The Cottage Cheese - Urban Indian — Restaurant in Toronto

In a nutshell, The ambience and vibe is great. However, the food was just average for the price. For my detailed experience, please keep reading I had walked past this restaurant once before when I visited Kensington market and was immediately intrigued. Maybe this place will satisfy my urge to find authentic and good Indian food in Toronto. So far I have been disappointed in the lst 1 year that I have lived in downtown Toronto. Though I have to admit, I have not been very experimental either. I need to try indian food at more places before dismissing a city’s indian food scene entirely. However, coming back to ‘The cottage cheese’. Me and my friend decided to order the chicken gilafi kebab and the pulled chicken khurchan curry with Lachha paratha and chilly butter Naan. We were pleasantly surprised with a complementary amuse buouche of Fried cabbage gallet. The gallet was crispy on the outside and crumbly-soft on the inside. It was flavourful but slightly dry and with a really tiny blob of chutney on the gallet. Possibly if there were more chutney, it might not have felt this dry. If you read on, you will realize that being stingy with ‘chutney’ is a running theme at this restaurant. Nonetheless, our chicken gilafi kebab arrived on a sizzler plate(only availble on the outdoor patio)on a bed of shredded cabbage, onions and cherry tomatoes. A sizzler plate is always a dramatic dining experience and adds to the excitement of digging into the food while it is sizzling away. However, if the food does not match your excitement, the experience can be quite anti-climactic. The chicken gilafi was not a very different story. The gilafi kebab was nothing different from any ordinary chick seekh kebab. Gilafi kebab is supposed to be super tender and mouth melting, unlike a seekh kebab which has more of a bite to it. Their gilafi kebab was flavourful, but slightly overcooked (possibly coz it was served on a sizzler plate) and had more of a bite to it like a seekh kebab. It did not come with the traditional mint corriander chutney and sliced onions on the side. Call me demanding, but chutney and onions is the most basic accompaniment to kebabs and a good Indian restaurant always knows its worth. Upon asking for it, we were informed that its comes at an additional charge. Upon overcoming our bewildered surprise, we agreed to the additional charge to received 1 table spoon of chutney( quite literally). Overall, the kebab was tasty, it was just not a gilafi kebeb. Next we received the pulled chicken khurchan curry. The pulled chicken was tender and the sauce was good and delicious It was slightly on the hotter side so you might wanna steer clear if you do not like hot curries. I quite enjoyed the heat. But again, it wasnt anything out of the ordinary. Infact, the tast is quite forgettable. Also, we had to ask for more mint corriander chutney and sliced onions with the food. We had the khurchan curry with the lachha paratha which was very well made and chilly butter naan which had too many crushed pepper flakes for our liking. We paid CAD 66 for this meal which we felt was overpriced for our...

What does one write after you've had one of the best Indian meals you've ever had? It's hard to find words that would truly convey how much we enjoyed our meal at The Cottage Cheese on Monday night...but I'll try. We're from NYC and were visiting Toronto for a concert. We had no idea where to eat before the show so we blindly chose The Cottage Cheese...we had NO idea what we were in for...I was the only one drinking so I started with a cocktail, the "Not Too Old", their take on an Old Fashioned is made with Maple Syrup, and it was delicious. Instead of simple syrup, the use of maple syrup not only added a new dimension to the cocktail, but provided just the right amount of sweetness I was looking for. We were started with a little offering of a warm soup of the day. Just enough spice to wake up our palettes and get ready for our meal. We moved on to appetizers. The Kale and Corn Pakoda had a very nicely crisped exterior and the accompanying chutney (sauce) added depth of flavor (a recurring theme with all we ate). The Beetroot Galette wasn't a classic French style flat Galette but more of a cake. The crispy exterior gave way to a warm, smooth mixture of root vegetables whose flavors were anchored by a mildly sweet but earthy beet puree. The star however was the Samosa Chaat. This may have been THE best Samosa Chaat we've ever had. Not only was there incredible depth of flavor throughout the layers, the samosa had been freshly fried and thus still nice and crispy which only enhanced the dish overall. Most restaurants offering this dish fry their samosas in advance and simply reheat before serving which leaves them a little soggy...Not here. It was delicious. GREAT start, but the meal only got better with our entrees. The "Bread Box" wasn't a box at all but a heaping platter of 3 different breads they serve. Paneer Tikka Masala is a beautiful rendition served with peppers and onions. The Chicken Mango Curry offers a slightly sweet but rich, savory sauce made with coconut milk and mustard seeds. Slivers of mango were added to the sauce along with bite sized pieces of chicken breast that were melt in your mouth tender and had been simmered in the sauce long enough to infuse those delicious flavors, not simply thrown in at the last moment. This was a really well executed dish with layer upon layer of flavor but perhaps the biggest surprise of our meal was the Tengda Style Eggplant. This stew elevated the humble eggplant into my culinary heaven. This is a deeply rich stew made with tomatoes, tamarind, coconut milk and herbs and was oh my gawd good! It would be easy to over cook this dish, but the food at The Cottage Cheese is clearly prepared with love, an understanding of the ingredients and respect for the craft. Everything about our meal left us smiling and really happy. The quality of food, it's depth of flavors and the warm friendly service makes The Cottage Cheese one of the best Indian restaurants in Toronto OR New York...and I'm sure diners in San Francisco will feel the same way when they open up out west. GO....

My dining experience here was a journey through a spectrum of flavors, textures, and service nuances.

Our table opted for a diverse selection of dishes, including two appetizers and three main courses, amongst which the Lamb Biryani and Mango Chicken were the highlights. The naan bread was a revelation - its impeccable texture and warmth served as the perfect vehicle for the array of dishes we sampled. Complimentary soup, a gesture of hospitality, was offered, yet it fell short of expectations, hinting at potential but lacking in execution.

The Butter Chicken presented a tender chicken enveloped in a sauce that, while rich in flavor, was marred by its over-thick consistency and a spice level that bordered on excessive for the palette it aimed to please. Conversely, the Mango Chicken was a dish that promised an innovative fusion of flavors but ultimately failed to harmonize the tangy sweetness of mango with the spices, resulting in a dish that was less than palatable.

The Lamb Biryani stood out as the star of the evening - the lamb was succulent, tender, and flawlessly cooked, showcasing the chef’s adept skill at balancing spice and flavor to create a dish that was both comforting and luxurious.

While the restaurant’s atmosphere was undeniably charming, the service experience detracted from the overall dining pleasure. The staff’s request for guests to assist with the table setting was unconventional and disrupted the dining experience. Additionally, the delay in presenting the bill, particularly when time was of the essence, was a notable inconvenience, reflecting a lapse in service efficiency.

In conclusion, while the restaurant shines with certain dishes that captivate with their flavors and the enchanting ambiance it offers, there is room for improvement in both culinary execution and service. For a dining establishment nestled in the vibrant heart of Kensington Market, focusing on these aspects could elevate the experience to match the expectations set by its promising...