Desi Turka

Most people would say that the best Indian food can be found in Surrey, in particular, along the Scott Road corridor.  I generally agree with this sentiment because I've had my fair share of solid Indian food on Scott Road.  It also helps that I work nearby and everyone keeps giving me suggestions as to their favourite restaurant.  However, if you look hard enough, there are equally good Indian spots littered all over the Lower Mainland.  It isn't much different than the proliferation of great Chinese restaurants.  One place I visited recently was with Jacqueline in Desi Turka in New West.

We started off with the Chicken Momos with mint and tamarind chutneys on the side.  These Indo-Tibetan dumplings were quite good and compared well to the ones I had at Katmandu Restaurant on Scott Road.  The dumpling wrapper was medium-thick with a nice delicate chew to them.  Inside, the chicken was moist and tender while nicely spiced.  I like dipping them into the tamarind chutney since I love sweet tanginess.

Arriving on a sizzling cast iron plate with an intoxicating aroma, the Tandoori Chicken was on point.  As you can see, there was plenty of exterior charring, which meant there was a smokiness to the dish.  The chicken itself was quite moist inside and the marinade did penetrate the meat.  The final touch was a light drizzle of butter sauce that added some added layer of flavour and texture to the already flavourful chicken.

Now we couldn't just have Tandoori Chicken with butter sauce without having the actual Butter Chicken itself right?  The Butter Chicken featured big chunks of breast meat, which were tender and moist.  In actuality, the chicken in butter chicken is tandoori chicken, so this dish and the previous are directly related.  I really enjoyed the butter sauce here as it was rich and creamy with just enough tomato tanginess.  We could definitely taste the spices.

Of course to go with the butter chicken, we had to get some carbs in the form of Pulao Rice, Garlic Naan and Butter Roti.  Rice was nicely prepared where it was nutty and chewy.  We loved the naan as it was blistered and crispy in parts while stiff soft and chewy in others.  Good amount of butter and garlic brushed on top.  As for the roti, it was crispy and nutty with even leoparding.  It was glistening with butter, just how we like it!

Going for a different protein, we decided to try the Bombay Fish Curry.  It was loaded with flaky and soft pieces of fish.  As for the curry, it was thick with a good amount of spice and spices.  We asked for hot and it did have a lingering heat even well after we finished eating it.  Could definitely taste the ginger and the sweetness of the onions.  Naturally, there was also the classic Indian flavours of cumin, coriander and cloves.

Lastly, we had to get a vegetarian dish into the meal and we did just that with the Palak Paneer.  The creamy spinach gravy was earthy from the cumin and cardamom while nutty and slightly sweet.  There was a plethora of squishy and delicate paneer nestled within.  Overall, we quite enjoyed our meal at Desi Turka and I would definitely say that it gives the Indian restaurants along Scott Road a run for their money.  Good option in New West.

*All food and beverages were complimentary*

The Good:
- Reasonably-priced
- Good spice level (we requested hot and it was indeed that)
- On point proteins

The Bad:
- Place is a bit small, so would fill up quickly

My Shanti

*Restaurant is closed*

Every morning, it is a ritual that I check all of my email accounts - work, personal and blog email.  Naturally, I quickly delete those asking me to invest in a timeshare or to enlarge my privates.  Then I look through all the media releases for new restaurants and of course, restaurant invites.  One particular email caught my immediate attention - it was an invite to tour Vij's production facility and to a lunch at My Shanti, his new restaurant in South Surrey.  I don't ever remember Vikram Vij doing any of these events before.  So of course, I jumped at the chance, consequently, enjoying my meal with fellow attendees Sean and BCFoodieBlogger.

Before we even entered the restaurant, there was no mistaking the building as it was sparkling silver with a glare that needed sunglasses.  Inside, the purple-reddish interior was ornate, yet wreaked havoc with our pictures (I did the best that I could to remove the purple tinge).  Anyways, we were started off with the Udiapuri chaat with eggplant, spinach and sweet potato.  This dish was an exploration in textures with starchy, leafy and crunchy.  There was a good lingering heat that complimented the apparent spices.  Next up, we had Bombay’s Chattpatti Squid served atop appam.  Buttery soft and tender, the squid still maintained a meatiness and chew.  The masala was spicy in layers, ultimately finishing off with a lingering punch.

Onto another round of appies, we tried the Goan Oyster Pakoras with with spicy green chili crème fraîche.  One bite and there was no doubting the taste of the sea without being fishy.  The oysters were buttery and coated with a light crispy batter.  I found it to be quite greasy though.  The chili crème fraîche was creamy with a slight tang as well as spice.  Next, we were served Chhatra Sagar’s Baby Eggplants with mango powder & chillies.  These cute little eggplants were tender while staying intact.  Again, there was a noticeable spice level accented by a tart zestiness.  Although not in the description, there was the taste of tamarind.

With one last "appie", we had the Mysorian Vegetable Thoran topped with grated roasted coconut.  Consisting of jackfruit and shredded veggies, the soft mixture was sweet and spicy.  The toasted spices added aromatics as well as the crunchy coconut topping.  Moving onto the mains, we were presented with Calcutta’s Panch Phoran Steamed Fish atop a "very mustard gravy".  Although tilapia can often be mushy and devoid of texture, the one here was flaky and moist.  Underneath, the sauce had a noticeable tang and once again, a purposeful amount of spice which added flavour without overwhelming the fish.

Moving on, we tried the Hydrabadi Chicken Biryani served with 3 mistresses.  No, don't be alarmed, we weren't up to some debauchery, rather they were sides of cashew gravy, kachum­ber and raita.  The rice itself was fluffy with a crust on the sides of the clay pot.  There was a slight cinnamon aroma that was addictively fragrant.  I particularly liked the cashew gravy as it was sweet and nutty.  As part of the kitchen tour, we were served fresh Naan from the tandoor.  Fluffy and light on one hand and chewy and slightly crisp on the other, these were very good (and much better than the ones I've had a Vij's in the past).

