend.
I doubt the place will be there in a year.

Tasty vegetarian Indian food. There were four of us. We ordered the dinner for three special and one entre. Soups and appetizers came with the dinner special. I was full from appetizers and soups before the main course came out. You definitely get more for what you pay. I’d highly recommend this restaurant.

I was at this place a lil while ago and it made me feel that I need to shoot myself for driving 20miles.
I paid $ 12.99 for so called weekend buffet with stinking food, and empty bowls that won’t be refilled. The rice and everything were dried up as if they were microwaved from last night.
The other frustration while paying, you get ur check in a Amex folder and they don’t accept Amex which is written on a small sticky at the tilt.

We went to Buffet on Sunday. OMG that food stinks. I though they have nice variety of DOSA but they have only one option of Masala Dosa and Sambar is just like flavoured watter. I never gonna come back to this resturant and I don’t even recommend this restaurant.

This place has the best dosas and vadas I have ever tasted. The buffet is always fresh and delicious. Dinners here are affordable, the staff are friendly, and I am never disappointed. One of my favorite restaurants in the twin cities, and they are a hard to find south Indian restaurant also!

I predicted I would love this place, but was disappointed, though I may even give it another chance. But our first and only experience here was not a great one.
This was one of the first places my boyfriend and I went out to eat after moving to Mounds View. We chose here because we love flavorful cuisine and it had good reviews. But our dinner and service didn’t cut it. I will at least say that their «Dinner for Two» was a good deal. It came with soup, an app, 3 curries, and dessert (I forgot the price but I want to say under $ 35 for 2ppl), but the service was sooooo sloooooow. It was so slow that by the time we were done with our appetizers, we asked them to just pack up our entrees and dessert to go because we had been there over an hour and had grown impatient. The soup was lacking in flavor. We had to add a lot of salt, and even then it was forced down. And the fried veggie balls were not crispy, and were cold in the middle. At home I tried the palak paneer, but it was unlike the kind I usually have. Isn’t it middle-​eastern cheese with spinach? This stuff did not remind me of it. Unless I’m mistaken. I did enjoy the dessert, but my bf did not. It was some sort of sweet, cakey, balls. Yes, sweet balls was the highlight of my night.
But based on all of the positive previous reviews, I would be willing to come back. Maybe they were just having a bad night? But it was still rather unenjoyable all-​around that night. They were super nice though!

I completely forgot about this place — meant to come up and try it and I’m glad I did.
The dosa *batter* is where it’s at. Amazing. Tangy, crisp, HUGE dosas. Aloo bonda +1!
The sambar and coconut are all right — I agree that they’re not the best ever — a little thick and a little salty for the coconut — and they don’t seem to come with hot tomato, but that was OK, because the body of the crepes makes up for it, for me.
The fillings vary — I think the KISS principle is in effect. I definitely want to try vada and Avial on my next visit!
Excellent chai and attentive, kind service — things are a little slow, but they are apologetic and compensate more than warranted, so sweet.
I’d say things are a little rugged and a little uneven — this is not a place for super high maintenance people.
This is also not for people looking for North Indian buffet cliches — I really like the extensive South Indian options — vegetarian and legit, for sure. There are a billion places to stuff yourself with Naan, this is not the first on the list.
I’m a fan. Big time.

I love that this restaurant is all-​vegetarian with many vegan options, but having visited a few times over the past couple of years I’ve found it to be just OK. On a recent visit, the chana masala was fine (the leftovers tasted better after sitting in the fridge for a couple of days), the paratha was fine although a little greasy, and the veggie samosas were good.
The low-​rent décor doesn’t bother me at all, but this place could use some cleaning up sanitation-​wise. The restroom is scary dirty, which I hope is no reflection on the conditions in the kitchen.

Best Palak Paneer in town! Hands down!

