Thoughts From My Belly

This is my first column, so I wanted to start with a restaurant that I was intimately familiar with. No eatery in Kelowna fits that description better than Da Tandoor, as I can usually be found there for lunch at least once a week.

Located on downtown at 273 Lawrence (next to CBC radio and across from Christopher’s Steak House) Da Tandoor does not give much of an impression from the outside. The non-descript single story commercial building that houses it leaves more questions that it gives answers and may even deter some hungry folks from walking in. Upon entering however, diners see a different picture.

The decor immediately seems inviting and the red velvet booths and sweeping white curtains will conjour up images of the Taj Mahal or even a scene out of Arabian Nights. Unfortunately, after the nice first impression, patrons will soon notice the dated wallboards that have probably been a fixture since the early nineties as well as the art, which while thematic, certainly doesn’t appear to be of the highest quality.

Hungry souls who find themselves at Da Tandoor have a choice between the regular dinner menu and the lunch buffet. I’m a big believer that when there is a buffet available there really is no choice to be made. The buffet varies slightly from day to day, but always has a very basic salad bar (usually consisting of shredded romaine, a tomato/cucumber salad, a bean/chick pea salad, and a couple of dressing choices), an appetizer, saffron rice, naan bread, four main dishes, desert, and Indian condiments like chutney and raita (yoghurt).

The chick pea salad that I had was certainly enjoyable, but with a little more flavour would have been outstanding. I find that chick peas are often served too soft or too hard, but Da Tandoor seems to have the texture down to a science. The appetizer is generally some sort of vegetable pakora (battered and deep fried dumpling), which I love. When you eat Indian as often as I do it is nice to occasionally have a change of pace, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that the appetizer of the day was a vegetable cutlet. Admittedly this cutlet still seemed to be some sort of deep fried dumpling, but the texture was different from that of a pakora. I was a little put off by the heart shape that the cutlet came in, because I suspect that meant it was left over from a Valentine’s Day set menu two days earlier. That being said the cutlet was good, especially when enjoyed with the coriander chutney.

Side dishes of rice and naan bread are pretty standard fare for Indian restaurants and these offerings didn’t differ much from what you would find elsewhere.  I feel that as long as rice is being served as a compliment to the main meal (which it was), it just needs to be cooked to the right texture (which it was), so I was satisfied. The naan bread was also pretty standard, but since naan bread is one of the most enjoyable foods known to man, the standard for normal naan bread is very high. If you like carbs, you will love this bread!

The main dishes usually consist of three curries (two vegetarian, one chicken) as well as an additional meat curry or meat dish (Tandoori Chicken, Kebabs, etc…) depending on what the chef decides to put out that day. The vegetarian dishes when I visited were Aloo Gobi (potato and cauliflower) and Mushroom Mutter (Mushrooms and Green Peas), both of which were quite good, but again, not outstanding.

The fish curry would also fall under the same sort of assessment, but to be fair to the restaurant I suspect a large part of that is toning the heat down to mild so that the buffet appeals to a wider variety of people. I love spicy food, and often find milder dishes (especially in Indian, Malaysian and Thai cuisine) to be blander than I like. The fourth dish, the Chicken Vindaloo, on the other hand I would recommend whole heartedly. It was easily the highlight of my lunch and quickly invited me back for seconds once I had finished my first portion. If you ever find yourself at Da Tandoor for dinner you should strongly consider this dish off the menu as it easily ranks among the best Asian dishes I have had in Kelowna.

Desert at Da Tandoor is usually pretty simple and straight forward like basmati rice pudding, custard, or Gulab Jamun (Indian Timbits). I was fortunate enough to get to enjoy some Mango custard on this particular day. Like most items on the Da Tandoor buffet table it was quite enjoyable, but again, nothing to write home about.

The service at Da Tandoor is always hit and miss. While it is a buffet, so there is fortunately little required in the way of service other than beverages and clearing of plates, it is still an area where they could improve. Some days the staff is very attentive and used plates are whisked away quickly and glasses of water are always full, but on others you can go what seems like ages between visits from the service team. The positive is that the staff although not friendly in a bubbly sort of way are always very polite.

All in all I would recommend Da Tandoor for lunch. The $9.99 price tag on the buffet is a steal considering you could easily pay the same just about anywhere else in town, but only get to enjoy the flavours of one dish. The restaurant certainly isn’t high end, but you will definitely get your money’s worth.

If you enjoy my recommendation of Da Tandoor I would recommend checking out its sister restaurants Chutney Cuisine of India (Pandosy and KLO) and Dawett (Ellis and Doyle) which are also operated by proprietor Gurvinder Momi.

Ambience: 3/5

Taste: 3.5/5

Value: 5/5

Overall 4/5