1401 Gerrard Street East
416-469-9696

Probably one of the best dinner buffets for $8.99. Located right in Little India/India Bazaar on Gerrard east between Greenwood and Coxwell, this place is both a lunch and dinner buffet and has a regular sit down and take out menu. Lunch buffet is $6.99 and dinner is $8.99. They have many vegetarian options (hooray!) like Bhartha (Eggplant), Aloo Gobi (Potatoes and Cauliflower), Vegetable curry with potatoes and peas, Channa Masala (chick peas with onions and tomato in a red/orange curry sauce), Dahl (Lentil curry), Saag Paneer (Spinach and cheese).

The buffet is large and food appeared fresh.

They also have a dessert buffet with many flavours of ice cream, barfi (orange sweet semolina flour dessert) and Gulab Jamum (deep fried dough balls in a sweet syrup). Ice cream flavours include Mango Tango, Chocolate, Strawberry, Butterscotch, Vanilla.

The buffet also serves many fresh vegetables and a traditional Indian salad with tomatoes, onions, and lettuce with a spicy vinegar- type chili dressing. VERY YUMMY!

They also serve wine and beer. Decor is slightly kitschy with tacky chairs, tables, and tablecloths but I was happy that it lacks the pretentiousness of most Indian restaurants have downtown. The actual restaurant is very spacious, one big dining room, with large tables that are far apart from each other. Now for the downside, the washrooms. Unfortunately the bathrooms are cold, smelly, and unkept. They are located in the dingy basement outside the main entrance of the restaurant. This means that anyone off the street can go to the bathroom without entering the enterior door of the restaurant.

To conclude, I loved the food, the ambiance was fair and it was refreshing to see many vegetarian options at such a damn good price. The hell with Indian restaurants in the downtown core who think they can charge an arm and a leg because most of the clientele are rich white people. I may be white but I am not a fool. I won’t pay a lot for a decent Indian dinner!