I first came across Dosa King a couple of years ago, shortly after they had first opened. I would drive past their location while on my way to my favorite shop for fly fishing gear just up the road. After a few trips driving by, my curiosity about an Indian vegetarian restaurant in an unlikely location, next to a tattoo parlor, in a sort of commercial/​industrial area got the best of me and I gave them a try. I spent about 9 years as a vegetarian and then vegan though I’ve long since been back on the meat-​wagon. That being said, I do still enjoy vegetarian food quite a bit. On these early trips to Dosa King, my love for good vegetarian and good Indian food was reaffirmed. However some time ago, it seemed like they started slipping, quality went downhill. As I’ve recently moved and Dosa King is now a much shorter drive, I decided it’s time to give them a try again. I’m glad I did because it seems like they’ve really turned things around.
I’ve often heard it said that you can tell how good a {insert type of ethnic food} restaurant is by how many {insert ethnic group} people are in the restaurant. Dosa King seems to lend credence to this idea as whenever I’ve been in there, it seems that I’m one of the few gringos among many Indians. My recent trip there for lunch was no exception to this. The place wasn’t too busy so I was promptly seated and set off towards the buffet. Shortly after I returned with my full plate, I was served a masala dosa (a large lentil crêpe, rolled up and filled with spiced potato, onion and peas). The dosas here are amazing! One of the things I really enjoy about Dosa King is that their buffet always seems to have quite a few items that you don’t see on other Indian buffets in the area. Examples of this include vada (lentil donuts), idly (lentil cakes), tamarind rice and coconut chutney. The food on their buffet is always fresh, hot and most importantly of all, flavorful. I find more and more often than many Indian buffets in the area are quite bland/​boring but that is not at all the case with Dosa King. I would in fact, go so far as to say that at present, Dosa King is my favorite Indian restaurant in the Twin Cities.
I’m only giving Dosa King four stars rather than five due to service issues. I know, when I’m there for buffet, there shouldn’t be much to ask for in terms of service. In my experience, once your seated and have your beverage of choice, if you need a refill, you’ll need to track someone down, don’t expect someone to come and offer you a refill.

