Banu

Date Visited: Dinner on Monday Feb 10, 2014
Company: Winterlicious Reservation for 3

One of the things that my friends and I try to do during the '-licious' time is to pick at least one restaurant that we usually wouldn't go to to try new foods. This was once instance where we decided to try an Iranian dinner at Banu located at Queen West. It was a cold, snowy night in Toronto but we drove from Oshawa to the shopping district to eat here and found parking on the street close by. The restaurant is very tiny, very much like the other shops in the area. 

Upon entering, there were only a few tables lined up on the side of the narrow restaurant and a group of 4 tables in the back. This isn't the place to go with a large group. The decor wasn't very lively but had an eccentric feel with pillows on the seats, white walls, bright blue tables, and minimal decor. There were only two servers for the whole restaurant, both who were very relaxed and probably not Iranian. 
We looked at the menu and had a not-so-fun time deciding what to try. The server also had additional appetizers on the menu which were available. I almost got the Kashk o Bademjan, roasted eggplant, turmeric, caramelized onion, fried mint, and whey paste but I got a different version with Creamed Eggplant instead (from what I remember). The portion was pretty small with a chunk of sauce in the middle with 4 pieces of sesame bread to pair. The dip was very creamy with lots of flavour which I can't even know the words to describe. it was a bit smokey with lots of spices in the mushy eggplant, an interesting dish for sure. They asked if I wanted more bread, but I turned it down. It wasn't the most vibrant of flavours to be having a lot of. 
For the mains, two of us got the Koobideh, two skewers of ground angus sirloin with roasted tomato, basil, mint, and tarragon, and lawash bread, and +Joslynn got the Morgh, which was the chicken breast with saffron citrus glaze version. We got everything on one huge plate. We were kind of confused at first when we all got smaller plates before the meal came out, we thought that they had other plates to place on top of ours or something. But all the kabobs came on a huge plate with naan on the side and beneath, and the sides. Our waiter told us to basically take a bit of the meat, mint, tomato, the yogurt-y sauce, and spices and wrap it in a bit of the flat bread. The combination of those flavours were actually very delicious together and every aspect played a huge part of the bite you take. The hard part though was trying to ration everything evenly for each time you took a bite. The beef was very flavourful but there was so much of it, not sure how we could possibly finish it all, we were eating the bottom bread at the end of it. I also got to try to the chicken which was surprisingly juicy. The sauces we got were also very delicious but we ran out of them, along with the tomatoes which were very well seasoned. They were a bit stingy with everything but I know that some of the spices are extremely expensive (ie. saffron). We were joking that we had no idea if we were doing this right or not and the employees here must have a blast making fun of all the newbies that try the food.
Finally, for dessert, I got the Saffron, Rose Pistachio Ice Cream which came in a bowl with one scoop. It was a nice, sweet ending to our filling meal and wasn't too sugary. It had subtle flavour with bit of pistachio in it and very light.

Overall, I think everyone should try out Banu at least once! It was a fun experience for everyone and the food was extremely satisfying. I wouldn't want to eat there everyday but the kabobs were really good. When we got in the car though, we realized the beef kabobs we took to go home smelled like farts. :/

Food: 3.5/5 - Enjoyed the main and dessert, great quality of food.
Decor: 2/5 - Minimalist, extremely chill atmosphere (almost too chill).
Service: 4/5 - Pretty good service but not surprised because its so tiny. Fair waiting times for food
Willingness to go back: 1/5 - One of those 'been there, done that' restaurants.
Overall: 2.5/5

Website: http://www.banu.ca/ 

Kama

Date Visited: Late dinner on Thursday Jul 25, 2013
Company: Post-TIFF stuff meal with +Lilian

+Lilian and I were in the King West area looking for a place to eat after my TIFF volunteer session and her work shift. After a while of wandering and not stumbling upon any restaurants that gauged our interest, we settled on an Indian place on the corner of King and University. It was located on the lower level of the streets, a bit hidden amongst other restaurants. It advertised a buffet, but we weren't feeling hungry enough for AYCE. We still decided to check out the a-la-carte menu and since it wasn't out of our price range, we decided to grab a table. 

