Showing posts with label samosa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label samosa. Show all posts

My Roti Place (Toronto) for delivery

Posted on Saturday, March 27, 2021 by
Note: Prices in post are based on regular menu prices and may be higher when using delivery services

Does anyone else associate food with seasons? Hot pot or shabu shabu screams winter while hot dogs and burgers is synonymous with summer. In the fall, every time I tuck into a bowl of soupy noodles or pork bone soup it reminds me that winter is coming. So, what exactly do I associate with spring?

Salads come to mind – perhaps more from necessity as I attempt to shed the winter insultation that’s not needed when shorts and bikinis make an appearance. A recent meal from My Roti Place made me realize a veggie samosa evokes a spring feeling. I know, it sounds odd. For me, samosas are that bridge between the hearty winter (on account of the potato stuffing) and the promise of sun to come – just try not to smile when you see that lovely golden crust and colourful chutneys.

At My Roti Place, the filling of their veggie samosas ($5.95 for two) is even more reminiscent of spring: the potatoes are mashed and mixed with peas and other vegetables to create an airy light bite. Meanwhile, the wrapper is still a thicker variety that soaks in the oil – it would be great if these were drained a bit longer – so it’s not necessarily fully summer friendly.

Since it was my first visit, a classic roti seemed like a smart start, the shell is super thin and slightly chewy so that it helps hold together the thick saucy filling but melts away as you’re eating. These are a knife and fork eat as the saag paneer roti ($11.95) incorporated huge chunks of the soft Indian cheese and plenty of thick green spinach sauce that just tingles the tongue at the medium spice level – I think I can advance a step in my next order.

While the spinach-based roti was tasty, the mom’s classic curry was even better and will become my go-to sauce mixed with any protein - a safe combination is pairing it with chicken ($12.95). My Roti Place doesn’t skimp on the meat as there were large pieces of chicken breast scattered throughout.

I do need to figure out how to best re-heat the roti the next day. The go-to toaster oven method was decent and created a bit of crunch around the taller edges, but the centre was still so mushy. Maybe I’ll toast it in a frying pan next time to develop a crust on all sides.

The dinner arrived with complimentary fried chip rings (savoury with a hint of spice) and dessert. Normally, I’ve shy away from gulab jamun as they are too sugary for my liking. My Roti Place’s version is a perfect balanced ending – I can best describe it as an old fashion plain Timbit soaked in a sweet thin sauce, you’d associate with crème caramel. It’s absolutely delicious.

Our meal started with a sunny samosa and ended with a golden gulab jamun. It’s official, spring is in the air.

Overall mark - 7.5 out of 10


How To Find Them
 Location: Toronto, Canada
 Address: Various locations
 Delivery: Uber, Doordash, Skip the Dishes
Referral Discount Codes
 Support the blog by using my referral code
 UberEats: use eats-ju6ta to get $5 off a $15 order 
 SkipTheDishes: click link to get $5 off a $15 order
 DoorDash: click link to get $20 off

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____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
  • Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never order again
  • 6 - decent for delivery and takeout, but there's better
  • 7 - this is good, for delivery and takeout
  • 8 - great for delivery and takeout, it's almost like you're in a restaurant
  • 9 -  wow, it's like I'm eating at a restaurant
  • 10 - I'd happily order this for delivery or takeout instead of dining in any day!

Is That It? I Want More!

Other Gastro World posts similar to this:

CLOSED: Miya Bhai (Toronto)

Posted on Saturday, November 24, 2018 by
All pictures are courtesy of Parv.ca

Like many family-run businesses, Miya Bhai is a cozy restaurant. Tucked away on Bathurst, just a quick walk from the station, the store front has discrete signage so look for their brightly coloured tables instead.


The menu consists of dishes based on their mother’s recipes, incorporating all the flavours they love and grew up with, but lightened so customers leave feeling satisfied but not overloaded. Even the sauces used in the dishes are made in house, to ensure the tastes are on par with momma’s creations.


