Happy Singh Street Eats

There is certainly no shortage of great Indian restaurants near and along Scott Road on the Surrey/North Delta border.  Choices range from higher end such as Tasty Indian Bistro and Yellow Chilli to smaller spots like Mirch Masala and Rama.  Of course, we have the big daddy of them all at the expansive buffet in Tandoori Flame as well.  However, what if one wanted something inexpensive, yet trendy where you can take the family almost any day of the week?  I introduce you to Happy Singh Street Eats with their counter-service setup with different stations offering up a huge variety of food.  There is a little for everyone including the kiddies.

It is always nice to start a meal with some chaat and we did so with the Mixed Punjabi Chaat as well as the Aloo Bhaaji Khasta.  The mixed Punjabi chaat consisted of papdis, bhel mix, chickpeas, tomato, onion, house special chutney, spices and topped with sev.  If you can imagine, this was a bit tangy, a bit crunchy, a bit creamy and of course sweet.  A really appetizing plate.  The aloo bhaaji khasta was trending in the same direction except with the robust texture of potato and lentil puffs.  Of course with the curry, flavours were more rich, yet the chutneys and pomegranate seeds leveled it off with tang and sweetness.

Over to some dumplings we had both the Steamed Momos and the Garlic & Chili Momos.  Featuring medium-thick dumpling skin, the momos featured a light and tender chicken filling.  I found the wrapper to have a decent amount of elasticity, hence there was nice bite to each dumpling.  As for the garlic & chili momos, you can clearly see that there was plenty of sauce.  Therefore, flavours were intense and impactful.  Good mix of sweet, tang, spice and savoury.

Moving onto the some larger items, we tried the Tandoori Chicken Leg with mint & coriander chutney, red onion and lime.  This was well-marinated being flavourful and juicy.  The meat was super moist and unlike many other versions of tandoori chicken, we couldn't find any dried out portions.  However, we would've liked to see a bit more charring on the outside.

From a meat we move to meatless with the Malai Soya Chaap marinated in yogurt and North Indian spices, then cooked in a tandoor.  This was rather creamy with all that yogurt.  It kept things moist and the spices did come through.  Again, I would've liked to have more impact from the tandoor, but then again, the soya chaap would not have been as tender.  In addition to the soft texture, there was also some meaty bite to it even though it was not meat.

For our bread selection, we had the Paneer Paratha.  This was stuffed with marinated paneer and cooked on the grill.  Nice leoparding that resulted in caramelized smokiness.  Texturally, the paratha had a nice chew while still fluffy and soft. I enjoyed dipping the paratha into the creamy (and buttery) dal makhani.  If we actually needed any more, there was some butter (makhan) on the side as well as sweet cane sugar (gur).  Some pickles (aam ka achaar) provided salty tang to break up the heaviness.

So if this next dish looks eerily familiar, let me say this wasn't the momos again.  Rather, this was the Dry Chili Chicken from the Hakka Chinese section of the menu.  This was almost exactly like the momos except it appeared to me that it was a tad spicier?  The chicken itself was in good sized chunks where it was moist while still having a somewhat firm exterior.  The sauce was sweet, spicy and tangy.

Also very similar was the Chicken Lolipops seemingly dressed in the same sauce.  Once again, I'm pretty sure this was different as the spice level was a touch lower while there was definite hits of ginger.  With that being said, this was absolutely similar with tang, spice and sweetness.  As for the chicken drumettes, they featured rendered skin and fairly tender meat.  There was not absence of flavour here.

Staying with chicken but moving away from chili sauces, we had the Chicken 65 Roll.  Now you are wondering what's with the number...  Well, it is deep fried chicken originating from Chennai in 1965.  This particular version was tender with plenty of flavours from the marinade including spice, aromatics and sweetness.  It was a bit crispy and wrapped in paratha along with peppers and onions.  Reminded me of a cheese steak except with crispy marinated chicken.

Now the following dish also reminded me of something else.  If the Keema Pao looks like a sloppy Joe to you, it isn't far off.  Yes, the filling is traditionally made with mutton rather than the beef you'd find in a sloppy Joe, but it ate quite like it.  Being interactive, we spooned the keema into the soft pao (the buns).  Naturally, being a Mumbai specialty, the spices did pop such as cardamom, chilis and cumin.  I'd imagine myself eating this as a snack often if I had more access.

