We catered from Kovai Cafe for our daughter's arangetram 2 weeks ago and they went above and beyond to make the event memorable for our family. The catering team led by Saravanan, Praveen and Sathya attended to all the details on our wish list and the food delivered was cooked fresh and delivered hot to the venue, right on time. Some of our guests who had never tasted Kovai Cafe's food earlier became an instant fan right after. Lemon mint cooler, cauliflower 65, vazhakkai bajji, traditional Mysore pak, veg. biriyani, chikkoo kesari, the list can go on and on. It was an impressive display of their culinary expertise. A big shout out to Kovai Cafe's Catering team for going above and beyond for this special day in our life! read more

Kovai Cafe - Menlo-Atherton PAC - Indian Near Me - San Jose, California

Yesterday we stopped by Kovai cafe, we are out of towners! So we are well informed that we had a wait time. We were taken back when we were called in less than 10 min. We ordered in valakai baji, sambar vadai, and filter coffee. Mr. Sabresh was helping during our course of time. A big thank you for him. We loved the food and we can't stop ourselves to get Thatu idle with podi on it along with extra condiments! I would definitely recommend this place for anyone who is interested for a good South Indian food. read more

Amazing food..every dish was just perfect!! Shrawan was very helpful and accomodating. Keep up the good work!! Cheers!!

We went on Memorial Day after finding out about their special holiday hours. And we were amazed! The food and the service was fantastic with special kudos to Sabarish for helping us. We were a large party of 12 with different orders and stark ravingly hungry. Sabarish helped us patiently and efficiently. I had the Sappadu plate (the thali) which was fantastic. Overall a must eat place for South Indians. read more

The food and service were excellent, and the long wait was well worth it. The dishes had an authentic Kongu flavor, which was truly delightful. read more

Amazing food, great ambience, friendly staff who takes good care of you. Reasonable prices as well.

Amazing fresh dosa ,idly wadas and payasam. The food was very good and delicious . Service was fast and very nice read more

I went with my family for dinner and we ordered different types of dosa. My dosa came to be soggy. The low point is sambhar and masala. The sambhar does not taste like sambhar. There is no taste and masala is very liquid. read more

We went here right after they became viral due to Madhampatty Rangaraj boosting them on instagram. So we ended up waiting about 1-1.5 hours before we were seated. They were probably too new so their service operation wasn't tuned. Food took an extremely long time to arrive. They missed some our items we had ordered. The food wasn't any better than other restaurants in the area. We'll probably give it another chance once the rush has died down and see if it's worth it. read more

Pros -good prompt service -designated parking is good especially given all the India Cash and Carry shoppers -Food quantity (sambar vada) is decent Cons -Sambar and potato masala can be spicier -Rava dosa can be slightly thicker and crispy read more

Good food, friendly attentive staff make this place worth a visit. We ordered vadas this evening. The vadas were fresh , tasty and so were the chutneys and sambar. Highly recommend this place for the food, service and courteous, friendly staff. read more

All food items were great. They came with four types of chutney and very good sambar. Finishing it off with filter coffee was great start for the morning. It has a very good setup and ambiance with pictures from Kovai region. The service was prompt and we even requested the items to be staggered. read more

Both my partner and I are regulars at Kovai. The food is fresh and the service is also quick. The staff is sweet and friendly. We really like the food here. We have tried multiple dishes over last couple of months and almost all dishes have turned out pretty decent. Of course there also have been days when the food from kitchen doesn't come out as good but those occasions have been rare and on those days the staff has accepted the feedback quite gracefully. They have even replaced the dish for us on two occasions when it did not turn out good. Ambiance is homely and there is always good soothing music playing, that is not loud!! read more

We went in around 7:30pm on Saturday, and the wait time for the two of us was around 40mins. Once we got to a table, the tables were placed really close to each other the servers and other patrons were bumping into us throughout service. The service itself was pretty good and fast, however they seemed to have forgotten the masala dosa that we ordered and only brought it in after we reminded them. Food wise, - chutneys, sambar, balekai bajjis, and pepper mushroom was really good. - Kothu idli was very tasty with the provided kurma. - idli and vada was cold and tough, not very appetizing. - masala dosa -- dosa was crispy but the potato masala inside was undercooked and inedible. read more

