Charminar Indian Cuisine | Whitby — Restaurant in Whitby

Had a disappointing dining experience at Charminar in Whitby.

Came here with my family on a Saturday night. When we entered the restaurant, we were offered a table in the corner which had the standard chairs. We asked for a table that had high back seating and more room but were told by one of the servers that it isn’t available as it needed cleaning. We were then asked to wait for 10 minutes after which the other server said we can take the seats. When we sat at the table, the first server said the table needs to be cleaned as the table was wet and we asked her to just wipe it so we could have the menu soon and decide about the order. There was a bad smell mainly coming from the kitchen.

We quickly decided and ordered Vegetable Hakka Noodles, Masala Dosa & the Charminar Veg Dum Biryani to have a variety of dishes.

In sometime, we received our orders one by one and we started to have them.

In the case of the Vegetable Hakka Noodles, the noodles were over boiled and soggy. Though it had a few vegetables in it, they were thinly sliced and so didn’t feel any vegetables while eating. It did have peas in it which is generally not added in noodles. Taste wise, it was just okay and the quantity seemed fine. It was served with a sauce (instead of vinegar with cut green chillies) which tasted very odd. It was kind of pungent and a bit sweet. It did not make any sense being served with the noodles.

The Masala Dosa came with two chutneys and Sambar. Normally, a masala dosa comes with three different chutneys (Coconut, Tomato & Peanut) as I’ve had at other South Indian restaurants in GTA. The Dosa wasn’t crispy and a bit soggy. The potato masala inside the dosa was okay. Not that flavourful. The peanut chutney was average but the tomato chutney tasted good. Their quantities were quite less and the Sambar wasn’t piping hot and a bit less as well in quantity.

Lastly, the Veg Dum Biryani was NOT a dum biryani but boiled rice mixed with a light vegetable masala that tasted unfresh. There were hardly any vegetables and were also very soggy as if the masala was made a while ago. The vegetables should have been a bit crunchy.

The presentation of the dishes was just ordinary and the prices were higher compared to other South Indian restaurants that offer much better quality and service.

I also noticed that a couple of tables had a bit of food remains after people were done with their dinners and those tables were left as it is. The restaurant was very short staffed and the servers seemed a bit exhausted and frustrated. Our server accidentally brought us “Chicken Dum Biryani” and I told her we ordered all vegetarian items.

While leaving, I provided the server with a brief feedback about the quality of food particularly the Veg Dum Biryani. She acknowledged the fact after being convinced but did not apologize at all for the poor quality of the dishes. They didn’t even check once during our meals in case anything was required. They lacked basic customer service and need to improve on that.

Considering Charminar specializes in Biryanis, their biryanis should have been top-notch. Not worth the hype.

I don’t think I will be returning...

I love Indian food so when I was invited to join some friends for dinner, I didn't hesitate to say YES! Charminar is a relatively new restaurant in Whitby, serving South Indian cuisine. I was surprised to see they also had some Hakka Chinese dishes on the menu. Everything looked good but a couple of my dining companions had eaten here before so I left the ordering up to them.

We started off with some beverages: Sweet Lassi, Mango Lassi, and Salt Lassi. Lassi is a yogurt based drink, with some similarities to a milkshake. We also had Thums Up cola and Limca, I opted for a can of Limca, similar to Sprite but with a more intense flavour. Apparently, the company that makes the lattter two is owned by Coca-Cola.

Our food started arriving and it looked delicious and smelled great! We had a good mix of dishes, including the Hyperabadi Chicken Dum Biryani, Hakka Noodles with Chicken, Chicken Lollipops, Tandoori Chicken, and Gobi Manchurian, Bhagara Bhaigan (Eggplant), Gongura Chicken, Rice, and Mysore Masala Dosa. I didn't realize until now that it was mostly chicken but each dish tasted unique and quite delicious!

I love biryanis but the Hyperabadi Chicken Dum Biryani was on another level. From the fluffiness of the rice to the savoury flavour of the chicken, excellent dish!

The Hakka Noodles with Chicken appeared unfamiliar to me, even though I'm Hakka. I guess things took a little turn in India. That's not a bad thing. It was delicious!

Apparently, I missed out on the Chicken Lollipops. It must have been really good because by the time the platter made its way over to me, it was all gone!

The Tandoori Chicken, unlike most I've had, was tender and moist. Another great tasting dish!

The Gobi Manchurian, battered and deep fried, was very flavourful. I didn't even realize at first that it was cauliflower. Delicious!

I'm not a fan of eggplant but the Bhagara Bhaigan was a very colourful dish that my companions seemed to enjoy.

Gongura Chicken was a saucy dish with lots of flavour, made with gongura leaves, imparting a savoury tart flavour. Yummy!

The Mysore Masala Dosa was probably the most unique dish that we had. It's not available at many restaurants that I've been to and this was only my second time having it. It was certainly the largest platter of the evening, consisting of a very thin rolled dough, very similar to a crepe. This one had a potato filling and was served with some dipping sauces. Very good!

Of course, we had three types of naan, all freshly made and delicious!

Overall, I really enjoyed this food! It was very flavourful. I'm sure my companions enjoyed it too because there was nothing left. NOTHING!

By the time we were leaving, the restaurant was getting busy. Tables were starting to fill in and people were coming in to pick up orders for takeout. Good timing on our part....

Honest Review – Disappointed and Misled

As a popular and trusted reviewer, I believe it’s my responsibility to provide honest and unbiased feedback. Unfortunately, my recent experience at this restaurant was deeply disappointing and felt like a complete scam under the name of “LAMB MUGHLAI.” Customer service was honest and somewhat better, but with much regret, I have to say that the food was extremely bad. I had ordered full tandoori chicken and lamb Mughlai, but both the quality and taste were terrible.

The lamb meat was stale, had turned black in color, and there was absolutely no freshness to it. As for the tandoori chicken, it had a strange taste — it was coated with mustard seed paste, which seemed to be part of some odd “experiment,” but it definitely did not resemble real tandoori chicken in any way. It felt like they had no understanding of what authentic tandoori chicken should be.

What surprises me is why some restaurants assume that the customer has no sense of food — as if they can just serve anything and the customer will accept it without question. Do they really think presentation and fancy menu names are enough?

My experience with this branch was truly disappointing. However, when I told the customer service rep that I wouldn’t be paying for the lamb, only for the chicken, he not only agreed but even told me I could skip the entire bill if I wanted. Still, I paid honestly for the chicken and naan.

I usually go to the Warden and Eglinton branch, which is okay in every way — the food is good and the standards are professional. But this branch’s food was extremely poor. That said, the customer service here was still commendable.

Additional Comment: Restaurants need to understand that a customer doesn’t just pay for food — they pay for an overall experience. If food quality continues to decline like this, even good customer service won’t be enough to bring people back. I sincerely hope the restaurant takes this feedback seriously and pays more attention to food quality and...