Heading to a classic South Indian item, we tried the Masala Dosa with a side of sambar and coconut chutney.  To fit onto the recyclable plate, they had cut the dosa in half.  So it wasn't as majestic as the whole dosa that we are usually accustomed to.  Nevertheless, the lentil crepe was still crispy and light.  Inside, the potato and onion mixture was tender and flavourful with ginger notes as well as some spice.  Side of sambar was mild with background tomato notes.

One of my favourite items was the Amritsari Fish Pakora with mint/coriander chutney.  I liked how each piece of fish was fairly large, hence, they were moist and flaky.  That also meant the batter was crispy but not too hard.  Therefore, the dish ate light despite being fried.  Flavours were great from the marinade, but even better when dunked into the chutney on the side.  Some brightness was added because of it.

Onto desserts, we tried their Cheesecake on a Stick (Smurfette) that featured a hard sweet coating on the outside.  This one was blue and somehow it ate like it was blue (only way I could describe it).  The cheesecake inside was definitely cheesy and only semi-sweet.  We also got one of their crazy shakes in the Sticky Toffee Bite, with a piece of toffee cake on top.  As for the shake itself, it was creamy and had a rich sweetness that was a bit of smokiness.  Lastly, we had the Jab Mango Met Lychee Shake which was my favourite.  It was creamy and fruity where it was like a mango lassi, except with lychee.  Even though it was rich, I still found it refreshing and just sweet enough.  Oh man, now that was a lot of food...  But generally, it was all pretty good and well-priced.  Definitely accessible for family dinners and take out.  A good variety too so that no one gets left out.

*All food and beverages were complimentary*

The Good:
- Nice variety
- Well-priced
- Overall solid

The Bad:
- Since it is a casual counter-service spot, the plating will be very basic

Davie Dosa

Davie Street from Yaletown all the way down to the West End boasts a wide selection of eateries.  You will find anything from higher-end establishments, like La Pentola, down to little dives, such as La Belle Patate (it is a dive to me, but a good one!).  There is also a limited range of ethnic cuisine available with some being represented better than others.  So that brings me to Indian food.  There are 3 along the Davie, but one of the newer joints can lay claim to being the only one of its kind.  Davie Dosa (on the same block as La Belle Patate) boasts that they are the sole representative of Southern Indian cuisine.  In fact, there is a general lack of Southern Indian food in the GVRD.

Joyce and I hit up the place since we were doing the judging for the Chicken Wing Challenge anyways.  Interestingly, they were only one of 3 participants for the challenge and all were Southern Asian...  Anyways, we were presented one each of their Cilantro Wings.  For those with gluten allergies or sensitivities, you can rejoice!  These were coated with rice flour instead of wheat flour.  I didn't really notice the difference as they were slathered in a tomato paste sauce that was tangy and slightly sweet with a noted spiciness.  I loved how the cilantro was there, but not at the forefront.  The meat itself was succulent and tender.  Of course we couldn't just have wings right?  So we also had their Lamb Curry Dosa served with the usual coconut and shallot chutney, tomato chutney and sambar.  I've had my fair share of dosas and I can definitively say that the one here was on point.  It was thin, crispy and light with a pleasant chewiness.  Inside, there was a generous portion of tender lamb and potatoes that was aromatic and lightly spiced.

We also got the Palak Paneer with rice and home-style dosa.  This was creamy and rich but not heavy.  It was nicely seasoned where I could make out a few spices including the usual cumin and garlic.  The spinach was properly prepared (as in blanched first) so that there was no bitterness nor iron finish.  I found the paneer to be soft and tender where it retained its texture.  Although we only tried 3 items at Davie Dosa, it was enough to warrant a return visit in the future.  Compared to the dosas I've had at other spots in the GVRD, the one here was quite good.  Nice to see something different on Davie and a good one at that.

*Food was complimentary*

The Good:
- Dosas on point
- Reasonable pricing considering it is in Downtown
- Well-portioned

The Bad:
- Menu fairly limited (but focused)
- A bit warm inside

Dosa Hut

Ever since my initial visit to Dosa Hut as part of the Taco Challenge (was a stretch that they made a dosa into a taco), I planned to go back.  Since they were part of the Curry Challenge (yes, that makes much more sense), I was able to return along with Joyce to try out their entry.  In addition, it afforded us the opportunity to order extra dishes to see if that first taste was as good as I had remembered.  Well, at least we would attempt to eat the extra dishes as we had already visited Kaya Malay to try their entry beforehand.