Came here on a Friday night around 8.15. Had to wait for an hour to get table. Ordered kothi idli and rava dosa. Kothu idli was amazing. Rava dosa was great too! Kudos to the person managing reservations. He was friendly throughout. read more

This is my second time at Kovai Cafe. The first time we went was the day they were officially launching the Cafe. We did not know, sheer coincidence. The food that day was reasonably good and we decided to go again. This time it was a major disappointment. Nothing stood out, neither the taste, nor the experience. The portions are so small, we thought we may have ordered a kid's meal by mistake. Idlies are hard and I felt I could roll one from one end of the table to the other. You just cannot call yourself a south indian restaurant and not know how to make fluffy soft idlies. Maybe the cooks should visit another restaurant in the south bay with the word 'idli' in their name, and learn. Seriously, this is not just a disappointment for customers, the cooks should be embarrassed. Prices are not cheap. This is a fairly expensive restaurant serving up very mediocre fare. Sorry, but not going back. Given the long lines and wait times, they are still in their honeymoon period and probably will not care to pay any attention to such feedback. read more

Consistent good taste for most dishes. Gobi 65 Small onion uthappam is great. Sambar excellent. Ghee idli for kids very food. Poori masala

The flavors were refreshingly different from what we are used to. The gobi65 was surprisingly crunchy. Service was quick. We got a table as soon as we arrived. The ambience was also welcoming. The tables were a bit too close to each other, making it crammed. It is a bit inconvenient for taller people. read more

Came at 1 30pm on a Saturday afternoon, there was huge crowd and the QR code did not work for checking in. Finally they mentioned that the restaurant is closed for dine in. It is supposed to be open until 2 30pm. Super disappointing!!! read more

The food was astonishing for the first day of the restaurant opening but it had reduced a bit for the second time I visited after a month.

Food: Saapadu (thali) was very tasty, felt very authentic. Little bit on the spicier side so if you spice averse may be try a different item on the menu. Service: Individual items in the thali comes in very small quantity, that's not the issue if you can get seconds. But was completely ignored by the people who serve, when you ask seconds on your unlimited thali. Very crowded, it would be better if they enable yelp wait list. read more

Very delicious food. We ordered the thali, onion rava dosa and combo of idli, vada, pongal and sweet. All the dishes were very delicious and filling. Ambience is pleasant and service is fast. Highly recommend. read more

All of us in my family went for dinner to Kovai cafe along with another family on a Sunday. There was a wait time of around 15 minutes, given that we were a party of 6. There is an Indian store right next door, so one can pick up stuff from there while waiting. We ordered a variety of tiffin items, each of them was top notch! Gobi 65 - The children enjoyed Gobi 65 immensely - the spice levels were perfect for them and the oil seemed very fresh too. Poori/Chapati - The pooris had little to no oil. The chapatis were really soft. The kuruma that came with the poori & chapati was so flavorful and not overpowering with masalas. One feedback would be to increase the size/quantity of pooris and make side ordering of pooris available. Dosas - Ghee/Rava/Cone - The dosas came with an assortment of 4 different chutneys, all of which were very authentic, fresh and catered to different spice levels in our group. The fresh coconut chutney was less spicy and perfect for kids. The tomato chutney was of medium spice level and the cilantro and peanut chutneys were lip smackingly spicy for the rest of us. The sambhar did not taste like authentic "hotel" sambar, but it was more homemade style and did not upset the stomach at all. Being hardcore south Indians, we could all feel a difference in the quality of dosa batter compared to other restaurants. There was no "soda" feeling and overall we just kept ordering more Dosas just like it happens at home. Overall, we are so happy such an authentic South Indian place has opened up in the Bay area. We wish them all the very best and hope that they can maintain the same quality of food over time. read more

I went to Kovai cafe with my family for lunch on a weekend. The place had a good ambience and was very clean. They had a good selection of menu items ranging from south indian delicacies to full meals and starters. We tried mushroom 65, gobi 65, dosas, medhu vada, meals, KC spl curd rice. I had the "namma ooru saapadu" (full meals) which was so tasty, very authentic and reminded me of the food back home - especially the kara kuzhambu, mor kuzhambu, kootu, rasam. Mushroom 65, medhu vada are a must try for starters (and great for kids as well). My kids loved their ghee cone dosa and cheese dosa. They provide 3 different yummy chutneys and a delicious sambar - all of them were a big hit with us and with kids who asked for extra :) The KC spl curd rice was unique and so is the elaneer payasam for dessert. I will be definitely coming back and will be checking for their catering orders in future. There are ample parking space on the side as well. This place is a highly recommended if you are craving for an authentic south indian vegetarian restaurant. A must try !! read more

