Indian in Vancouver

[Blueicus]

I'm curious if there are any good Indian lunch eats in the city (presumably there are). Preferably nothing more than 15 dollars before tax and any style of Indian is fine (north, south, east, west, etc.) Are most lunch options in the city buffet-style? Or are there a la carte options around? Thanks.

[jmil]

Some good lunch specials ..

- New Novelty Restaurant and Sweets (Fraser St.)
- Al Watan Tandoori (Indian / Pakistani - Fraser St.)
- Mirchi Restaurant (Granville St.)

These are small, family run restaurants. Lunch specials are under $10.

[YVRChow]

I second the recommendations of Al Watan, New Novelty, and Madras Dosa.

Al Watan is Pakistani, but has an excellent lunch special. It includes a piece of succulent tandoori chicken, flavourful chicken curry, refreshing subzi, hearty daal, piping hot naan, cooling raita, and fluffy rice. What a satisfying meal! It is really the perfect hole-in-the-wall. (As a matter of fact, the rug they have hanging on the wall may actually hide a true hole in the wall!)

New Novelty serves a lunch buffet. There is a small selection, but they regularly refresh it. It is very reasonably priced, and for a buffet it isn't bad.

Madras Dosa House has my favourite dosas. They are slightly thicker than some other places, but taste delicious. They also make very good pakora.

I'm also a fan of Mirch Masala out in Surrey on 120St. They have a variety of lunch combinations that are reasonably priced. The highlight for me there is their spicing. It somehow just tastes much fresher than many other Indian restaurants. I like their tandoori offerings where they char it just right with a nice spicing, their lamb curry which highlights their spicing, and their aloo gobhi which doesn't become mushy like many other places. Their ras malai has the cheese with a light fluffy consistency combined with the sweetness of the milk and rose water. A perfect end to a meal there!

[kinnickinnik]

Vij's Rangoli is an excellent a la carte option though will run you more in the 15-20 range before drinks.
http://www.vijsrangoli.ca/

I've not tried their lunch buffet but I've had some excellent food from Atithi on Burrard near Broadway. Seems like it would be good value at 9.95.
http://atithi.ca/Home.html

[LotusRapper]

I've only been there 3(?) times, but Saravanaa Bhavan on West Broadway @ Oak is a nice place for lunch. They have buffet and a la carte.

http://www.saravanaabhavan.ca/saravan...

They are south Indian, so the cuisine is less heavy and more emphasis on coconut. SB is a world-wide chain.

[Blueicus]

Saravanaa is always a reliable source of south Indian cuisine. I've been to a couple of outposts in Toronto and I enjoyed their food

[LotusRapper]

Perhaps as part of a global chain they keep their QA nice & tight.

[fmed]

There are a couple of other options on Fraser St that are worth checking out: Madras Dosa House, and Dhaka Fish and Briyani (not Indian - Bengali, and BTW - the chef used to be from Del-hi Darbar for those that remember the place).

I think you are from Toronto Blueicus? I don't know if any Indian here will compare to your city's offerings.

[kinnickinnik]

Thanks fmed! Great to know there's a Bengali place in town. Any others? It's a very underrepresented region here.

Another good Dosa spot - House of Dosa on Kingsway and Knight.

[fmed]

Atithi's is Bengali. (Or at least I believe the chef is). Not really a chow-worthy destination, IMO. There may be a few cloaked in the guise of generalized "Indian". That is an on-going project for me (to find all these places). I'm certain that there are a few in Surrey.

[kinnickinnik]

I'd assumed north Indian from the dishes I've had - though their use of jackfruit is rather Bengali. Though I wouldn't say it's go-out-of your way chowworthy, what I've had from Atithi (take out/delivery, haven't dined within) has been just fine and good value.

[LotusRapper]

I seem to recall the signage at this place (Knight & Kingsway, block south of House of Dosa) that said something about Sri Lankan cuisine:

(red awning)
http://goo.gl/maps/ywFE

Sorry I've no other info about it.

[fmed]

JR Taste of Ceylon. I didn't have a good first experience there so I have not been back. I have been hearing good things recently though.

[Blueicus]

I'd always assumed that given the decent south asian population in the city the quality of the food from the area would be about equal... but then again I'm pretty new here so it's pretty much just a guess. Went to Dhaka Fish and Biryani for lunch and had decent, simple cooking at a good price, nothing to rave about but satisfied the urges.

[fmed]

Dhaka's food is tastes decidedly "home cooked" - nothing fancy, but good, honest and well priced. Come back in a month or two when they plan to serve dishes from their updated menu with more Bengali specialties.