1450 Gerrard Street East,
Phone 416 – 406 – 2538

When I introduced my parents to Indian food in the mid 1990’s I took them to Buffet Maharaja in Montreal and they were mortified. The food was oily, clammy, cold, and flavourless. I should have known better to take my parents to an “non-buffet” restaurant for their first exposure to Indian food. I have visited many Indian restaurants in Toronto and I must say Indian rice factory and Sher-E-Pun-Jab are by far my favourite so far. I still hope that there is an Indian restaurant in Little India that would win me over Indian Rice Factory and Sher-E-Pun-Jab.

Last week I went for takeout with Paulo and we roamed through Little India and we found Sidhartha, a north Indian restaurant, right at the corner of Craven and Gerrard. We peaked inside and it actually had ambiance (unlike Udupi Palace which has excellent food but looks like a hospital waiting room)

When we entered the restaurant, we immediately saw that this place is different. It’s clean, tasteful, with a kitsch-free, classy ambiance. It’s small and cosy , with colourful fabric ribbons, canapes with tables underneath, dim lighting, with a lot of deep reds and other rich colours on the walls.

The lunch and dinner buffets are $7.99 and $9.95 respectively and they offer many vegetarian items (aloo gobi, channa, bhartha, saag paneer) as well as non vegetarian dishes like tandoori chicken, butter chicken, and other traditional curries. Buffet desserts include barfi, deep fried honey cheese balls, and ice cream (mango + vanilla)

There is also an à la carte menu with a large variety of dishes. It seems I have finally found a nice, affordable, non-trendy, Indian restaurant to take my parents to the next time they visit me in Toronto. I am confident that they will enjoy themselves. The decor and ambiance is romantic, cosy (15-20 tables in one dining room), laid back, non pretentious, and comforting. They accept all cards.