King Mahal Restaurant

King Mahal has been around for twenty years and the restaurant was formerly located by UBC. Then a few years ago, the restaurant moved to North Burnaby and their $9.99 all you can eat lunch buffet is very popular. Also like many Indian restaurants, King Mahal is a family operated business and the father as well as son runs the front of the house.

Walking in, we noticed King Mahal is a very clean restaurant and perhaps even the cleanest Indian restaurant I have been to (the table glass tops are squeaky clean and shinny too!). The interior also looks traditional and there are Indian tapestries along the walls. Since we were the first to arrive, we had the option of choosing any seat and ours had glasses with red cloth napkins.

After seating, we ordered our drinks and of course I went for the hot water. As the owner was pouring hot water in the glass, I was thinking oh my god… what if it breaks? I am too used to restaurants serving hot water in a mug that I actually felt awkward having hot water in a glass! However, the restaurant uses quality glasses and the glass did not break. In addition, he even brought over a kettle! This is a dream come true because I honestly drink a lot of water, it is really ridiculous.

Mirchi

Marpole is a convenient location for me to grab lunch or dinner, but I never know where to go! Asides from Red Star, where else is there to eat in Marpole? Well, after searching around, Mirchi caught my eye. Alright, some of the dishes look average online and one cannot judge how the food may taste by looking at just photos, especially with curries. However, what sold me is their naan. For a restaurant to have a tandoor on site and good looking naan, it is a must try.

Walking up to Mirchi, BF did not want to try the restaurant and we walked down the street to look for something else. After walking two blocks down, I called him stupid and to trust me, I know good naan when I see it. So, we headed back to Mirchi and when we walked in, our immediate thoughts were that the restaurant looks old. Not only that, but the restaurant looks equivalent to a Chinese wonton house which to be honest, was not a big deal because I was wearing laundry day clothes.

We were given the option to grab any table and chose a window seat. After receiving the menus from our friendly waitress, the owner came by to fill our glasses with water. He was very humble as well as polite, and I felt bad asking for hot water or mentioning the glasses were dirty, which kind of screwed me over later on for choosing not to drink anything. The table setting is pretty generic, glasses with folded napkins and utensils placed on the side. Furthermore, there are photos of celebrities who have visited the restaurant along with a few family photos. The restaurant has a nice homey vibe.

Mezbaan Indian Fusion Restaurant

Four consistent days of bad luck: Day Two.

Recently I have been looking for vouchers online and came across an amazing deal, $15.00 for two at an all you can eat dinner buffet which includes two soft drinks, chai tea or mango lassi. In addition, I read some posts on Mezbaan Indian Fusion Restaurant and the buffet did not look bad! What lured me in asides from the great deal is that the restaurant serves naan straight to the table, rather than sitting in the warming trays.

As stated on the voucher, reservations are required and when I called a few times, the restaurant was always booked. So, coming for dinner on Victoria Day, the restaurant was not busy but quickly filled up. Mezbaan Indian is fairly small with only ten tables and when we arrived, the waitress did not ask if we had reservations so we disregarded them. After waiting ten minutes, she came back and asked if we had a voucher, provided us with menus, and mentioned we can help ourselves at the buffet.

Indian Oven

After finishing a beauty treatment with C'est la vie a Maggi, we headed to West 4th based on convenience and decided to try out Spoon Kitchen. There was no reason why, it was just random. However, while walking there, Maggi started getting hangry and let me tell you, she was not pleasant to be around. So, despite her mentioning a couple of hours before about how she never craves for Indian cuisine or find it anything special, I took advantage of her hangriness and at the last minute, walked up the stairs to Indian Oven.

Although I did hesitate because despite enjoying Indian cuisine, sometimes I do not want to come out smelling like it, especially if I am wearing something that needs to be dry cleaned, and washed my hair the morning of. But, I guess the Chinese side came out of me because I had to take advantage of their lunch specials which includes naan and rice! Am I embarrassed to say that I do feel a pinch when spending $8.00 on plain rice at an Indian cuisine restaurant? Nope. I mean, the portion of rice is usually small and costs $4.00! There is just something about paying $8.00 for rice and still needing more when only eating for two, and that gets to me.