The build-your-own menu allows customers to customize creations to their liking. For first time visitors, the options may seem endless so there is a Signature selection menu where there are pre-built combinations. I tried their best seller, the vegan butter chicken tacos ($11), where the “chicken” was actually marinated tofu  prepared tandoori style, which it ends up getting a lovely flavour and texture that truthfully doesn’t taste like chicken but seemed like paneer.


With crunchy lettuce and kachumber (a refreshing salad made with cucumber, tomato, onions, lemon and chili peppers) the tacos were messy to eat, but all the ingredients mixed with the avocado mayo made for a tasty creation. A light heat lingers slightly on the tongue afterwards, but not overwhelming hot.

After the two huge tacos, you likely won’t need any more food, but for a small add on, the vegan samosa ($2) always hits the spot. A thin pastry is stuffed with well spiced potatoes and vegetables to create a palm sized samosa. I liked that they kept the potatoes in cubes, rather than mashing it, to help add texture to the starter. Just make sure to pour the spicy tamarind sauce into the samosa to avoid having everything fall out.


For something to stave off the spiciness or even as a sweet ending their house made drinks ($3.50 each) are delicious choices. The vegan mango refresh (also offered in a non-vegan format) takes mango, with its pulp, and mixes is it with a creamy non-dairy milk – it’s a very full-flavoured lassi. Meanwhile, the strawberry yoghurt drink is silky and sweet that it almost tastes like a milkshake.

For meat lovers, don’t worry! Miya Bhai also offers a host of non-vegetarian options including beef seekh kabobs, butter chicken, lamb kofta, and tandoori salmon (the beef seekh kabob roll, $11.50, is shown below).  


While the signature selection was a great start, I highly recommend building your own and making a vegan butter chicken biri-rice bowl ($12.50). Having tried a bit of the rice on its own, it’s a flavourful base that’s salty and spicy – even by itself the rice was delicious. Once covered with paneer like tofu, sweet corn, crispy onions, and smothered with cilantro garlic aioli, I can just imagine how delicious it could be!


As the weather turns cold, I crave a bowl of something hearty and filling. At Miya Bhai, thankfully the bowl is also filled with flavours and won’t leave you feeling gluttonous.

 Overall mark - 7 out of 10
Disclaimer: The above meal was complimentary. Rest assured, as noted in my mission statement, I will always provide an honest opinion.
How To Find Them
 Location: Toronto, Canada
 Address: 938 Bathurst Street


 Follow me on twitter to chat, be notified about new posts and more - https://twitter.com/GastroWorldBlog
____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
  • Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
  • 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
  • 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
  • 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
  • 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
  • 10 - absolute perfection!

Is That It? I Want More!

Other Gastro World posts similar to this:

Brar's Sweets and Restaurant (aka Food Culture of India) (Brampton)

Posted on Sunday, November 16, 2014 by
Location: Brampton, Canada
Address: 199 Advance Blvd.
Website: www.brars.ca
Type of Meal: Dinner
If you pull into a dark deserted commercial plaza you’re in the right place. Make a right and turn the corner and once you see a gathering of people and cars you’ve found it. I didn’t expect much from the undescriptive surroundings but upon entering was pleasantly surprised with the bright, clean and colourful setting.

Brar’s is an establishment that has been built upon. Starting with only the sweets and snacks takeout area, they’ve gradually added a dine-in café area and buffet as well. We were hoping to eat at the restaurant buffet ($20.99 per adult on Saturdays), but unfortunately the wait was too long so opted with the café instead. 

Dine in area (1)

As a warning, for new visitors, the purchasing process is a bit confusing, but staff are responsive if you stop and ask them questions. I’ll attempt to describe the procedure so you’ll hopefully have to ask for less help than we did:
  1. Order and pay at the cashiers up front, where they will give you a metal number to save a table in the café area.
  2. Bring your receipt to the buffet area at the back of the restaurant (where there’s a “pick up order here” sign) to continue. You’ll need to be patient as there’s not always someone available; wait until someone returns and gets your receipt.
  3. Pick your curries (it can get a bit chaotic as this is also where regular buffet patrons get their food) and dessert.
  4. Go back to your table. Pick up the water, pop or juice you may have paid for from the fridge.
  5. After about five minutes they will bring the food you’ve chosen, with fresh hot naan or roti (depending on your choice), to the table. 
 
