Indian Palace

Woodinville is home to numerous families who hail from various parts of the globe. How and why they eventually ended up here is often a subject of curiosity. One such couple, Bir Singh and his wife Satwant Kaur, made separate journeys from India to the U.S. a number of years ago. Both grew up in the northern part of India, in Punjab, but never met... until they came to the Seattle area. Singhs story begins in 1986, when after a two-year stint as a chef in Paris, he moved to America to begin a new life. I viewed the U.S. as the land of opportunity and I decided to try my luck, explains Singh. I had friends in Seattle and I had heard it was a nice place, so I came straight here. For the first few years, he worked as a chef at a local Indian restaurant, Mogul Palace, as well as at Marie Callenders in Bellevue, while continuing his culinary education at a nearby technical college. I thought it would be a good idea for me to learn how to cook American food since I was living here now, adds Singh. While he worked and studied, the young man dreamt of having his own restaurant. Eventually, his dream became a reality and he opened Indian Palace in North Seattle. He ran the place successfully for eight years. One day, a woman came in to eat dinner. It was Satwant Kaur. She was visiting her sister in Bellevue, who took her to Singhs establishment for some home cooked Indian food. It was Kaurs first trip to the U.S. Prior to that, she had been living in Singapore, working in the aviation industry. Singh and Kaur hit it off and the rest, shall we say, is history. In 2000, the couple closed up shop in North Seattle, moved to Woodinville and opened another Indian Palace on 175th Street. The pair works together to manage and operate the restaurant (and adjoining bar), which serves both Indian and American food. We chose Woodinville because we thought it was a good place to raise our kids and also because there werent any other Indian restaurants in the town, says Singh. This was important because I had wanted to find a unique ...Read More