The restaurant looks like a fancier Indian cuisine restaurant and had faint Bollywood music playing in the background. As for the interior, the restaurant has a high ceiling and follows a cold color scheme; different shades of blue painted walls, chairs and table cloths, and white napkins rolled in drinking glasses. In addition, the restaurant has a couple of televisions as well as chandeliers, and gilded golden antiques by the bar. Furthermore, asides from the fact that the restaurant is pretty big, patio seating is available as well!

Royal Tandoori

So... I am guilty of occasionally visiting a wrong restaurant due to being careless and just… never bother looking at the restaurant's exterior. This was the case when I wanted to visit Royal Tandoori a couple of weeks ago but ended up at Indian Star (I did not even know I was at Indian Star and geotagged the restaurant as Royal Tandoori on Instagram LOL). My interest in visiting Royal Tandoori is because most of the comments on Urbanspoon emphasizes the restaurant's use of spiciness, and I love spicy food. I guess to me, spiciness can equal to great food especially for Indian cuisine! 

Coming on a Sunday evening, the restaurant was… not very busy and when we requested for a booth seat prior to a couple of hours before closing, the waitress declined as those seats are reserved for last minute diners of groups of four. Fortunately though after ordering, the waitress asked if we wanted to move as the secret to getting a booth seat is to order for four. The interior has comfortable seating arrangements and the only issue may be there are less than ten tables available, despite having more take out orders than diners. Plus, another table as well as us were the only ones in the restaurant for the entire time.

LAMB VINDALOO, BUTTER NAAN, PRAWN MASALA, EGGPLANT BHARTHA, BUTTER CHICKEN AND RICE.

Tasty Indian Bistro

Heading to Surrey for a supply inventory sale, BF and I finally had the chance to visit an Indian cuisine restaurant he has been raving about for quite a while, at least a year. A few of our friends have mentioned Tasty Indian is one of the better Northern Indian cuisine restaurants in Surrey and of course, the interior looks modern. Walking up to the restaurant, I knew what that meant. Tasty Indian has a chain restaurant vibe like Cactus Club and Joey, with two hostesses waiting to greet diners and a dimly lit interior. The restaurant is spacious with comfortable seating arrangements and patio seating is available as well, a very not so typical Indian cuisine restaurant. Tasty Indian seems like the restaurant to be for those who prefer dining in a "nicer" atmosphere or to impress out of town guests. As for me, I am more about the food than atmosphere but do enjoy having a comfortable dining space.

PLAIN RICE, LAMB VINDALOO, BUTTER CHICKEN, TANDOORI CHICKEN, PRAWN SAHI MASALA AND GARLIC NAAN.

Indian Star Restaurant & Sweets

LOL wow. This is my second time going to the wrong restaurant. According to some reviews, the restaurant's "medium spicy" is quite spicy and overly. However, after visiting the restaurant, I wondered why nothing had a hint of spiciness. After going on Urbanspoon to confirm what some reviewers had said, it turns out I went to Indian Star? Whoops, I meant to visit Royal Tandoori! Despite taking a photo of the restaurant's exterior and uploading it, it was not until I noticed on Urbanspoon that I visited Indian Star! Quite sad actually, considering that both restaurants are located on the same street and I constantly kept saying "hmmm Royal Tandoori, where's that?". Obviously I assumed the first Indian restaurant that I saw was the right one LOL… the careless things that happen when one is too hungry. Indian Star has comfortable seating arrangements and the restaurant is pretty well ventilated! I am not sure if it was because the restaurant was empty or not, but I am leaning towards it really is well ventilated. 

BASMATI RICE, PRAWN VINDALOO, EGGPLANT BHARTA, LAMB CURRY, NAAN BREAD AND BUTTER CHICKEN.

Jambo Grill & Good Morning Paan

Jambo Grill is another one of those "hey look at the reviews on Urbanspoon, let's try the restaurant" for me. The restaurant offers daily specials which greatly influenced the night I chose to visit. My options were between Tuesday's jungle ribs or Thursday's Thali buffet (the menu may have changed a week ago because the Thursday special is pili pili wings now).

After waiting ten minutes at the door, the waiter was kind and mentioned we can sit anywhere, except by or across from the door because a cold draft constantly comes in whenever the door opens. The cold draft was true because we sat far from the door and it was definitely chilly, which can easily be prevented by placing a panel by the door.  Jambo Grill has a relaxing atmosphere and the restaurant properly maximizes their seating arrangements, emphasize on properly. The seating arrangements are comfortable and not cramped one bit.