I saved the best for last. My hometown Indian restaurants probably aren’t going to like me saying this, but this was the best Indian food I’ve ever had. Hands down.
Now those are pretty big words, easy to throw around, and I’ve been trying to guard my five-​star ratings so they’re more special. Having said that, I will explain exactly why the experience was perfect for me, and for my spice-​adverse co-​worker.
Important note: I cannot speak for the buffet. Some folks have mentioned the buffet, and I know from personal experience at many other buffets that you cannot compare fresh à la carte with buffet food — it’s not apples to apples, or perhaps mangoes to mangoes in this case.
Fresh food. When you go into a restaurant and you order food, you expect the food to be good, and of a quality commensurate to the price. I’m not going to get the best food at McDonald’s, nor do I expect to get average food at a top-​of-​the-​line, world-​class restaurant. I’m also not expecting to pay $ 50 a plate at McDonald’s.
At Dosa King, the food was fresh. So fresh that if you don’t wait to eat it, it burns your mouth. This is pretty common with authentic Indian food, so I’m used to it. But it wasn’t just hot. Food reheated in the microwave can be hot and not fresh. No, Dosa King brought out fresh, hot food. How could I tell?
* Aloo Gobi. My all-​time favorite dish. It’s hard to mess up, but even harder to get it perfect. The potatoes were cooked to perfection, with that little «bite» you get from freshly cooked, and not overcooked, potatoes. Heck, even I can overcook potatoes, it’s not that hard. Dosa King found that perfect spot where potatoes have the best texture and flavor, and found a vegan recipe for a wet sauce that tantalized the tastebuds and, because I love it hot, they even added enough spice to impress me but not enough to burn my tastebuds off with spicy hot. Perfect.
* Garlic & Onion Paratha. I want to shout from the rooftops about how great this whole wheat bread with garlic and onions was. Calling it a «pita» does not do it justice, nor does calling it bread. First, it took awhile to get the bread, because they make it fresh, and there were a few orders for paper dosa on the grill. That’s okay — it’s worth the wait for fresh. Because I make things fresh at home, I could tell that it was made to order. Not just reheated, or prepared, but actually MADE for me on the spot, on the grill, bam! I’ve never tasted such fresh paratha before, although there was so much food before the bread came out, I had to take some of it with me back to my hotel room for a snack. When I reheated it in the microwave the next day, it transformed into a very similar taste to paratha I’ve had in other restaurants. Freshness is key, and Dosa King has it.
* Basmati Rice. It was fresh too, but they must go through a lot of it. It came out in a medium-​sized bowl, and was just enough for two people.
* Medhu Vada. These little lentil-​based savory donuts are perfect dipped in the little dishes of sambar and coconut chutney they come with. These were also very fresh, but when I get medhu vada not fresh, I send it back, or if it’s a buffet, I wait for them to bring fresh out, because stale fried donuts are a big fail. So technically I’ve tasted stale medhu vada, but I don’t EAT stale medhu vada. But, again, Dosa King made it perfect, the first time.
In fact, Dosa King’s tag line should be «made perfect, the first time!» instead of «where you eat like a king!» I say this because a person can «eat like a king» at Golden Corral, but Dosa King is a totally different experience. Having fresh, regional Indian food is amazing. I saw folks of Indian descent at other tables getting HUGE paper dosa — enough to feed a very happy family of four or six. I also saw a single person eating (but not finishing) one himself. It’s all good.
I asked for pickle, and I got pickle. I asked for extra napkins, I got those too. The gentleman who helped us was also one of the co-​owners, so it’s a lean operation, and that’s good. They appear to take great pride in their product, kept the tables clean, and were on top of the standard service things, like water refills (constant) and food check-​ins.
OH! And because I drove up on a Monday, and they’re closed on Mondays, please remember not to try and visit Dosa King on Mondays. Got it? You’ll drive up there, all hungry, and you’ll drive away both hungry and sad. Avoid the sadness and go some other day!
The only weird things about Dosa King were the Christmas tinsel on the wall in June, and the strangely large bathroom, which didn’t have a stall, so you have the lock the door, but you’re using this HUGE space… Odd. Then again, none of these mildly strange things impact the bottom line for me: a solid five-​star dining experience.
I have to say it: Thanks for being awesome, Dosa King, AND for making my trip to Minneapolis that much more special!

My brother and I went to the Dosa King lunch buffet today after running an errand nearby and using Unilocal to find an Indian restaurant. What a great find!
The food was so delicious I felt a little light-​headed and giddy. I asked my brother if he was freaking out because it was so good and he confirmed that yes, he was.
It’s south Indian — so all veg — and the flavors are amazing. They had all the staples — idli, vada, sambar, rasam, coconut chutney, raita, and some really delicious muttar paneer. And of course potato dosa. And they also had some coconut curry radish dish that was super tasty.
The total bill was $ 22 which we thought was really reasonable for two buffets and two drinks. The owner was friendly and helpful, and proudly shared that they had just celebrated their 2^nd anniversary.
The atmosphere is definitely «no-​frills», and I suppose if you’re not in the area it’s quite a drive, but we will definitely keep this on our short list of indian restaurants in the northern suburbs.

Was I missing something?
Yes. the service was good. I was greeted with such a warm and friendly smile. The staffs were very nice, polite and attentive.
The food though. not so much for me. I ordered the King’s Spring Dosai. The portion was gigantic, but I thought it was bland. After I ate up all the chutney, I couldnt really eat the dosa by itself. I had to eat the left over dosa with hot sauce at home. The palak paneer was good. It was flavorful with so many chunks of paneer, but it was not the best Ive had.
The best thing was probably the service. I wanted to go back just to give huge tips for the staffs cos when I was there I saw so many Indians, which I guess was a good indication of authenticity. However, from my past experience, Indians never tip or if they do, they tip horribly low.