Tag Archives: East Indian

North and South Indian, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, , Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh

Udupi Palace

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1460 Gerrard Street East
416 – 405 – 8189,
416 – 405 – 8138,
416 – 405 – 8384

Located right in the heart in Gerrard’s India Bazaar (Little India), this place has locations in Queens, NY plus a bunch in southern California, this place serves South Indian vegetarian dishes. The decor is all white and sterile. It resembles a large hospital waiting room. Decor is minimalist and waiting staff are friendly and informative. This place only serves South Indian vegetarian items. The place is very noisy and most of the clientele are Indian.

This place lacks the ambiance but has high quality, affordable, vegetarian, healthy meals. The portions are huge and meals are highly spicy and very flavourful. Plates are metallic and not fancy. Presentation is colourful and attractive. I ordered a simple vegetable curry with potatoes, varied vegetables, and it came with pappadum and chapati-like bread (like roti) with a cool yogourt dip. My friend had a complete vegetable medley meal containing a spicy tomato Indian soup, three vegetable curry dishes with rice, green beans, peas, potatoes, and cauliflower. The dessert consisted of a rice noodle dessert with rice noodles, raisins, nuts, sugar ,cinnamon, and boiled milk. Both our meals were very saucy and soupy, unlike North Indian cuisine.

Both dishes came with chapati (whole wheat paper thin bread), rice, and yogourt with tomato chunks. Both dishes were highly flavourful and very spicy. Meals were under $10.00 and they accept Interac and VISA. The only drawback is that it is very noisy and since the restaurant is in the basement, it’s not that bright.

Shahi Karahi

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Shahi Karahi
3630 Lawrence Avenue East
(416) 431-8989‎

1891 EGLINTON AVE E
(416) 751-5111‎

Indian Buffets are a real gamble. The three I have eaten at do not rank high on my list of favourite restaurants. Shahi Karahi is one of the worst.

Located in a cheesy, strip mall at the corner of Warden and Eglinton, Shahi Karahi is at least run by genuine Indians who attempt to please the customer with friendly service. However, a bad meal is a bad meal. Cheap, brown and soggy chicken comprise the butter chicken dish while the samasos are greasy and untasty.

The selection is unvaried and the restaurant resembles more of a cafeteria than a place to dine.

Famous Indian Cuisine, The

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1437 Gerrard Street East
416 – 406 – 4511

I’d expect a restaurant in Little India to be genuine but boy was I disappointed. We ordered the buffet and there were three vegetarian items; aloo gobi (potato and caluliflower curry), channa (chick pea curry), and a cabbage curry. The Aloo Gobi mostly consisted of potato with very little cauliflower. The food was bland, overcooked, and greasy. They lay under heat lamps and the food was not really hot but lukewarm. I was disappointed. My friend had a red coloured chicken (tandoori chicken?) and butter chicken which looked really fatty and greasy. The food looked like it had been sitting there for hours. I am sorry to say this but I do not think I’ll go back there again. The dessert bar consisted of jello, soggy fruit salad, and melted orange and rainbow ice cream which lacked flavour and tasted stale and old. Considering this restaurant was in the middle of Little India, I had higher expectations. The buffet was $9.95 and it came with unlimited entrees and a dessert. Drinks were extra. Decor was very nice inside with about ten tables, all in one room

Sher-E-Punjab

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351 Danforth Av
(416) 465-2125

Excellent food, located in the heart of the Danforth, near Chester subway station, this place has succulent, affordable dishes in a comfortable, relaxed, non pretentious setting. The owners work there and give fabulous service. Customers never feel rushed. The food is fresh and flavourful. I always get channa (chick pea curry) and aloo gobi (cauliflower and potato curry) and they are so delicious, I usually clean the dish dry. The entrees are about $7.95 to $10.00 each and the only problem is that the size is SO small that you will need to buy many and everything is “a la carte” which sucks. Toronto does not offer many “table d’hote” dishes, meaning “everything included all in one price.”

There are nice art pieces on the wall and unlike some East Indian restaurants, the art is not kitschy or cheesy. The art is exotic and beautiful and some are non paintings (some are relief art, photographs, embroidery, quilting, etc.).

The owners are very nice and work at the restaurant with other waiting staff. Complimentary home made rice pudding is served after the meal. The bottom line: The food is fabulous but either go if you are not hungry because the portions are tiny or be prepared to spend at least $40 for two people.