Buffet area (1)

To get a taste of many items, I ordered the thali ($7.99) which offers a choice of:
  • Three curries – many options were available including daal makhani, chana masala, malai kofta, various paneers (malai, shahi, palak and matter) and jal frezi to name a few. You won’t find anything with meat here as Brar’s is a 100% vegetarian restaurant;
  • Rice – between pualo (saffron and vegetable) or plain basmati;
  • Second starch – naan, roti, bhatura or puri;
  • Dessert – gulab jamun or gajar halwa; and
  • All include a salad of cucumbers, tomato and pickled vegetables.
 

With so many curries to choose from I was a bit flustered and decided to stick with the ones I recognized, rather than hold up the line and ask questions:
  • Mattar paneer: peas and paneer (a firm soft cheese) stewed in tomato sauce with garam masala. Brar’s paneer was fresh and in big chunks, some of the best I’ve had. This is also good for individuals who can’t stand heat as it wasn’t spicy.
  • Jal frezi: a drier curry that involves marinating vegetables and paneer and then pan frying with spices. This dish had more of a kick to it but not overwhelmingly so.
  • Daal makhani: a lentil curry stewed for hours with cream and butter until the lentils soften. It was average, a bit watery compared to the creamier versions I’ve had previously.

The pualo rice, in my opinion, went better with everything mixing in the all the delicious curries. The naan was fine, I’ve had better, but it was annoying that the bottom had pieces of char stuck on it which I had to slowly break off least end up with a mouth full of hard burnt bits. 

The pickled carrots in the salad was quite nice to contrast the hot curries. Be careful as there are also whole green chilies mixed into it so you don’t want to be eating this in forkfuls. Surprisingly, the thali didn’t include any raita (the cooling yoghurt mixture). Luckily, none of the curries were overly spicy so it wasn’t necessarily needed.

In terms of dessert I ordered the gajar halwa, a carrot pudding made with grated carrots, milk, some type of starch and sugar. It takes some getting used to as I didn’t expect the shaved slivers but the desserts grows on you with successive bites. Having a piece of my friend’s gulab jamun, essentially curdled deep fried milk solids soaked in syrup, it wasn’t as sweet as I expected and decent as well. 

We each added a samosa to our meals ($0.75). Slightly smaller than a baseball, it arrives with a sweet & spicy tamarind sauce and a jalapeño spiked cilantro yoghurt. The samosa contains tons of potatoes and the oil used seemed fresh based on the golden colour and clean taste on the wrapper. It’s a filling samosa with the dense potato mixture inside but I still prefer ones that contains other vegetables like peas and carrots. Personally, my favourite is still the tried and true Samosa King in Scarborough where samosas are only five for a $1 (sauces extra). 


At first we were disappointed when the wait for the buffet was so long (everything looked so good). In hindsight, the thali provided a variety of choices and we couldn’t even finish what we ordered – fortunately it's served in a take-out container. At only $7.99 it was an amazing deal for all the food we received!

Plus, eating in the more casual dine-in area gives you a view of their beautiful sweets (most were $10.99/lb) and snacks display. Brar’s website claims what sets them apart is using high quality ingredients and ensuring most items are made fresh daily. So, while eating you can start planning for all the take-home goodies to buy!

Sweet display (1)


Overall mark - 7 out of 10
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 ____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
  • Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
  • 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
  • 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
  • 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
  • 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
  • 10 - absolute perfection!

 Photo Sources:
  1. Brar's interior photos - TripAdvisor posts (http://www.tripadvisor.ca/Restaurant_Review-g154982-d793981-Reviews-Brar_Food_Culture_of_India-Brampton_Ontario.html)


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