Tandoori Palace — Restaurant in Vancouver

Tandoori Palace

I used to think that good Indian food could only be found in Surrey (Ustaad G for example or potentially any places along Scott Road; Kasari is indisputably great but now we’re talking White Rock…). The “only” Vancouver exceptions were Akbar’s Own, Taste of India, and a recent discovery, the awesomely great Hariyali Express.

But one place the sort of exemplifies what I used to think of as “typically average Vancouver Indian” food is Tandoori Palace. Bear in mind, it’s highly rated by others on Google and I only went there once ordering one item with basmati rice so perhaps I’m missing something. But hear me out.

I wanted spicy, I got it. I like quantity, I got that. I appreciate reasonably quick service. Check “yes” on that also.

Staff? I’m there for the food. As long as the staff is relatively competent and not rude, I’m fine with staff. And Tandoori Palace fulfills that criteria also.

Setting? As long as it’s not gross, it doesn’t have to be fancy or palatial (even if the word “palace” is in the name of the joint) or even comfy, just relatively organized, I’m fine.

To elaborate, the staff there wasn’t friendly but they didn’t really need to be. It was a “Come on in” casual vibe and they were professional. Not rude at all and I appreciate staff leaving me alone to eat once the food arrives. They were fine.

And the setting was more of a cafeteria than a restaurant, if you catch my drift. You can hear them prep food (some of it is done adjacent to the seating area near the cashier; there was apparently more kitchen quarters in the back) and the air was spicy, spicy enough I was almost coughing, it was so strong. But I didn’t mind that. It got me anticipating my meal.

The tables were organized enough but some might find the layout a bit disorganized, like someone’s living room the day before guests come over. And the seating was all hard chairs but not a big deal to me, just something others might want to know in advance. Not a lot of seating either, maybe seven or eight small tables for two but enough for the number of customers that came in.

Now about the food… It wasn’t great. I give it a C+ at best. I ordered the Kholapuri fish masala. It was a generous portion for what they charge and the rice came with the fish, which is rarely the case in better restaurants.

At times when I order Indian food, the amount of level of gravy in a bowl seems to barely change as I eat more & more of the protein within it, there’s barely enough in it. Here, the gravy level in the bowl visibly got lower & lower, so they get major points on quantity & cost. I wanted fish, I got lots of it.

But the flavour just wasn’t there. To demonstrate my point: I normally can’t stand to leave any sauce behind. Eat all of it with rice, wipe it up with naan, scrape the bowl clean if I must, or take it home. But with Tandoori Palace, I was fine with leaving what sauce remained behind.

This place charged way less so I was hoping to get the best of both worlds, quantity and quality.

I might go there again and try an appetizer just to make sure I’m not overlooking something good. But this was my...

All right - the first thing which a "free soul' foodie from Lahore would do on Canada day is to rip that mask apart; go for 'Grind Grouse,' buy a late night movie cinema ticket; and sniff for the most tasty food around in the town.

...

I have read so many good things about 'Tandoori Palace' that I took my family members there, who just reached Vancouver from Mississauga after trying out what Calgary and Rockies have to offer.

Since, it was also my first time there, and we are all hungry after a long day of activity, the first sight of the place reminded us of similar restaurants as we would find in Naran and up North in Pakistan.

For the safe side I kept the google review 4.3 rating open, while we were trying to find the parking spot (cautiously).

Long story short - the food quality and quantity was amazing. We all loved it. Everyone acknowledged it as one of the best experiences we all have had so far in Canada.

They also gave us 10% discount off the total bill; refilled one mango lassi which we successfully managed to drop on the floor; as well as free 'gulab jamams' as we were leaving, upon our request.

Perhaps the place can be renovated a bit, but the way it is, gives a good ol vibe of how a real BBQ place of Lahore used to be. Turly, old is gold!

To summarize: excellent food taste and qualtiy; really nice big food portions; and espeically (as well as strategically) fairly limited seating capacity makes it a top contender to hold multiple 'Walimaas' at this place - all comfortably within budget!

Ps. Also, I don't have to cook and eat my own tasteless...

I tried this place 3 times. From my experience I feel like the tandoori oven station is the show of the place. That being said i personally tasted better tandoori meats and breads in vancouver. Last order I got from them was a lamb korma and a vegetable korma with veggie samosas. There was no mention of any dipping sauce for the samosas so I ordered a side of tamarind chutney for 4$ ( 4oz of oily thick bitter and super sour tamarind chutney) . As for both curries were mild but to a point that there is a serious lack of seasonning or passion. ( blend some cashews with some sweetened condensed milk and a few dried flakes of fenugreek and here you have the taste of the korma I got that day. No salt) . The vegetables inside of my veg korma were definitely from a frozen mix veg bag from a grocery store. There was a mix of baby corn, brocoli, green beans, squash, potatoes , red bell peppers.just by the size and chunks of the vegetables I could tell this wasn't a cooks decision to individually buy those vegetables and cut it like this. The veg samosas wrapper wasn't a true samosas dough. The rice was nice and the naan bread was reallye good too. The service is a bit lacking. The amount of time I walked in the empty restaurant and most of the employees are turning there head and not in tune to give any form of service. I'm sure there is many reasons why things are like this there. That being said I would recommend people to try this place regardless. I don't think it's bad I just think there is better indian options in vancouver. I might of got in their...