The restaurant was very big and stretched very far back. I didn't expect it to get as much traffic as it seems it does with its size, most restaurants in the area (even buffets) seem to be smaller. The place was pretty empty as it was an hour to closing so we got a roomy corner booth table. They didn't really have any outstanding decor and everything was pretty yellow but it was very nicely lit.
We decided on getting the Butter Chicken and Saag Paneer after a bit of discussion between us about what things were and what we were feeling. We asked the waiter if rice was included in the dishes but the he advised it wasn't. We then ordered Naan which comes with 6 pieces but he advised that we'd need more so we went with two orders of the plain. 

The wait wasn't too bad, but it's how long I'd expect to wait during prime hours. They brought out gas-light candles to keep the dishes warm just before they served them which was a nice indication the food was coming. The Butter Chicken was very different than any other butter chicken I had had before. It was quite sweet and had a strong tomato paste taste. It was tasty but reminded me of the Chef Boyardee beefaroni or ravioli sauce. The actual chicken was very juicy and tender with large pieces. The Saag Paneer had a good portion of cheese to sauce but we added some salt because it was lacking significantly. I enjoyed the thick texture though as it made it easier to dip. The Naan was warm when we got it but after sitting on the table during eating, it quickly got hard and cold. By the end of our meal, it was very hard to bite off pieces from it. We tried to finish the chicken but left the paneer to take home. 

Food: 1.5/5 - Our dishes weren't the best, there was something off about all of them.
Service: 2.5/5 - Service was decent, friendly waiters.
Decor: 2.5/5 - Extremely spacious, but lacking anything else.
Willingness to go back: 3.5/5 - I'd definitely try the buffet to see what that's like in comparison.
Overall: 2.5/5
Website: http://www.kamaindia.com/

Jaipur Grille

Visited: Winterlicious Dinner on Wednesday Feb 6, 2013
Company: Party of 5

Winterlicious was around the corner and going through the large list of participating restaurants, my friends and I wanted to try to something less safe for our second season of -licious. We planned a little too last minute and ended up getting a reservation at Jaipur Grille near Yonge and Eg. I was pretty excited anyway because I absolutely adore Indian food. My dad was born in India so he has a few recipes that he always does but I'm always itching for new tastes. That's why I'm always down for Indian buffets, as I tend to stick to what I know at traditional restaurants. Jaipur Grille seemed to offer a lot of interesting options though for their fixe price menu.

+Stephanie Szebenyi and I were running late to dinner so when we arrived, our group was seated right in front of the window which would be a great view during the day as the place is on Yonge. It was quite spacious with all the tables along the perimeter of the restaurant, half our table was facing the window which is unusual as you would think they'd have our sides face the window so they can fit more tables. There were many lights but the place was still dim. We were given these spice chips (forgive my ignorance of the names of many things) to nibble on prior to our meals. They were very flavourful but did not do anything to ease our appetites and made us drink a lot of water (you can see them in the top right corner of the first photo).

I started off with Samosa Chaat which I have never had before. I love samosas and I saw this added a lot of extra sauces I enjoy already on it so I assumed that I would be good. I was definitely right, this was an explosion of flavours that went with the veg samosa so well. There was mint, yogurt and other things I don't know but tasted amazing! I enjoyed how colourful the dish was too. Great appetizer, filled you up quite a bit.

For my main dish, I had the Pahadi Chicken. This was definitely the safe choice as it was the only chicken option. All dishes came with Saag Paneer, Rice, Naan and Raita. The portion amount was perfect, I like to mix things up and I was able to finish everything and not have too much leftover of anything. I'm always worried that the chicken is too dry in dishes like these but this wasn't bad. The pahadi flavour wasn't too overpowering and was very mild. The raita and paneer were great additions as I love both of those things. I love extra cucumber in the raita and didn't think there was enough, the yogurt flavour was also very mild. The naan came fresh and warm to the table but it wasn't the best naan I've had, it was on the hard side. I was extremely full at the end of the meal though.

For dessert, I had the mango mousse which was possibly the best mango mousse I've ever had. It was so rich in mango flavour but didn't feel heavy. But I also only ate half which might have been why (some friends didn't enjoy their first time trying gulab jamun and wanted the mousse).

Food: 4/5 - Delicious indian food

Decor: 3.5/5 - Very chill, not too busy

Service: 2/5 - Extremely slow to bring out dishes but friendly waiters

Likeliness to come back: 3.5/5 - Regular menu looks rather good and decent prices.

Overall: 3.5/5

Website: http://www.jaipurgrille.com/