Our last savoury dish was Banglore’s Goat Curry with cassava.  After my initial taste, the spiciness was quite apparent.  Again, it wasn't "burn-my-tongue-off" hot, rather, it merely added another layer of flavour where the other spices such as coriander and cumin came through.  The goat itself was tender while the cassava added a starchy texture.  We ended off the meal with 2 desserts consisting of the Almond & Pistachio Fudge atop coconut cream and Almond Macarons.  The soft and slightly grainy fudge was not as sweet as it looked.  The real star of the plate was the aromatic coconut cream.  As for the macarons (made of cashews, rather than almond), they were rather chalky and not really my cup of tea.  Despite this, I thoroughly enjoyed the tasting at My Shanti.  Kudos to Vikram Vij, for boldly bringing his food to South Surrey.

*All food and gratuities were comped*

The Good:
- Interesting and tasty offerings
- Nice spot offering something different in terms of food and decor

The Bad:
- Pricey
- Modest portion sizes

Atithi

*Restaurant is closed*

As much as I love Indian food, I tend to avoid it when I'm in Vancouver. Not that Vancouver doesn't have good Indian food - check South Main Street. However, I'm spoiled by the great, inexpensive Indian food available in Surrey. So it has not even occurred to me to go for it after softball on Mondays. And possibly I was assuming too much as well. I didn't think anyone on my softball team wanted to go for Indian food. How wrong I was. It seemed like the prevailing choice. So with a few options nearby after a game at Canarvon, we headed over to Atithi on Burrard. With the limited amount of free parking spots in the area, I decided to try my luck with the first one I spotted on 8th Ave. Despite being just big enough for my car, I made it with the aid of the backup cam. Hence, no cars were harmed in this food adventure. I can't guarantee that on my next Richmond foray...

As a table, we decided to share a couple orders of Samosas to start. They split them up for us since we had 7 people at the table. This maybe a bit nitpicking; but we would've preferred the tamarind chutney and cilantro sauce to be served on the side rather than directly on the samosa. As for the samosas, they were fried until crisp with a soft potato filling which had an underlying heat. I personally like the tamarind chutney more since it has a nice zing to it. In this case, the cilantro sauce was quite flavourful where it actually had a pronounced chili pepper kick. I was not satisfied sharing samosa's and also ordered a Chili Gobi. This consisted of lightly battered and fried cauliflower tossed in a sweet chili sauce. Not too dissimilar to a Thai sweet chili, this one had more kick to it. The cauliflower was perfect - cooked all-the-way through while still crispy outside. Everyone at the table universally liked this appy and would gladly order it for themselves if they had the chance.

Milhouse was famished. So just like me, he got an appy all for himself. I was secretly hoping he would do so and also, I was routing for the Frankie. As if he had telepathic abilities, he did order it. Looking almost like a Taiwanese pancake roll, the Frankie consisted of egg, lamb curry and cucumber. It was accompanied by the same cilantro sauce and tamarind chutney (and a few fries). Now this particular item is one of the specialties and I wouldn't go as far as to rave about it; however, it was quite good nonetheless. I found the wrap to be soft and easy to eat while the lamb was tender and well spiced. With the appies out of the way, we all had our own entrees. To my horror, both Miss Y and Judes had the Butter Chicken. Duplicates! Anyways, the butter chicken was um... "different". It was rather sweet and didn't have any other distinguishing flavours. We felt more tomato paste was needed. There was, however, lots of tender white meat.

Now duplicates was bad enough. Try triplicates! To my utter shock Bear, Milhouse and Hot Chocolate all had the Lamb Palak. If Mijune was here, she would've put them in their place! This was really thick and in somewhat of a smaller portion compared to all the other dishes (even with the sauces taken into account). Despite this, it was full of tender pieces of lamb and was quite filling in the end. The flavours were quite muted which suited most people quite fine. Boss Woman mercifully had something different in the Railway Station Curry with lamb, tomatoes and cilantro. This was also a very mild offering which didn't mean it wasn't good. The flavours were just muted (which I'm sure tailored to the prevailing clientele). Other than the muted flavours, the lamb was plentiful and moist while there was plenty of tomato goodness.

For myself, I had the Punjabi Style Goat in light tomato & cilantro curry. Even though the ingredients seem similar to the Railway Station Curry, the flavours were much more prominent. There was a certain richness that highlighted the ingredients, particularly the tomato. Moreover, a certain level of spice made itself known without being offensive. Coupled with large pieces of moist, tender goat, this was probably the best dish at the table. Miss Y and Boss Woman kept returning to the sauce and ignoring their own dishes. A good sign. Now all of our meals included rice and Naan. The naan was was quite pale and doughy. They probably didn't have a tandoor on-site which would greatly hinder their abilities to pump out really good naan. With that being said, I've had decent naan cooked without the use of a tandoor as well. One side note is that we ran out of naan partway through our meal and we were offered more naan. We were never notified of the extra charge for the naan. To be fair, we would've been fine with the charge since it was negligible. It just would've been nice to know ahead of time. Despite all of our reservations about the muted flavours at Atithi, we still enjoyed our meal. In all fairness, a restaurant is only there to satisfy the majority of diners. Hence, our expectations were not unreasonable considering the location. It is nowhere near Main Street nor Surrey. With that taken in consideration, the meal as a whole was alright and reasonably-priced.

The Good:
- Reasonably-priced
- Service is quite friendly

The Bad:
- Some flavours are muted
- Naan needs some improvement