Xacutti (closed in 2006 or 2007)

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503 College St.
phone number: 416-323-3957

Xacutti opened up with a lot of fanfare as being the new “Indian Fusion” trendy dinner place on College. I heard that it was only OK for dinner and admittedly have never been. However; based on their brunch I would be more than inclined to try it out. I am a big fan of Indian food (well mostly North Indian food at this point) and to incorporate those flavours into brunch is extremely appetizing for me. Recently, I have been doing that myself by sauteeing onions in a madras curry paste and then including them with chorizo in a fritatta. Xacutti though, is the real deal. With your typical minimalist, trendy decor Xacutti attracts a definite hip College St. style crowd. The prices are definitely NOT on the cheap side but for the quality you receive it is well worth the price. The menu is varied and interesting, but both times I have been there I have stuck with the same meal: the cheesy french toast. I am not usually a fan of french toast or pancakes in restaurants as I get a little sick of the sweetness by the end of my meal but this french toast is all savoury and no sweet. Served on a bed of tandoori-style homefries and a mixed-green side salad, this ranks as one of my favourite brunches in all of Toronto. Hopefully on my next visit I will be able to review another selection from the menu.

http://www.martiniboys.com/pages/reviews/xacutti.htm

Nataraj

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394 Bloor W,
(416) 928-2925

Whenever I go to an East-Indian restaurant, I always order the same thing. I look for something memorable, unique, and something I can pinpoint as a place that I’d like to go back and visit. This is not the place. The food is incredibly bland and it did not taste very fresh. The place was crowded so this means that this place must be good, but I was wrong. The experience was not memorable and the food was tasteless. I had a vegetable curry and channa (chick pea curry). The place was not bad and I may visit sometime in the future but there was no flare, no spark, nothing that I could take back with me and talk with my friends about. It was “blah.”
The place is quite large, tables are small and close together, dimly lit, fairly simple ambiance, accepts Interac, and VISA/Mastercard. Located on the corner of Bloor and Brunswick in the trendy Annex neighbourhood

Biryani House

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 25 Wellesley St. East
416-927-9340

Newly opened at the corner of Yonge and Wellesley, Biryani House offers flavourful and succulent Indian cuisine that you will remember. I usually have channa (curried chick peas) and rajmah (curried kidney beans) and it is totally yummy and quite affordable. The bad news is….it was once a cheap, intimate, cozy restaurant hidden at the corner of Yonge and Bloor (Roy Square) but this northern Indian spot moved from into a larger venue and into a more expensive neighbourhood Unfortunately the low prices have nearly doubled ? goodbye, $5.00 meals. Complete meals for $30.00 per person, including all taxes. Ambiance is beautiful but the whole experience of dining at Biryani House has been transformed from fast food to fine food.

Indian Rice Factory

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414 Dupont
(416) 961-3472

Located at the corner of Dupont and Spadina in the Annex, this elegant, high end Indian restaurant serves the freshest, more flavourful Indian food in the city. I went with my partner at the time for New Years and the bill came out to $85.00 for two people, including the entree, wine, hor d’oeuvres, and dessert. The portions are small but the service is excellent. I had aloo gobi (potatoes and cauliflower) and channa (chick pea curry) with nan bread (fluffy white pita with butter). Dimly lit with romantic ambiance, nicely set tables, tablecloth, this place was a truly fine place to dine. Reservations only. Limited seating, simple, non- kitschy decor, and calm, a soothing dining experience.

Annapurna

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1085 Bathurst Street
416-537-8513

Annapurna, located right at Bathurst and Dupont, in the upper Annex, is considered one of the oldest vegetarian restaurants in Canada. They serve healthy vegetarian and vegan food in Indian and Italian style. Some items to mention are three soups made fresh everyday, including French onion soup. Other dishes include the Masala Dosa, a south-Indian crepe filled with spicy potatoes, lentil puree, served with coconut chutney. They also have fresh fruit smoothies (lassis) made with yogourt, soya milk, or fruit only. I have ordered a medly or Indian dishes here and have always left feeling happy, light, and refreshed. This food will not make you feeling bloated and full but feeling energized as the food is light and healthy.

As mentioned on other reviews, Annapurna has been serving tofu and bean sprouts before it became North American trendy.

Decor is plain and simple, in a cosy, intimate dining area of less than ten tables, surrounded by books and literature on meditation, spirituality, in an earthy green and earth-toned decor. The menu is contains food that is additive-free, low salt and low fat.

The food is cheap, vegetarian, flavourful, and very creative. I ordered the daily special – a plate of soy spaghetti with a zesty tomato sauce. It was about $5.95. They have Indian drinks called Lassis (a yogourt shake with mango, plain sweet, or plain salty) and some traditional Indian dishes. They also serve non-Indian vegetarian dishes as well. Every dish is made so healthy, light, and fresh, one may forget that this place is vegetarian. This place is non-political, non-ideological, and not trendy. Prices are quite low ($5-$8 for an entree).

Maharaja, Buffet

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1481 René-Lévesque blvd. west
(514) 934-0655

It is proud to be the largest indian buffet in North America but the food is gross. Trust me, I know Indian food. It is also known as an all-you-can-eat Indian buffet with many vegetarian options. This is good news for me. The ambiance is not bad, though. Nice, comfortable decor, can be crowded on the weekends and weeknights with hoards of people. It is located right at Rene Levesque and Guy in a nice old greystone home on the second floor. There is a gorgeous back terrace that is just splendid in the summer.

The food, unfortunately is awful. It’s cold and clammy, oily, greasy, and each time I’ve been there, it did not taste very fresh. Yes, there is a lot of selections and many vegetarian options, but unfortunately, since it was prepared “en mass” quantities, it lacks in quality.