Yay!! We won a Palki Passion dining pass from VANEATSca 🙂 Thanks guys!! Actually, Colleen won a dining package to this fairly new indian restaurant on commercial drive. We had a hard time finding the place simply because the name out front wasn’t visible from a side angle but we found it nonetheless.
1130 Commercial Drive, Vancouver BC
Tel#: (604) 215-1130
Stuck with a rental car (or else I wouldn’t drive here in my own car) we set out after work to the ridiculously tight parking spots of commercial drive. I swear, we saw at least 4 separate incidents where cars almost hit each other trying to park on the street.
And surprise surprise the place was empty on the inside. There was a Canucks game on at the time, I assume everyone was busy at the game or at bars watching it. Colleen had made a reservation but obviously it wasn’t required. I must say though, this place is very clean and well presented. It had a very upbeat modern feel to it and it was welcoming. I picked the center table by the window which had a step to it and well, it had a grander feel to it sitting up above even if it was just a step. LOL
All of our dishes came at the same time, which was fairly nice but it did take a long time for the food to come. Its to be expected since the place was empty when we got there. The dining package platter came with a bunch of stuff like a veggie samosa, a lamb barrah kebob (well cooked, tender and not gamey) chicken tikka, tandoori prawn, murg malai tikka (chicken marinated in sour cream and spices) and a bowl of butter chicken.
Here we have a picture of their butter chicken and the naan bread which also came with the set meal. I thought the taste was pretty delicious, the lamb was particularly good and the butter chicken was pretty spot on. Even Colleen(the hater of butter chicken) ate some of it! She said it’s not as creamy and overwhelming like the other ones she’s tried before.
And I ordered up an extra portion of garlic naan and Colleen tried out this vegetable dumpling version called kofta dil bahar(big thanks to Sharath for replying and letting us know what this dish is called/made of), the sauce is based on tomatoes and fresh cream, and several spices like mango powder and pineapple seeds. The dumplings are prepared from mashed veggies like potatoes and cottage cheese which was not coated in anything but was pan fried before added into the sauce. I thought it was ok, I mean, I’ve never had this before so I wouldn’t be able to compare it to anything but I thought the sauce was really tasty.
Colleen also wanted to try the chicken tikka masala just to compare and well, it was also pretty good with tons of chicken.
Overall our dining experience was enjoyable and tasty, I’m no expert in indian cuisine but certainly know enough to say which is edible or not and this place is pretty good. Would I come here again YES for sure, maybe next time we’ll head out to North Van to try out their first location.
Post by Marv
