Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

A few weeks ago, Real Canadian Superstore started stocking Pran Plain Paratha in the frozen food section. The price has gone up since its first apperance, but it still seems like good value for a whopping 2400 grams and 30 pieces (originally $8.99 I believe, but now $11.49). If there's one thing I really dislike about the product though, it's the excessive plastic. Each piece of paratha is separated from the others by two sheets of plastic. That seems rather excessive, especially nowadays when plastic is basically considered pollution. I think something that might be done to at least reduce the amount of plastic is to simply alternate a paratha and a piece of plastic, instead of two pieces of plastic per paratha. I do try to save them all up and reuse, such as when I make burger patties or bread dough to keep them separated in the freezer. But the sheer amount does pile up. They are very easily prepared in a non-stick frying pan or griddle, and without needing any oil. There...

Named after the initials of their two sons born around the time the restaurant opened, GM restaurant is a rather busy Indian restaurant with friendly staff. Sharing-for-two-persons portions give this place rather good value. Taste isn't magically "wow" but it's good, comes out fresh and hot and in reasonable time despite the busy dinner hour. Curry orders do NOT automatically come with rice or naan! They do slip in a warning about the size of your order if they suspect you're close to over-ordering for your party size, and I thought that was nice. Nothing heavy handed, just an assurance of the portion size being more than enough. Paneer Pakoras ($11) a unique cheese coated with Indian spices, then fried and served with tamarind sauce as well as raita Classed as an appetizer but it could easily be a light to medium meal on its own because of the solid chunks of cheese. Rather bland taste, but you would expect that if you already know about paneer. ...

So I finally made it to Vij's. Long ago I had wanted to go when they were still at Granville, but because of an estimated 2-hour wait I ended up at next door Rangoli instead. Underwhelmed by Rangoli, Vij's fell off my radar for years until, recently, my friend started talking up the sablefish there. First, before you even go, know that Vij's is not an "authentic" Indian restaurant. If you go in with that in mind or if you're going to start comparing them, you will almost assuredly be disappointed. It has a lot of Indian restaurant similarities, though. A decent lineup will establish itself by 5pm on a Sunday (we went on a Sunday), but even so, everyone is likely to get a seat right when the restaurant opens. At around 7pm, there were even open tables, so walk-ins become easier after. Room decor is nice! Table spacing is also not super-tight. You are offered a cup of chai and the occasional bite of complimentary appetizer while waiting once you are ...

Simba's Grill  is an East African restaurant. The "African" part has a lot of mystique to it since most African restaurants are basically Ethiopian. Unfortunately, there is a very strong Indian influence to East African cuisine, so it's really hard or impossible to separate comparing them. Going in, try NOT to compare them -- you are not truly going for Indian food, so drop those expectations. If you really want Indian food, just go to an Indian restaurant. Muhogo ($8) deep fried cassava root Recommended by the server as the most distinctly African dish. We were asked if we wanted "mild, medium, or spicy". The fries were just noticeably salty when I asked for medium. They did however bring two fairly-to-really spicy sauces, a mango chili and a pili pili sauce . Overall pretty good. Not as dense as potato. Crispy and not oily. A trio of sauces is brought to your table when you order: Yogurt, coconut, tamarind. We got a yellow-coloured mango ch...

Back to Siddhartha's Indian Kitchen! It was a pretty spontaneous whim on the part of my friend. Luckily I had my previous blog post on Siddhartha's to remind me of what I had had before. Vegetable Pakora ($6.50) Nothing special tasting here. Price feels sort of high for what you get. Smoked Eggplant Curry ($12.50) Dish name says "smoked eggplant" but description says roasted eggplant with smoky TEXTURE. What is a "smoky texture"? Pulpy. No thin curry here. Salty. Where's my smoky aroma, flavour, or "texture"? "Naan instead" ($2) Asked for garlic butter naan instead of roti, which normally comes with curry (roti + rice). Told her if it couldn't be done, just give us an order of garlic butter naan. No buttery aroma or taste, and definitely no garlic. Hmm. My guess is they forgot to change it to garlic butter naan and just gave us regular boring naan. Mango Lemonade ($3) Description said mango mousse...

Siddhartha’s Indian Kitchen is one of those places I keep walking by but never bothered to go in. Glad I finally did on a rainy night to find it a warm and artsy place with dim lighting, generous spacing, and friendly staff. Lots of nut-free, gluten-free, and/or vegan items! Curries felt slighty on the watery side but otherwise taste is good. Price for portion OK. TIP: Online menu is very different from the actual menu in price and menu items. Siddhartha's Chai ($3) unique mix of spice and fresh ginger, called masala chai Waste of time. Tasted like a weak chai and you have to concentrate hard to maybe experience some ginger flavour. Zero ginger bite. Definitely do not order this for any gingeriness. Bhalla Papri Chat ($7) Popular Indian summer dish with yogurt and relishes. If I remember correctly this was described as fried dough made from chickpea flour. Not sure the fried dough pieces are of chickpea, but there's definitely chickpeas here. Cool to cold...

Indian Oven is a rather large restaurant with decent decor but also a certain blandness to the room that introduces a cafeteria feel. Washroom is spacious and clean! Felt understaffed somehow, and trying to flag someone down can be hard. Points lost for never answering their online contact form nor their e-mail address. It's a pet peeve of mine -- why bother putting these things out when you don't even answer? It was hard to get a proper sample of everything we tried since I was in a rather large sharing group. TIP: Each dish is best shared with a maximum of 4 persons. By the time many items came to me, I got a small bite, or just curry sauce with no meat left. (Therefore I can't really comment on meat:sauce ratio or anything like that). Curries do not come with rice or naan, and orders of those will sneakily increase your final bill. It's easy to end up spending over $20 here per person even if dining in a sharing group -- especially when the price per curry is...