649 Yonge St.
(416) 926-0953

Wendy and I decided to try another Indian restaurant in the downtown core right before our 9:10pm show of Everything Is Illuminated, the movie adaptation of Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel of the same name. I had only partially read Foer’s novel so i thought i would cheat and see the movie. We had decided to go to a nice Indian meal somewhere on Yonge street and we knew that there were many options. We chose Ruchi, partially because of the glowing reviews posted on the wall (from EYE or NOW magazine) and it was closeby.

When we walked in we noticed it was brightly coloured in rich royal blue and copper reds. There is an elevation at the doorway so be careful not to trip while walking in. This narrow restaurant has less than 10 tables but the restaurant goes far back with 3 tables alongside one wall at the front and a few tables on the other side separated by brown coloured transparent curtains. There is a nice bar at back where they serve a variety of beers but I did not see a wine selection. Wendy and I started with veggie pekoras (deep fried onions in a chickpea batter- YUMM). It was served with a mint coriander sauce and a liquidy tamarind sauce ($3.95). For our mains, Wendy ordered the butter chicken ($7.95) and it came to us in a rich red colour. Wendy found the dish to be too sweet and did not have very much chicken and she said it reminded her of Campbell’s Cream of Tomato soup mix. She was not that happy with her choice. I did notice the sweet aroma and i found it odd that it was so red. I chose the saag paneer (spinach and cottage cheese curry) which i found to be super yummy and it has a certain zing to it. We ordered both our dishes medium but we chould choose mild, medium, hot, or the cliche Indian hot. We both ordered Naan bread. I ordered aloo naan and Wendy ordered the regular Naan. For our beverages Wendy ordered sweet Lassi which was a plain yogourt but heavily sweetened (YUM) and i ordered the typical Mango Lassi which was even sweeter ($3.75). They came in tall glasses and unfortunately were not thick enough for my liking but i was somewhat satisfied.

I noticed the menu to have your typical North Indian dishes (chicken, beef, fish curries, aloo gobi, chana masala, butter chicken, tandoori chicken, samosa, pekoras, lassis, the typical dishes you’d expect in an Indian restaurant.).

Service was fairly fast and our waitress was nice, attentive, calm, and friendly. Wendy and I would definitely try this place again, despite her obvious disappointment. She did not expect her butter chicken to taste like Campbell’s Tomato soup mix and she did not expect there to be as much as sauce. She only found 4 pieces of chicken (breast, thank goodness!).

Open 7 days per week. Mon-Fri 11:30 am – 10:30 pm, Sat 3:00 pm – 10:30 pm, and Sun 4:00 pm -10:30 pm . Accepts all cards. Liquor license. Very narrow inside with not many seats but very cosy and comfortable. Lighting is quite bright. Beautiful colour scheme or rich royal blue ceilings and walls and reddish/copper walls. Non-kitschy Indian decor.