If the name "Dosa Corner" rings a bell, then you aren't dreaming. The original location was further south on Fraser and now the new location is closer to all the action near the corner of Fraser and 46th. For those who do not know, a dosa is a super thin and crispy South Indian crepe made from fermented rice and lentils. It can be eaten plain and served with chutneys and sambar, but for me, best to be filled with a curry of some sort. Jackie and I dropped by to try some of their menu items.
For our starters, one of the dishes we had was the Prawn Pakora. This featured pretty large prawns that were coated with a fairly thin batter. It was mildly spiced where I got a certain amount of earthiness and also some natural sweetness from the meaty prawns. This was served with 3 chutneys including tamarind, spicy peanut and cilantro. I liked the cilantro the most as it was bright and a bit spicy.
Our other appie was the classic Chicken 65. It was served with the same 3 chutneys along with a few veggies. The small morsels of chicken were tender with a crispy coating. I felt the seasoning was on the milder side but I did still get some tang and spice. We also had the Chicken 65 Biryani and it was quite good. With a crispy texture, the chicken also kept the rice more dry (almost like a fried rice). But since it wasn't a fried rice (in terms of overall cooking technique), it featured absorbed spices that were earthy and savoury with some heat.
In addition to the aforementioned biryani, we also had the Goat Biryani. Since the medium-sized chunks of meat were cooked with the rice, it had taken on the gaminess of the goat. There was also more moisture due to that and hence, the rice was not as dry as the previous dish. Lots of fall and earthy flavours from the spices as well as a hit of cinnamon. I really enjoyed this as it was flavourful with tender pieces of meat.
Of course we had to get and order of the restaurant's namesake right? So we got one each of the Eggplant Masala Dosa and the Butter Chicken Dosa. These lentil and rice flour crepes were uniformly crispy and light. Nice aroma too. One of the better dosas I've had in town. I liked both fillings with the eggplant being soft and well-spiced. The butter chicken was tender and had a good balance of tang and creaminess. Nice spice with earthy notes.
Beyond the dosas and biryanis, there is also a considerable selection of curries. One of our favourites was the Prawn Curry. Since they cooked the prawns into the curry, there was this natural briny sweetness which was so appetizing. The prawns themselves were meaty with so much inherent flavour and umaminess. This came with rice, papadum, naan and raita. Really a complete meal!
We also had the Lamb Curry which was quite rich and creamy. Naturally, there was the usual earthy notes, yet they were not as strong as a Rogan Josh. That made the lamb flavour stand out more. We asked for this to be medium spice and it was impactful in that respect. The chunks of lamb were tender and moist. I thought the naan had nice colour to it, but the texture was a bit hard.
As an add-on at the end of the meal, we got the Palak Paneer. This was a textbook version of the dish except that the paneer wasn't cut into cubes. Rather, they were slices and as a result, had a different texture. The paneer was more squishy and soft, which was quite appealing. As for the spinach, it was a bit earthy with some spice. We found some gingery notes at the end.
For our sweets, we had the Carrot Halwa and Rasmalai. I personally love carrot halwa and this was a tasty version. Not too sweet, but full of fall flavours with the crunch from the nuts and sweetness from the raisins. As for the rasmalai, it also wasn't overboard with the sweetness and had a great cooling effect against the curries we had. Overall, we really enjoyed our meal at Dosa Corner. Not only were the Dosas some of the best we've had in the city, the rest of the dishes were solid as well. Add in reasonable prices and it is a place that we can dine at any day of the week.
*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*
The Good:
- Light and uniformly crispy dosas
- All other dishes are solid
- Reasonable pricing
The Bad:
- Naan could be softer
Posts