No matter, Joyce and I have done this eating thing for awhile and heck, we were gonna do our very best.  Before the food arrived, we were treated to a Mango Lassi and a Mango Milkshake.  I thought the lassi was pretty good being just the right viscosity where it was neither too thick nor thin.  It was sweet and had the true essence of mango.  As for the shake, it was thick and tasted like mango ice cream.  Right off the bat, we were served their Curry Challenge creation in the Attu Chops Iral Curry featuring a lamb Chop with dosa, nilgiri prawn with wild brown rice.  Being a Chetinad-style curry, the flavour was a little different than the common Punjabi curries we find in the GVRD.  It was thick and rich with a balanced spiciness that complimented the sweetness and background tang.  The lamb chop itself was pull-apart tender.  The meaty prawns were coated with a coriander and mint chutney that made things bright.

For our added dishes, we had another dosa in the form of the Palak Paneer Dosa plated quite fancily.  With that being said, it ate even better than it appeared.  The dosa itself was crispy and light while still retaining a slight chewiness inside.  The even smear of palak was slightly creamy while the globs of paneer were nicely cheesy.  Interestingly, I thought the best accompaniment was not the chutneys that came with it, rather the raita from the other dish as it provided a creamy coolness.  That other dish was the Chicken Biryani that was aromatic and impactful.  The basmati rice was fluffy and chewy at the same time while blessed with the essence of saffron and a slight spice.  The pieces of chicken were tender and almost juicy.

Lastly, we had the Chicken Korma which was fantastic in our opinion.  Creamy, nutty and full-flavoured, this was mild in terms of spice (like it should be), but impactful nonetheless.  The richness of the dish was not as heavy as it appeard and I really liked smoothness of the sauce.  Overall, we were impressed with the quality of food served at the Dosa Hut.  Flavours were apparent and textures were on point.  Impressive for a small little joint out on Fraser Street.

*Attu Chops Iral Curry and beverages were complimentary*

The Good:
- Impactful flavours
- Well-prepared dishes
- Friendly people

The Bad:
- I personally would've liked to see more spice, but I also could've requested it too

Maitri Bhavan Authentic South Indian Cuisine

Quite often, when we refer to Chinese food, most people would think of sweet & sour pork, broccoli beef and chicken chow mein.  Okay, that's Americanized Chinese food, but the roots originate from Cantonese cuisine, which represents only one province in China.  So when people think of Indian food, the same phenomena occurs where dishes like Butter Chicken, Palak Paneer and Tandoori Chicken come to mind.  Again, this only represents a small portion of Indian cuisine, specifically the Punjab region.  So when I randomly bought 2 coupons for Maitri Bhavan out in Surrey, it was my opportunity to get my Southern Indian food fix on.

I enlisted the help of Chill both times since I hate eating alone and yah, he's good company too...  For our first visit, we decided to start things off with a dish that interestingly isn't offered on their menu anymore.  It was Fried Shrimp bathed in a spicy sauce loaded with red onion.  Exhibiting an impactful and long-lasting heat, the dish was hot, but not enough to overwhelm the meaty shrimp.  Naturally, the amount of onion added a sharp pungency to the dish as well as some sweetness.

We each had a Dosa (mine was lamb) and we found it to be lightly crisp yet fluffy and soft throughout.  The filling was not overly spicy, but it did not lack flavour.  For me personally, there was just too much rare diced red onion.  It created a sharpness that dominated everything else.  The flavour was so strong, the lamb gaminess was mostly in the background.  With that being said, we still enjoyed the dosa as it was not heavy nor too dry.

We came back a few weeks later and decided to share 3 items from the rest of the menu.  Starting it off was the Chicken Biryani featuring 2 pieces of tender chicken that was a touch spicy.  The rice was chewy and dry while mildly flavoured.  In addition to the biryani, we also got the Fish Korma which was lightly creamy and nutty.  It was well-spiced exhibiting a mild heat.  We found the fish to be tender and flaky while being cooked just enough. However, we would've liked to see more of it as we were left with sauce after our first helping.

Lastly, we had the Eggplant Curry which was a delight to eat despite its small portion size.  The fried eggplant was tender while still lightly crispy on the outside.  Flavours once again were impactful with a low rumble of spice  Despite the spice level, the curry was still aromatic and nutty without being overwhelmed.  From these 2 visits, we were pretty happy with the food at Maitri Bhavan.  I guess it being Southern Indian rather than the usual we find everywhere else made a difference too.  Loved the service as well.

The Good:
- Bold and spicy
- Well-prepared proteins
- Nice people

The Bad:
- Modest portions
- Could've done with less diced (almost raw) onion