Quality food and good service. Ravi dosa, Curd Vada, Plantain Bhai were all good! Please keep up the quality

We made a party order. The food was delicious, and everyone in our Milpitas community loved it and appreciated it. Thanks, Praveen and Team, for supporting our menu request and providing good food. read more

Best food in town!! Must try Mango Lassi, poori masal, all the chutneys are my favourit.

Home made taste and excellent food. Service is good as well. decent ambience. worth coming.

Most of the restaurants seem to have a predictable menu, this one is unlike your typical restaurant. Excellent variety of food, great quality and great service. Highly recommend . read more

Warm service and great food!! Has the kongu style in both hospitaliy and food! Their tiffins and appetizers are amazing! Order anything it would be tasty! read more

Visited Kovai cafe for lunch. Huge wait time but quite sophisticated setup, with automated waitlist tracking and notification. First time, so ordered kal dosai, sambar vadai and filter coffee. Given the crowd expected to wait but food arrived surprisingly quick. The chutneys (4 varieties) were excellent, with a freshness that is missing in most places. Sambar vadai was a much larger than expected portion; packed it up for home and it tasted good even after a few hours There are multiple attendants serving, so easy to get their attention. It would help if there was an easier way to identify - don't want to offend a customer by mistake. All in all, refreshing goodness in terms of quality of food and service speed. Will definitely be back again. read more

I tried Saapadu, All the items were very good. Since it was unlimited meals , I got enough extra servings too and enjoyed the meal. Icing on the cake was the Customer service which was exceptional. Everyone who waited on us were very patient which made the experience 5 star. Would definitely recommend! read more

excellent and quick service. All dishes are fantastic and especially elaneer paayasam.

I'm a regular customer here . Been here for more than 15 times in the last 6 months . The quality of food is good and the standard has been maintained till date. The best I would say is their thali and roadside kaalan. Would highly recommend it for everyone :) read more

The chapati was rough and not cooked. The service was kind of slow. The ambiance was ok. I felt it was very suffocating. When we ordered our exclusive meal consisting of 3 rices, they literally got the third rice we ordered wrong. When we told them that it is wrong they pulled it up out of the computer and even though it says our order they pretended like it was what they gave us. Then the person who was taking our order talked to the manager and they tried to hide it. read more

Absolutely loved the food, management needs training to handle the pressure when it's crowded, we got a wrong order but they got replaced as soon we notified them. It will be good to check it before serving and also please handle the wait times for the take out order and for the dining read more

amazing food and extraordinary service. We loved the Namma ooru meals and tiffin items. Sabarish is awesome in handling customers

Really good chutneys and dosas. Enjoyed the chai. Service is fast! Good place to try South Indian food.

Excellent dosai, fantastic paruppu vadai. And even better service. The service is also quick at crowded times.

My first attempt to try out Kovai Cafe was on 3/17/24. I did not get seated and so did not eat there that day. They were eager to seat larger groups and the two of us got left out - apparently through a mistake on the part of the host. I texted him after we left in frustration, and he did call back and apologize. I decided to give them a shot later. I chose a weekday lunch, hoping for a better experience. Did get seated quickly. My order was also taken quickly. After that, I three more employees came and inquired if I had ordered or not. I was wondering about the excessive attention to detail; unfortunately, it was because my order was not punched in, and the hosts possibly wondering "what was this person doing sitting by himself! " Eventually, what I ordered did show up. The plain dosai was ok. While I was eating it, this another plain dosai showed up in my table. I had to call and ask them to take it away - they had already given me one! I had also wanted to try out their "Ghee Podi Thattu Idly". That was a mistake, from my perspective. It was dripping in ghee, and not to my palate. Perhaps, someone else who loves an overdose of ghee might enjoy this. I was quite happy to have this restaurant open up close by. Sadly, from my personal experience, with the mix up on both the occasion, average food, Kovai Cafe is underwhelming, at best. Good luck to them - hope they do succeed in this real crowded, tough business. read more